4 ms·

German films are mostly not great, but if one wants to get immersed into the language, music and literature are much better places. And also comedy. The languag

by juvvel 2mo ago

German films are mostly not great, but if one wants to get immersed into the language, music and literature are much better places. And also comedy. The language allows for some great puns.

rob74 2mo ago
All foreign films are also dubbed, something I'm not a huge fan of, but at least you don't have to watch an actual German film to hear German... Also, BTW, there are some very good German films, but to enjoy most of them, you have to be able to relate to the cultural background.
i_am_a_peasant 2mo ago
A lot of good video games have decent German dubs, it was how I reached B2 German.
- aleph_minus_one 2mo ago
  > A lot of good video games have decent German dubs This in my experience only holds for AAA titles. For many smaller games, the German translation/localization is so bad that if one's English level is not insanely bad, it's even more comfortable to play the English version, and use a dictionary for lots of words (i.e. invest more time using the dictionary than playing the game) than tolerating the pain of how bad the German translation/localization is.
  - i_am_a_peasant 2mo ago
    Idk, do you play those point and click adventure games from early 2000s? Syberia? Broken Sword? they’re decent. Deponia also good, Truberbrook. What I cannot stand are things that are medieval and then everyone refers to you as Ihr instead of du or Sie. Was that even a thing? Even the star wars games do it… which i guess it’s because jedi “knights”.
    - aleph_minus_one 2mo ago
      > do you play those point and click adventure games from early 2000s? Yes (but this is off-topic). > Deponia also good, Truberbrook. For both of these games, the original native version is in German, so of course their German (not-)translation is good. :-) > What I cannot stand are things that are medieval and then everyone refers to you as Ihr instead of du or Sie. Was that even a thing? Even the star wars games do it… which i guess it’s because jedi “knights”. Yes, this is called called "Pluralis Majestatis": > https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluralis_Majestatis https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluralis_Majestatis The Pluralis Majestatis is a formal addressing that is more formal than (singular) "Sie" for a single person (typical for addressing aristocrats of higher a noble rank). The "Pluralis Majestatis" is not to be confused with the Pluralis Auctoris > https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluralis_Auctoris https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluralis_Auctoris and the Pluralis Modestiae > https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluralis_Modestiae https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluralis_Modestiae -- Concerning your point "What I cannot stand are things that are medieval and then everyone refers to you as Ihr instead of du or Sie. Was that even a thing?" Even the star wars games do it… which i guess it’s because jedi “knights”. As I already hinted: this is the correct for medivial setting if you have to address people of a higher a noble rank (if you don't use it, it would feel deeply wrong to native German speakers). Concerning "Star Wars": I know little about this topic, but your point shows that for a proper German localization, you really have to think deeply about which kind of group needs which kind of addressing to which group (informal pronouns, formal pronouns, Pluralis Majestatis, ...). For such settings which have no historical reference such as Star Wars I consider it to be very plausible that if the original setting was written in English, the authors never actually thought about such questions, so it is very likely that such questions were hushed over when a localization was done under time pressure (or English native speakers who commissioned the translation/localization underestimated the importance of such considerations).
      - account42 2mo ago
        > if you don't use it, it would feel deeply wrong to native German speakers I don't think its true. In fact the opposite is both more common and more ridiculous, e.g. phrase like "Halten Sie die Fresse".
- juvvel 2mo ago
  The Witcher 3 is great in German. It actually suits the game a lot better than English imo.
  - i_am_a_peasant 2mo ago
    Yeah I’ve only played witcher 3 in german. I don’t even know the english names of many characters.
- account42 2mo ago
  Or are German in the first place. The original Gothic games and Daedalic point and click adventures for example.
FinnKuhn 2mo ago
On the other hand, the dubbing for foreign movies is usually very well done though.
- spankibalt 2mo ago
  I wanted to leave this Faden for all the immigrant voices but this misinformation simply cannot stand, lol. Dubbing for foreign movies is an art long lost in Germany; the East Germans (DEFA) were especially good at it, my favorite being Karel Steklý's eternal Dobrý voják Švejk (The Good Soldier Schweik), for which DEFA tapped the Austro Rudolf Wessely. And today? Whenever I get exposed to a German dub I get reaquainted why I call that stuff the Fremdschämspur (the cringe track).
  - soco 2mo ago
    I have no idea what you mean, because I also feel dubbing in Germany comes out pretty much right. Mouth is moving (mostly) in sync, even. I can compare with other countries where I watched dubbed stuff, but let's not compare and stick to Germany: well done.
    - Mashimo 2mo ago
      It might be good compared to other countries, but it still "feels" strange. Unsettling. I rather have the undubbed version. Big budget animated movies often have great dubbing.
    - spankibalt 2mo ago
      > [...] because I also feel dubbing in Germany comes out pretty much right. You've got to be kidding me, lol. Anyway, voice (character) mismatch is the first thing I often notice. How often have I heard a commanding adult in English dubbed into what sounds like a tortured, overemoting teen/twen in the German version (I feel it's especially pronounced in women's characters but that might be just sample bias). Even deadpan delivery sounds tryhard. And it's not just for English, either. Modern German dubs, to me anyway, are their own comedic genre. And make no mistake: I'm fuckin' serious about it. Just study some classics. You'll see.

