Experiences learning the Bavarian dialect

[Guest]

 

Sounds a bit like Texan drawl, doesn't it?

Oh shit!!! THERE'S THE CONNECTION. The... the... the... missing link. :unsure:

[sarabyrd 18,767]

How long did it take to learn? - Three months but I was young and hung around the swimming pool a lot.

Should I learn it parallel to Hochdeutsch? - Definitely. Do your shopping in the bakery and butcher's instead of a supermarket, speak to the people in Hochdeutsch, they will answer is dialect, possibly repeating what you had said. Twist your tongue to make similar sounds. Stick to it, that's how you learn.

 

The Oberbayrisch that I learned around Rosenheim is more than slightly different from the Munich dialect. Don't try to understand them all, just get the hang of your local patois.

[GreenTea 89]

I'd agree with the advice to get a good command of Hochdeutsch, esp. the grammar, before starting on a dialect like Bavarian. When I came to Munich, back in the 70s, I had already studied German for 5 years at school in England, including German literature, both old and contemporary, so I felt quite well prepared ... but I had no idea what was about to hit me. Still, I rose to the challenge with the help of an entertaining book called "999 Worte Bayrisch", by Johann Lachner. Bavarian does have its own rules, and a grammar of sorts, so there's more to it than just learning a fresh set of vocabulary and pronunciation. It might be worth checking if there are any courses at the Volkshochschule. Now would be a good time to look into that, as they should be starting enrollment for the spring/summer semester soon.

 

If you're living here permanently, you'll probably pick it up after a few years anyway. I can now understand Bavarian without problems (well, most of the time anyway, and the Munich variety). I don't go out of my way to try to speak it, as I don't want it to sound artificial, but I suspect my German is probably tinged with a Bavarian accent by now anyway.

 

Bear in mind also that to really get to grips with the Bavarian language, you'll need to get to know a bit about Bavarian customs and tradition. Once you've got that far, you might enjoy this:

Der Brandner Kaspar und das ewig' Leben by Kurt Wilhelm and Franz von Kobell, a comedy play written in the tradition of Bavarian Volkstheater. It was hugely popular in Bavaria and had a very long run at the Cuvillies-Theater in Munich back in - IIRC - the 70's and 80's. Delightful wit and humour - but you have to understand Bavarian, or you won't have a clue what's going on.

[miwild 160]

... learning Bavarian with Gerhard Polt

[jctex 0]

Having read this thread, I am a bit lost on the degree of this subject. Would someone clarify (if possible) how much different the dialect of what is taught at a language school (Goethe for example) is than what is actually spoken by Munich natives? In other words, if someone learns German at a language school in Munich, will that person be able to communicate intelligibly with a native of Munich?

[antitiger 1]

Whether you want to focus on learning Bavarian probably depends on whether you also need to improve your hochdeutsch. If its already okay for normal situations, it might be time to focus on learning bavarian instead. Do your language teachers speak bavarian? Maybe they only know how to teach hochdeutsch, and you need to ask a specialised bavarian teacher about it (rom the rest of the thread it sounds like they might be hard to find though).

[miwild 160]

 

... will that person be able to communicate intelligibly with a native of Munich? ...

Only approx. 20% of the inhabitants of Munich are native Bavarian speakers ... and the majority of them are able (but not always willing) to express themselves in a language very close to standard German

[kitkat64 461]

 

If you're living here permanently, you'll probably pick it up after a few years anyway.

I've been here for 6 years and I will never learn it. Why? Because almost everyone that I speak with (colleagues, friends) are not originally from Munich. My husband (ick, hate that term) is from the Franconia part of Bavaria so he speaks this Franconian German. Others are from Hamburg, Frankfurt, Regensburg (have you ever heard that dialect - totally not understandable). So, you don't just 'pick it up'. And why would you want to anyway? It's OK to understand it, but to speak it?

[Punchbear 1,024]

 

So what's the word for Banjo in Zwieslerisch?

Zwangszipfe, Trommlgeigl, Draibaufsgeigl?

[Guest]

 

Would someone clarify (if possible) how much different the dialect of what is taught at a language school (Goethe for example) is than what is actually spoken by Munich natives?

Müncheners speak hochbairisch.

 

 

Zwangszipfe, Trommlgeigl, Draibaufsgeigl?

Stop it. I'm cryin' with laughter here.

 

Why is it that I think of Bavarians as German hillbillys?

[GreenTea 89]

 

if someone learns German at a language school in Munich, will that person be able to communicate intelligibly with a native of Munich?

If you learn proper Hochdeutsch and can speak it clearly and correctly, the "natives" will have no trouble understanding you. Will you be able to understand them? Well, I've heard it said that all Bavarians can speak Hochdeutsch - if they want to. Whether they do want to is another matter.

[miwild 160]

Wir können alles, außer hochdeutsch! ...

