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I have the same in Berlin. My German is terrible, and I have real problems understanding it. But I have learned to say "Enscheldigung, mein Deutsch ist schlect"
by marcus_holmes 4y ago
I have the same in Berlin. My German is terrible, and I have real problems understanding it. But I have learned to say "Enscheldigung, mein Deutsch ist schlect" (excuse me, my German is terrible) so well that I find a lot of Germans assume I'm being modest and carry on speaking fluent German to me.
- solar-ice 4y agoThat's a pure misunderstanding; saying your German is terrible doesn't mean you want to speak English or you want someone to say something in simpler words, it just means your German is terrible.
- stdbrouw 4y agoActually, it does imply that you want the counterparty to speak more slowly or otherwise accommodate you. Otherwise there's no reason to point it out at all.
- synu 4y agoI’ve found in Germany it’s best to be direct and not rely on implication to make your point.
- Vinnl 4y agoI could interpret it to mean "please excuse my mistakes", which is some accommodation, but apparently not what they were after.
- Beldin 4y agoYup. I would indeed take it to mean "apologies that i am butchering this language and/or its grammar". Same thing in The Netherlands: if you're excusing your command of the language, that's polite. If you want to request something, you'd ask. Eg, "nicht zo schnell, bitte".
- jhugo 4y agoNo, in Germany it just means what it says. If you wanted them to speak slower you would have asked them to.
- DonHopkins 4y agoOr maybe they think he's saying "Entschuldigung, ich bin ein schlechter Deutscher."
- marban 4y agoYou need to work on your Rechtschreibung, too
- bigbacaloa 4y agoGermans understand you to mean that your German is terrible, but since if you wanted them to slow down and speak clearly you would have said so, they think nothing more of it than that your German is terrible and you are surprisingly self aware for an American (or whatever you are).
- marcus_holmes 4y agotoo true. I'm always caught out by how direct everyone is here :) It's refreshing in a way, though it does come across as incredibly rude too. I'm always thinking "why do you think I said that to you now?", because if someone said to me "sorry, my English is really bad" I'd respond with something like "Oh OK, I'll slow down then, or is there another language we share?". I was brought up in England, and there it can be very rude to ask for what you want directly (usually depending on class, as most things do in English culture). So it feels very wrong to just come right out with it ;) but I'm learning.