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Better German Podcast with Susi

Susanne Schilk-Blümel
Since 09/2023 56 episodes

21 Differences of Austrian and German German

A Short Guide to Understanding Regional Differences of the German Language

2024-01-25 17 min

Description & Show Notes

Hello! In this episode of the Better German Podcast, Susi Blümel discusses the differences between the Austrian and German versions of the German language. She covers the areas where German is spoken, the population differences between Germany and Austria, the common written language, and the variations in spoken language and dialects. She also provides advice on learning different regional dialects and understanding Hochdeutsch, the standard form of the German language.

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In this episode of the Better German Podcast, we give you an overview of the regional variations of the German language, specifically the differences between Austrian German and German German. We are looking at differences between spoken and written German, drawing parallels to the differences between British English and American English. You will get recommendations on how to deal with regional versions vs standard German and how that affects your learning. Be prepared for some personal experiences and tune in to gain valuable insights into understanding and mastering the diverse linguistic landscape of the German language.

Key Topics Explored🔎
Primary Topic: Introduction to the Different Kinds of German
  • Description of where German is spoken (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
  • Population differences among the German-speaking countries
  • Overview of the similarities and differences in the written and spoken German language
Primary Topic: Differences between Austrian and German German
  • Differences in pronunciation and accent between Austrian and German German
  • Variances in regional dialects within the countries
  • Comparison to the differences between British English and American English
Primary Topic: Learning German
  • Advice for learners to focus on the basics of German first
  • Recommendations on advancing language skills and exposure to different dialects
  • Anecdotal example of a language learner picking up a regional accent while living in a particular area
Primary Topic: Standardized Written Language and Regional Dialects
  • Historical perspective on the standardization of German language
  • The prevalence and persistence of regional dialects despite a common written language
  • Explanation of High German and the idea of speaking German without a regional dialect
Primary Topic: Understanding and Overcoming Regional Dialects
  • Discussion on the ability of German speakers to identify regional origins through speech
  • Emphasis on the importance of understanding neutral German
  • Strategies for learning and understanding regional dialects, including watching TV shows from different areas
  • Personal experiences and advice for learners interacting with native speakers in regional areas
Primary Topic: Resources for Learning Regional Dialects
  • Plans to provide glossaries for Austrian TV shows for advanced learners
  • Encouragement for listeners to ask questions and express interest in specific topics
Primary Topic: Conclusion
  • Encouragement to keep learning and not to worry about regional dialects at the beginning
  • Offer to address specific questions and requests for further podcast content
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Transcript

