Every time i had to teach german adjective endings i was really happy that i had already learned it. The awful german languagemark twainfree downloadpdf. Published as appendix d from twains 1880 book a tramp abroad. To the best of my knowledge, no other language has inspired so many hilarious quotes about its difficulty. German has 16 definite articles some of them repeated, but each for a different gender and case, while finnish had 25. As stupid as some rules are, there are no exceptions. He is best known for the novels the adventures of tom sawyer 1876 and the adventures of huckleberry finn 1885, but he also wrote travel books and essays, many of them based on his experiences of life on the mississippi river. In it, twain explains, complains about, and shows how one might improve upon various aspects of the awful german language. Please keep reading, if you do not want to become just as desperate about it as he was declining it until the common sense is all declined out of it. The awful german language, mark twain, audiobook in english, librivox duration. The article analyses mark twains 1869 essay the awful german language in terms of twains comments on morphological, syntactical, lexical and phonological feature of german. The german language is a dozen fragments of words flung into an 35 mark twain. The awful german language is mark twains humorous account of his frustrations with the german language. When you want to present yourself well, you need to use good grammar.
The awful german language, by mark twain oh god, my wife. Nov 30, 2012 in honor of mark twain s birthday, heres a piece of writing advice from a letter he wrote to a student named d. Jan, 2016 the awful german language is mark twains humorous account of his frustrations with the german language. The famous writer mark twain used to make fun of the phenomenon of german adjective endings. Samuel langhorne clemens november 30, 1835 april 21, 1910, known by his pen name mark twain, was an american writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and. Ive recently been spending a good deal of time working through a german book, and today the laborious reading provoked me to recall an essay by mark twain that i discovered a couple years ago.
Samuel langhorne clemens november 30, 1835 april 21, 1910, known by his pen name mark twain, was an american writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer he was lauded as the greatest humorist the united states has produced, and william faulkner called him the father of american literature. Twain made his first unsuccessful attempt to learn german in 1850 at age fifteen. The awful german language is an 1880 essay by mark twain published as appendix d in a. Here is my simple way of explaining the adjective endings for each case. Mark twains various writings on german have me in hysterics every time i read them. How to start learning german as a complete beginner.
The awful german language by mark twain a little learning makes the whole world kin. May 18, 2007 the essay is available as a free mp3 in three parts. Mark twains essay on german the awful german language is a scream. I went often to look at the collection of curiosities in heidelberg. From my autobiography, the awful german language is a brilliantly funny essay. This book was written as a description of an extended visit to europe in 1878 and 1879, partly motivated by the desire of twain s readers and publisher to see another one of his travel books. Description of twains style as a writer of narrative prose.
Audiobooks, best free full audio books on youtube 591 views. The awful german languagemark twainfree downloadpdf epub. If youve ever studied german and maybe even if you havent, youre likely to find. The awful german language, revisited babbel magazine. It is not like studying german, where you mull along, in a groping, uncertain way, for thirty years taming the bicycle.
Jul 26, 20 the pitfalls one will encounter when trying to wrap ones mind around the torturous german cases, adjective endings, noun genders, and verb placement. Feb 12, 2016 the awful german language, mark twain, audiobook in english, librivox duration. Mark twains essay on german the awful german language. Mark twain probierte sein deutsch im concordia aus, einem club.
Nouns can be either masculine, feminie or neuter, words can be strung together to stretch on forever and there are about 90 different ways to say the. In honor of mark twains birthday, heres a piece of writing advice from a letter he wrote to a student named d. Throughout a tramp abroad, twains critical faculties seem somewhat dulled. Twain started his career at the newspaper the hannibal journal, and it was his life in hannibal, mo. The essay is a humorous exploration of the frustrations a native speaker of english has with learning german as a second language. All of these complaints and many more were famously gathered together by the american author mark twain in his essay the awful german language. If you ever have studied languages you should enjoy this 7,000word essay available online on the german tongue. Mark twain, the witty american writer, visited the german city of heidelberg for a few weeks towards the end of his life. But good old mark twain is correct about the good parts of the german language. I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief.
