Common Mistakes German Speakers Make When Learning English
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| Photo by Renato Silva, Sprachenatelier |
A few weeks ago, we posted about the
common mistakes that English speakers make when learning German.
Well, this week, it's time to look at things the other way around.
Having spent five months in Austria teaching school children and
working with Austrian people, and now living in Berlin, I think I am
fairly qualified and experienced to talk about the mistakes that
German speakers make when learning English. Often the mistakes they
make can be understood when you look at the German equivalent,
because a lot of people are still in the DANGER ZONE (see last post)
and are translating literally.
So, scroll down and have a read. If you
are a German speaker, maybe you can learn something, and if you're an
English speaker, maybe you recognise some of these mistakes from your
own experiences in Germany.
Let's get going! But first...
1) “Let me make a selfie!“
Remember the world's worst song that
was released in 2014? Who knew there was actually something to be
learned from it. We never MAKE selfies, or MAKE photos, we TAKE
selfies and photos.
* While we're here, I'd also just like
to point out that you don't MAKE
a party, you HAVE a party. Or you go partying. Or you go to a party.
Or you stay at home in bed eating crisps and hummus because we all
know that's the better option. *
2) Since and for
For example: It's 2016. Let's say in 2013 you
started studying:
I have been a student since 3
years. WRONG (always wrong, will never be correct, do not under any
circumstances say this)
I have been a student for 3
years. RIGHT
It's still 2016. In 2013 you were
living in Germany:
I lived in Germany for 3 years. WRONG
I lived in Germany 3 years ago. RIGHT
Okay you're right... the first sentence
isn't wrong, and you might well have lived in Germany for 3 years,
but here we want to express when you
were living in Germany, and saying you lived somewhere FOR x
amount of time tells us how long you lived there, not when.
This comes down to “vor“ sounding like “for“. (Don't worry,
us English speakers make the same mistake. “Ich wohnte für 3
Jahren in Deutschland“ when we really mean VOR.) Confused yet?
Good. Me too. Let's move on.
3) Difference
between fun and funny:
“I went to Peru and we did lots of
tours and sightseeing. It was really funny.“ Was it? Oh please, do
share the joke with us. FUN = noun, meaning pleasure or enjoyment.
FUNNY = adjective, meaning amusing or causing you to laugh
*Of
course there are a few other meanings. We can use fun as an
adjective: “It was a really fun day“ and funny to mean something
is strange or unusual: “A funny thing happened to me this morning.“
Otherwise, fun = noun and funny = adjective.*
4) Bekommen and become
Very similar sounding and similarly
spelled, I do see the struggle with this. And don't get me wrong, us
English speakers make the same mistake. “Nächste Woche bekomme ich
28.“ FALSCH. Just be careful. Werden = to become. Bekommen = to get
or to receive. My Austrian friend learned this the hard way by once
saying “I became a sausage for lunch“.
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| Illustration by Gabriel de la Hoz, Sprachenatelier |
5) How does it look like? How is it
called?
This is something that I find most
people get wrong when they speak English, and not just German
speakers, because in most languages it is a direct translation “wie
heißt du? Cómo se llama? Comment tu t'appelles?“. In English
however, it is wrong. Remember:
WHAT is about the OBJECT
HOW is about the METHOD
If you want to know somebody's name,
you ask “What is your name? What are you called?“. These are the
only two options. When asking for a description, it is a common
mistake to ask “How does it look like?“ Again, drop the how.
“What does it look like?“ is correct.
“Wir sehen uns nächste Woche“
“We see us next week“ WRONG
“We'll see each other next week“
RICHTIG
Yes, UNS and US look similar, but in
English we never use “us“ as a reflexive pronoun. Leave that
thinking behind in German.
SO. There's a few of the most common
mistakes that I have noticed. These are by no means really bad,
awful, terrible, unthinkable, stop-talking-english-right-now
mistakes. These are little things which English learners confuse and
get wrong, usually when they have already attained a very good level
of English. If there are any questions or anything is unclear, or you
have noticed a few other mistakes, or maybe you completely disagree
with what I've written, comment below and we'll get back to you. And
remember – as long as you're learning a foreign language, your
efforts will be appreciated no matter what, even if you do get things
a bit confused.
Bonnie
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