by juvvel 2mo ago

German films are mostly not great, but if one wants to get immersed into the language, music and literature are much better places. And also comedy. The language allows for some great puns.

rob74 2mo ago

All foreign films are also dubbed, something I'm not a huge fan of, but at least you don't have to watch an actual German film to hear German... Also, BTW, there are some very good German films, but to enjoy most of them, you have to be able to relate to the cultural background.

i_am_a_peasant 2mo ago

A lot of good video games have decent German dubs, it was how I reached B2 German.

aleph_minus_one 2mo ago
> A lot of good video games have decent German dubs This in my experience only holds for AAA titles. For many smaller games, the German translation/localization is so bad that if one's English level is not insanely bad, it's even more comfortable to play the English version, and use a dictionary for lots of words (i.e. invest more time using the dictionary than playing the game) than tolerating the pain of how bad the German translation/localization is.
- i_am_a_peasant 2mo ago
  Idk, do you play those point and click adventure games from early 2000s? Syberia? Broken Sword? they’re decent. Deponia also good, Truberbrook. What I cannot stand are things that are medieval and then everyone refers to you as Ihr instead of du or Sie. Was that even a thing? Even the star wars games do it… which i guess it’s because jedi “knights”.
  - aleph_minus_one 2mo ago
    > do you play those point and click adventure games from early 2000s? Yes (but this is off-topic). > Deponia also good, Truberbrook. For both of these games, the original native version is in German, so of course their German (not-)translation is good. :-) > What I cannot stand are things that are medieval and then everyone refers to you as Ihr instead of du or Sie. Was that even a thing? Even the star wars games do it… which i guess it’s because jedi “knights”. Yes, this is called called "Pluralis Majestatis": > https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluralis_Majestatis https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluralis_Majestatis The Pluralis Majestatis is a formal addressing that is more formal than (singular) "Sie" for a single person (typical for addressing aristocrats of higher a noble rank). The "Pluralis Majestatis" is not to be confused with the Pluralis Auctoris > https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluralis_Auctoris https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluralis_Auctoris and the Pluralis Modestiae > https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluralis_Modestiae https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pluralis_Modestiae -- Concerning your point "What I cannot stand are things that are medieval and then everyone refers to you as Ihr instead of du or Sie. Was that even a thing?" Even the star wars games do it… which i guess it’s because jedi “knights”. As I already hinted: this is the correct for medivial setting if you have to address people of a higher a noble rank (if you don't use it, it would feel deeply wrong to native German speakers). Concerning "Star Wars": I know little about this topic, but your point shows that for a proper German localization, you really have to think deeply about which kind of group needs which kind of addressing to which group (informal pronouns, formal pronouns, Pluralis Majestatis, ...). For such settings which have no historical reference such as Star Wars I consider it to be very plausible that if the original setting was written in English, the authors never actually thought about such questions, so it is very likely that such questions were hushed over when a localization was done under time pressure (or English native speakers who commissioned the translation/localization underestimated the importance of such considerations).
    - account42 2mo ago
      > if you don't use it, it would feel deeply wrong to native German speakers I don't think its true. In fact the opposite is both more common and more ridiculous, e.g. phrase like "Halten Sie die Fresse".
juvvel 2mo ago
The Witcher 3 is great in German. It actually suits the game a lot better than English imo.
- i_am_a_peasant 2mo ago
  Yeah I’ve only played witcher 3 in german. I don’t even know the english names of many characters.
account42 2mo ago
Or are German in the first place. The original Gothic games and Daedalic point and click adventures for example.

FinnKuhn 2mo ago

On the other hand, the dubbing for foreign movies is usually very well done though.

spankibalt 2mo ago
I wanted to leave this Faden for all the immigrant voices but this misinformation simply cannot stand, lol. Dubbing for foreign movies is an art long lost in Germany; the East Germans (DEFA) were especially good at it, my favorite being Karel Steklý's eternal Dobrý voják Švejk (The Good Soldier Schweik), for which DEFA tapped the Austro Rudolf Wessely. And today? Whenever I get exposed to a German dub I get reaquainted why I call that stuff the Fremdschämspur (the cringe track).
- soco 2mo ago
  I have no idea what you mean, because I also feel dubbing in Germany comes out pretty much right. Mouth is moving (mostly) in sync, even. I can compare with other countries where I watched dubbed stuff, but let's not compare and stick to Germany: well done.
  - Mashimo 2mo ago
    It might be good compared to other countries, but it still "feels" strange. Unsettling. I rather have the undubbed version. Big budget animated movies often have great dubbing.
  - spankibalt 2mo ago
    > [...] because I also feel dubbing in Germany comes out pretty much right. You've got to be kidding me, lol. Anyway, voice (character) mismatch is the first thing I often notice. How often have I heard a commanding adult in English dubbed into what sounds like a tortured, overemoting teen/twen in the German version (I feel it's especially pronounced in women's characters but that might be just sample bias). Even deadpan delivery sounds tryhard. And it's not just for English, either. Modern German dubs, to me anyway, are their own comedic genre. And make no mistake: I'm fuckin' serious about it. Just study some classics. You'll see.