Pep Guardiola

[Deco 20]

Yeah, many words are similar in Spanish and English, especially adjectives and adverbs. Rapido = quick, evidentemente = evidently, tranquilamente = tranquilly/calmly, etc.
German has several words taken directly from English such as Laptop, as well as other more common words such as Gold meaning the same thing. There's also Geld meaning money, arguably the most important word in football



But German grammar is very tough.

 

[loozy]

If I was to write down a sentence in German, without using google or another translation device, do you think you could understand it?

I actually think there are more similarities between the Romance languages and the English language than between English and German (not taking into account the English words that have invaded the German language). And boy, am I glad I have German as a mother tongue, the grammar is soo hard to understand (or teach )

 

[Stric]

I probably wasn't very clear. What I wanted to say is that the similarity between English and German (both Germanic languages) is lesser than the similarity in-between Romance languages (Spanish and Portuguese, for example). But in all honesty, you guys are right, as well, nowadays English even has more in common with some Romance languages than with German, regardless of the language family.

 

[Deco 20]

If I was to write down a sentence in German, without using google or another translation device, do you think you could understand it?

I actually think there are more similarities between the Romance languages and the English language than between English and German (not taking into account the English words that have invaded the German language). And boy, am I glad I have German as a mother tongue, the grammar is soo hard to understand (or teach )

Feel free to do it, either here or on my profile

I think Pep will speak it decently, but it'd be difficult to get some of the grammatical parts in such a short time. It should be enough to make himself understood, and I'm sure he'll be asking people within Bayern about tactical terms.

 

[loozy]

I probably wasn't very clear. What I wanted to say is that the similarity between English and German (both Germanic languages) is lesser than the similarity in-between Romance languages (Spanish and Portuguese, for example). But in all honesty, you guys are right, as well, nowadays English even has more in common with some Romance languages than with German, regardless of the language family.

I actually understood what you meant and replied more to Deco's post than yours I fully agree, btw.

Also, on a nerdy side note: I love conversations like this, thanks, guys :beer2:

@ Deco
Let me torture my pupils for a bit and then I shall return and challenge you

As for Pep: I think if he stays in Germany long enough, then he will get the hang of the language. He can also employ private tutor if he is that keen to learn it (me!me!me!).

 

[Jadentheman]

Actually Ditch is more closer to english grammer wise and vocab wise I think. It's the pronunciation that's the most difficult. But I can see the Latin ties English has with Spanish, French, and Portuguese. English is a strange language

 

[Stric]

Very well, then. And btw, what I said about English and Romance languages having more things in common is mostly in regards to vocabulary, not grammar. I'm not that familiar with German, but I'd think that German and English have more in common in terms of grammar then, say, English and any Romance language.

I kinda feel bad for Pep for having to learn German. God, I hated my German teacher. She did nothing wrong, it's the langage that made me hate her. Gave up after 2 semesters.

 

[Fishdoll]

But will he be speaking German or the Bavarian dialect? (fellow linguist of sorts here. the Bavarian dialect gives me awful problems when listening to interviews.)

 

[89Norcal]

Very well, then. And btw, what I said about English and Romance languages having more things in common is mostly in regards to vocabulary, not grammar. I'm not that familiar with German, but I'd think that German and English have more in common in terms of grammar then, say, English and any Romance language.

I kinda feel bad for Pep for having to learn German. God, I hated my German teacher. She did nothing wrong, it's the langage that made me hate her. Gave up after 2 semesters.

Seems like a difficult language. I know in high school and college, pretty much everyone that studied German were the scholarly book worm types. Spanish or Portuguese were always the more fun and lax languages.

 

[loozy]

God, I hated my German teacher. She did nothing wrong, it's the langage that made me hate her. Gave up after 2 semesters.

You didn't have me as a teacher, then

@ Fishdoll
I doubt it. If he takes lessons, then he'll learn High German and not that Bavarian abomination of a dialect. As none of the German players at Bayern even speak it, he cannot pick it up from them, either, which is a blessing

 

[Stric]

Seems like a difficult language. I know in high school and college, pretty much everyone that studied German were the scholarly book worm types. Spanish or Portuguese were always the more fun and lax languages.

I do believe German is more difficult, but I'm months away from receiving my BA in Portuguese and I can assure you it was not that fun.

 

[Rahj]

It is a common misconception that all Germans speak English, let alone good or excellent English. However, I reckon that Guardiola will speak English at first. The players will understand him, so there should be no problem.

true. a general rule might be that the English of people in east germany tends to be worse than the englsih of people in west germany.

 

[Deco 20]

And Northern germans speak better than southern?

 

[Rahj]

no, that's absurd.

 

[MVBarcaFan]

Pep was spotted at the Lakers/Hornets game last night. Kobe or Pau Gasol probably hooked him up with tickets.