German also declines its nouns, articles, pronouns and adjectives into four grammatical cases nominative, accusative, dative and genitive an exceedingly difficult task for a foreigner. All great answers here, in my view ie 5 answers so far, as at sep 30, 2018, and even the collapsed one was good. The awful german language audio book librivox audio books. Mark twains the awful german language andy naselli. Oct 24, 2016 so i took great comfort in mark twains 1880 essay, the awful german language. Learning to identify adverbs and adjectives is essential to understanding how sentences are structured. The essay is available as a free mp3 in three parts. Samuel langhorne clemens, otherwise known as mark twain, counts as one of the most important american writers, and his style has influenced countless writers.
Moreover, i feel that mark twain had a quite good command of german. Librivox recording of the awful german language, by mark twain. He tried to learn german and reports in this texts about many difficulties he encountered. Mark twain and the awful german language ozy a modern. It appears as an appendix to his travel book a tramp abroad 1880, which chronicles a journey through europe which twain undertook between april 1878 and september 1879. Anyway this essay is useful for people to learn german. May 21, 2000 the awful german language is an essay written by the great american humorist mark twain and published as appendix d in his book a tramp abroad. Adverbs describe verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. Mark twain on german and english musings from the chiefio. Adverbs and adjectives are words that describe or modify. A tramp abroad, following the equator, other travels library of america no.
Vera meyer of the facebook group jewsjekkes engaged worldwide jekke or yekke has various specific meanings, but most broadly refers to a person of germanjewish background sent me a link to twains essay the other day, and it made. Since long before mark twain complained about the german. He describes the german people with cliche after cliche. Mark twain the awful german language shackman press. The mark twain image used in the video is taken from wikipedia and in the public domain. Mark twain hits upon some of the most discouraging and infuriating hangups for. Mark twain s notebook never knew before what eternity was made for. The article analyses mark twain s 1869 essay the awful german language in terms of twain s comments on morphological, syntactical, lexical and phonological feature of german.
The awful german language, by mark twain oh god, my wife is. This long essay is a work of mock philology, one of several appendices to twains travel novel, a tramp abroad. Mark twain the awful german language the shackman press. As these humorous quotes demonstrate, mark twain had a particular distaste for the german language. Aug 21, 2016 throughout a tramp abroad, twains critical faculties seem somewhat dulled. The awful german language by mark twain home languages german mark twain. On the other hand, i do hope that there are other similar analysis on other languages, which would give the learners a basic concept on the language to learn. Twains germans are orderly, clean, punctual and brave. Anyone whos tried to learn german knows how frustrating it can be. A tramp abroad by mark twain appendix d the awful german language. I went often to look at the collection of curiosities in heidelberg castle, and one day i surprised the keeper of it with my german. I went often to look at the collection of curiosities in heidelberg castle,and one day i surprised the keeper of it with my german.
Mark twain never knew before what eternity was made for. German also declines its nouns, articles, pronouns and adjectives into four grammatical cases nominative, accusative, dative and genitive an. Mark twain is funny, hilarious, and true as he precisely describes the confused feelings of any foreigner starting to learn german. But language is a treacherous thing, a most unsure vehicle, and it can seldom arrange descriptive words in such a way that they will not inflate the facts by help of the readers imagination, which is always ready to take a hand and work for nothing, and do the bulk of it at that. German books are easy enough to read when you hold them before the lookingglass or stand on your headso as to reverse the constructionbut i think that to learn to read and understand a german newspaper is a thing which must always remain an impossibility to a foreigner. The awful german language is mark twain s humorous account of his frustrations with the german language. Twain quips that in some cases when a german news publisher is in a hurry, it will have to go to press without getting to the verb at all. German gets his hands on an adjective, he declines it, and keeps on declining it until. The awful german language is an 1880 essay by mark twain published as appendix d in a tramp abroad. German cases and adjective endings chart ich hoffe.