German is Fun

At Lorelei Rock on the Rhine

The Frankfurt Temple

 Admiring the amazing Cathedral at Aachen where Charlemagne was crowned.

 

Heidelberg Castle

 In Luxembourg listening to a concert by a wonderful brass band from the UK.

Castles at every turn on the Rhine River.

 

 

 St. Goar.

I like to think of myself as a polyglot even though I only speak English and Japanese and a little bit of Spanish.  I say this only because I like to study languages and try to speak foreign languages whenever we travel, regardless of the embarrassment that it causes.  When we went to France several years ago, I diligently l studied French everyday and was convinced that French was a very sexy language.  Believing that French was a very sexy language was the inspiration I needed to immerse myself.  Having studied (albeit unsuccessfully) a number of different languages I feel entirely qualified to comment on the virtues and shortcomings of various languages. 

I authoritatively can declare that the sexiest languages are (and in this order): French, Spanish (except when women who are angry are yelling--then it just seems really scary), and finally Italian.  The ugliest languages are: German, Dutch and Vietnamese, again in that order. In ranking these languages as ugly languages I mean no disrespect to Germany, the Netherlands, nor Vietnam.  In particularly, I include German with a most sincere apology to Heidi Klum.  She single handed has almost made German a sexy language.  When she says, Auf Wiedersehen on Project Runway, every man's heart melts.   That notwithstanding, German is clearly an ugly language.  Despite my inclusion of German in the ugly language category, German is nevertheless a very fun language.  The following conversation between the She-wolf and I illustrate this point:    

"I love German. It's so much fun!"
"I thought you said it was ugly?   Why the sudden change of heart?"
"It's fun to speak.  You get to say things you could never say in English and sound really German while doing so."
"What are you talking about?"
"Well take the word fart for example. Don't you like to say fart? In German you get to say fart all the time. This is so much fun!"
"Not everyone likes to say fart--Just adolescent boys!"

My wife is totally wrong on this point.  Fart is a funny word.  In Germany, every time I exit the Autobahn, I get to say Ausfarht! which apparently means exit and laugh enthusiastically. There are also numerous words that I cannot (and would never say in English), but which seem so German, and frankly, very funny.  Many of these start with "sh" and sound so similar to certain inappropriate words that I sometimes want to shout out, but cannot.  Consider the following:

"Ratskeller" --I'm told this is a famous restaurant, but I'm not eating there regardless.
"Schlittenfahrt"--a sleighride (apparently a very stinky, messy sleighride)
"Wirtshaus"--a saloon or pub
"Rathaus"-- city or town hall
"haarschmuckfachgeschaft"--I have no idea what this means, but it's so much fun to say.  Also I'm pretty sure I sound very German when I say this in a low, angry voice.

I'm having so much fun learning German and saying things that I would never be allowed to say in English.  After I get home if you hear me saying entirely inappropriate things, like Schlittenfahrt please assume that I am just honing up on my German.