[Allershausen 6,414]

 

Müncheners speak hochbairisch.

This is true, go 30km in either direction and it might as well be another language.

[taxidriver 7]

 

They will often cut off the end of their verbs, such as when hineintun becomes hi-nai-dua.

Maybe someone in Munich says: hi-nai-dua (sounds pretty gay though) In werdenfels'risch hoast des: nai doa

 

 

Would someone clarify (if possible) how much different the dialect of what is taught at a language school (Goethe for example) is than what is actually spoken by Munich natives? In other words, if someone learns German at a language school in Munich, will that person be able to communicate intelligibly with a native of Munich?

Real bavarian (spoken outside of Munich) is a whole diffrent language and similar to german spoken in austria or switzerland. Try to follow a conversation two or more people are having in bavarian down here in the mountains. You and most other people would not have a clue what they just said...

But in Munich it should not be a problem. Most people who speak bavarian in Munich use a soft version of it. Granted the older generations(if the are natives from Munich) are still able to do the real deal but in the city itself it is a dying language. You have certain areas like Giesing, Sendling, Obermenzing and parts of Neuhausen were bavarian is more widely spread and understood. But the rest speaks a multicultural/multiethnical mix (with some bavarian words) that is spoken in any big city. Used to be diffrent 20 odd years ago but MTV and all the other "cool things" the "Spassgesellschaft" brought with them have a mayor (negative) effect on the dialect.

 

 

This is true, go 30km in either direction and it might as well be another language.

Very true, anybody wants to have a go on to translate this: De hoab i da scho' g'fressn, dia Reichsdeitschn! Ibaroi kemma's hi! Ned amoi dåhoam håt ma sei Ruah!

[Allershausen 6,414]

 

Very true, anybody wants to have a go on to translate this: De hoab i da scho' g'fressn, dia Reichsdeitschn! Ibaroi kemma's hi! Ned amoi dåhoam håt ma sei Ruah!

I'll give it a go, of course Bayerisch isn't really a written language so the way people write it is open to question.

 

"I've had that once, that was enough!"

 

Not sure about the middle bit but i think it's "I don't need to come"

 

and then it's "I don't even get any peace at home".

 

Hows that?

[Guest]

 

Real bavarian (spoken outside of Munich) is a whole diffrent language

Sorry, which real Bavarian? Only there were 19 different real Bavarian dialects last time I counted.

 

Zwo, zwe, zwa ^{*shakes head at Landshuters}

[SebAus 11]

 

anybody wants to have a go on to translate this: De hoab i da scho' g'fressn, dia Reichsdeitschn! Ibaroi kemma's hi! Ned amoi dåhoam håt ma sei Ruah!

I'll give it a crack, but it's been years since i've even HEARD Bayrisch, so forgive me if its wrong, but...

I've had enough of them , the (reichdeitschn? maybe Prussian...) they come from everywhere, can't even get any peace at home.

 

Once again, a thousand apologies if thats wrong.

[ruapehu 3,756]

SebAus is spot on, I'd say. I'm not sure of the translation of Reichsdeutscher in a modern context either , but either Prussian or just any German generally not from Bavaria!

[miwild 160]

 

... De hoab i da scho' g'fressn, dia Reichsdeitschn! Ibaroi kemma's hi! Ned amoi dåhoam håt ma sei Ruah! ...

Little surprise since the Bavarians were Reichsdeutsche themselves from day one of the German Empire ... one can hear the term "Reichsdeutsche" occasionally in Austria, which was not part of the then (1871) newly founded "Kleindeutschland" as opposed to the Großdeutschland envisioned by Austria before the "German War" of 1866

[Sue87 8]

Actually it would be "they're all over the place" rather than "they come from everywhere". Very certain about that, although I hasten to add that I speak Hochdeutsch!

 

If it makes any of you feel better, I can consider myself a native speaker of German as I grew up in this country, and I have a very hard time understanding real "hillbilly" Bavarians (or sometimes even Franconians, for that matter, and I've lived in the middle of Franconia since I was 3).

Might have something to do with the fact that I never heard any of that dialect stuff at home or from any members of my family, as none of them are German. At least that's the only reasonable explanation I've been able to come up with for why it never seemed to rub off on me.

Then again, my older brother sounds a bit Franconian when he speaks German. I guess it will always remain a mystery.

 

Bottom line is, the only people who really understand Bavarians are Bavarians. I find it hard to believe that they wouldn't know how to say words like "dahoam" in Hochdeutsch. They're capable of understanding the "Tagesschau" or reading the newspaper, after all, right?

I think they're just afraid of looking stupid when it turns out that they would have to concentrate real hard to speak proper German.

Which is kind of unfair, they should really think about the poor people that have to learn a difficult language like German in the first place. The least they could do if they have a non-German in their family is go a little bit out of their way to communicate.