Welcome to the Better German podcast. My name is Susi Blümel, and I will teach you German and everything around the language , the countries and the culture. Welcome to this episode of the Better German Podcast. In this episode, I'm going to give you an introduction of the differences of the different kinds of German, particularly the Austrian and the German version of German. You could also call it an introduction to the differences of the regional German. not necessarily gonna go into deep into dialects. Let's go over where do people speak German. People mainly speak German in Germany, in Austria, and in Switzerland. Of these countries, Germany is the biggest. Germany is by far, population wise, the biggest country of those. It's about 80 million. And in Austria, we have a little more than 8 million. So roughly, you could say, Germany is about 10 times the size of Austria, just to give you an idea. And then Switzerland is population wise, about as big as Austria. However, in Switzerland, we have four official languages and German is one of them, I do believe it's the biggest one. However, Now, we have a common written language. There is hardly any difference that you find between the language in writing between Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, but when it's about speaking, you hear the difference. The way Austrians say words, and we're not talking about slang yet, the way Austrians say words sounds a little different. And then there are differences for some of the words, not for all of them. I guess you could compare this to the difference between English and American, like British English and American English. yeah, So we have the written language, we have the spoken languages, these are different. Now, you may wonder what you should learn. I don't think you have to worry about that at the beginning. The basics of German are the same. It's when you come to the more advanced levels, then you try to, for example, listen to movies or, listen to radio from each of the areas. Now what about slang, or dialects? So, particularly when you are in the country, not necessarily the big cities, you will have relatively strong regional dialects. That will happen, that can happen in Austria, in any of those countries. However, I think it will probably happen to you more the more south you are in the German-speaking area. So, Bavaria, or even a little bit northern than that, like in the very north of Germany, probably as far as speaking German as a foreign language is probably the easiest because, the normal conversational German is the closest to what you will expect when you do a German course, or when you hear standard German, maybe in TV, or when you read a book. When you go more south, the spoken dialects, particularly outside of the big cities may be more different. How this is coming about is there used to be like a lot, a lot, a lot, a lot of different regional dialects, and the first written work in German that many people read that started standardize the language to some, degree was the Bible. So Martin Luther in the beginning of the 1500s, translated the Bible into German, and that was kind of the beginning of the modern German language. Before that, there were regional dialects that had some things in common, but a lot of things different as well in pretty much everywhere in the German-speaking area, so and that's why we have a standardized written language, but we still have those regional dialects pretty much. How do you go about learning these you don't worry about them. You learn German. You start with, German learning books. You try to start watching TV shows in German. Most German, like, German German TV shows don't use so much dialect. So you just start learning that, and then, if you're particularly interested in a specific dialect, or you live in an area, then once you're fluent in German, you start going into the dialect. There will be exceptions to that, but this is the way how I suggest you to go. I can tell you a story of where it actually went the other way around. I used to work with a teacher, and he also became a friend, but we worked together for a long time, and at that time we were teaching English, in Austria. So we were teaching English as a foreign language to Austrian students, adults, mainly. And Andrew was from Australia, and he learned German. He had learned German in school, but he became conversational, like fluent, in a place in Austria called Burgenland. That's one of the states of Austria. So Austria has nine states and Burgenland is on the east of Austria and, he had lived there. He had a friend there that he knew from earlier and he lived there and he lived for some time, I and he was also studying, he took a German course at university to later on study economy in, in university. However, where he learned most was with his friend and guest family in the Burgenland, and in the area he lived, that was a more rural area, people speak their dialect. They're proud of their original dialect. So he kind of learned German with the accent, with the way of the Dialect from Burgenland and, that was interesting because it was relatively hard to understand at first. So basically, when he was more in Vienna and more at the university and more with the German students that he started to teach while he did his internship with me, he started to speak German with less of an accent of Burgenland and kind of like more accent-free, let's say, or regional accent-free German. And then people would actually understand him better. Like, German-speaking people would understand it better. So, I do not suggest for anybody who learns German as a foreign language to start going into a particular dialect before you speak, so to say, normal German. You don't have to be perfect in German, for sure not. And, yeah, but so my take on it is, if you want to be conversational, particularly also with like other German-as-a-second-language students, or with German-speaking people outside a very specific regional region, it is more advisable to learn German relatively straight, not in a regional version, and learn any regional version later. And then it would still be more on the level of understanding it than necessarily speaking it, because that's the other thing about regional dialects. We all understand German, like neutral German, so, one basic idea I want to bring up here is the idea of "Hochdeutsch." "Hochdeutsch" is a German word. Literally, it means "high German," and it is the idea of German spoken without a regional dialect or without a lot of slang. This is not a scientific definition, this is how we use it, like how everyday German speakers use it. There is a more scientific meaning of that word, but I'm not going to go into that yet. So, the idea is "Hochdeutsch" is German without particular regional dialects. There is theoretically a German, a perfect "Hochdeutsch" you could say, that has absolutely no regional thing attached to it. Like, meaning, somebody speaks it and you can absolutely not say, this is austrian German, or this is, this person is from Vienna, or this person must be from Germany. However, this is something that people usually will only achieve when they're being coached, particularly on this. And I've only ever seen this, honestly, by actors or maybe some news speakers. So people have to make an extra effort so you cannot hear where they're from or they have a totally neutral German, you could say. So, for most people, in the German, Austria or Swiss area, umm it is normal when they speak, even if they don't speak a strong dialect, umm and speak more or less "Hochdeutsch," uh that you can still hear where they're from. This concept, this idea, is very similar for example to the English language. So, even when people don't speak a lot of slang, you can usually hear they're British or they're American, or I don't know, South African, Australian, and so on. And that's very similar to this idea. So, this is "Hochdeutsch." So, should you be worried? For example, I speak Austrian German. There is I'm not totally dialect coached to speak a completely neutral German, so when somebody who's a native speaker hears me speak, they will usually be able to say that I'm Austrian. And when a German person speaks, then I can say that, usually within, I don't know, a few words. That is something you immediately hear. However, for you as a learner, it doesn't really make a lot of difference. My suggestion is, when you learn German, try to connect different regional dialects. I also, I suggest, particularly, in German, but also for example, I suggest to my English students, when they're more advanced, to watch TV shows that are like, from different areas. Like, there's a few Irish TV shows, and so I get, okay, good, fine. Don't just watch American TV shows, watch British TV shows, watch, Australian TV shows, watch maybe an Irish TV show, and things like that. So that's something you go into but only once you get to be an advanced student. The good thing about you, about this, is that we all, I don't think that now there is anybody alive who doesn't understand "Hochdeutsch," like neutral German. There isn't anybody. Maybe 50 years ago, it could be that some people that lived in the countryside or far in the mountains and they never had a lot of school education, that they couldn't understand "Hochdeutsch." Now that's not the case. So everybody understands "Hochdeutsch." So when you start learning German and you speak, they will be able to understand. The bigger challenge could be if you are in a particular area where there is more dialect spoken. For example, that could be in certain areas of Austria, then it could be a challenge for you to understand people when they speak their own native language. However, I think and let me know if you've had other experiences, if you, once you try talking to them, they will usually and you talk directly to them, they will usually adapt to some degree and you will understand them better. However, even I have experienced it to be a challenge when, for example my family is connected to a very beautiful area of Austria, the Ausseerland, it's called. It's an area that is between Styria, yeah, it's basically mostly Styria, and it's a very beautiful area and people speak their own regional dialect there. And when I speak to them, I have absolutely no problem when I speak to them directly and they speak to me. However, when they speak with each other, I have a problem understanding it sometimes. I don't understand all the words, I don't understand the exact and that's very interesting. I mean, they are speaking my native language. However, if I spend some more time in that area, then it becomes easier. So don't get discouraged. Just keep learning German. Try to speak to native speakers as much as you can. They will be, usually, most people, will be trying to understand you. Stick to those. If somebody absolutely doesn't want to talk to you, then well, maybe he's not the right person to talk to. But there will be a lot of people that appreciate very much and understand that it's hard to learn a foreign language, and they will help you, and you will become better and better and try to worry about regional dialects only after you have mastered basic conversational skills. And then, even then, look at it mainly from a viewpoint of understanding it. the best thing would be, or the easiest thing, if you can get a hold of that, would be to watch TV shows. However, it is not so easy to find a lot of TV shows in dialect, but there's there's quite some Austrian TV shows. Unfortunately, I haven't found a lot, or hardly any, with subtitles, which would be best to use. I will be, for my advanced students, what I will do is, I will write glossaries so I can point to some Austrian TV shows, and there will be glossaries. So if you're interested in that, then follow me and, you will be informed and you will be able to find it on my homepage as soon as it's there. But in the meantime, keep learning German. Don't worry keep learning German. And I hope this has helped you a little bit. I have a few videos that you can find on my social channels about particularly Viennese German. If you want more of those, let me know. I can only do Viennese. I can't do other German dialects. I understand them, it would just sound wrong. However, if you're interested in that, then let me know. Leave a comment. Ask me if there's particular questions that you don't understand. Ask me, and I just wanted to give you this idea. Sometimes people ask me about German and Austrian German, so I wanted to give you a little bit of an idea. And I'll talk to you in the next episode of the Better German Podcast.

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