Understanding German native speakers at work?

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Re: Understanding German native speakers at work?

Postby jeff_lindqvist » Mon Nov 15, 2021 4:17 pm

german2k01 wrote:I have a question. I have observed one thing at work; the German native workers who work there most of the time slur their words a lot. Just to give you an example, I can easily understand a banker at a local Deutsche bank even though he uses above-average words. It really depends on elocution and my understanding of German varies a lot based on who is speaking.
(...)
Is there a way to close this gap? Listen to podcasts that involve a lot of social interactions or listen to an audiobook at 1.3x speed? Is there some targeted listening I have to do in order to understand them better?


Just a thought - don't you think that second language learners of English would also find a UK banker a lot easier to understand than, say, the average bloke in the pub, workers, teenagers, people on the bus? No textbook or audio course in the world will prepare you enough for "real language".
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Re: Understanding German native speakers at work?

Postby Monty » Mon Nov 15, 2021 4:43 pm

Working class speech is always much more difficult to understand - even for people with near-native level proficiency in the target language. This is true even when said working class people are not speaking in any regional dialect.
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Re: Understanding German native speakers at work?

Postby AllSubNoDub » Mon Nov 15, 2021 5:32 pm

Call it good timing, but SpanishInput's method of transcription seems like a very good intensive listening exercise used in conjunction with videos of German spoken on the streets (some excellent resources already given). I would assume it could be used just as well for any language.
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Re: Understanding German native speakers at work?

Postby german2k01 » Mon Nov 15, 2021 6:22 pm

Just a thought - don't you think that second language learners of English would also find a UK banker a lot easier to understand than, say, the average bloke in the pub, workers, teenagers, people on the bus? No textbook or audio course in the world will prepare you enough for "real language".


Yes, that's why I asked. Just hang in there, falter, again and again, ask for repetition of sentences and etc In the end, my subconscious mind will get used to it with the passage of time. It is just a few days.
Also, the choice of words these workers use is not covered in whatever books/novels I have read so far; that's another challenge. There is a word for a storage room, for different kinds of hand gloves, etc I guess life will get better?
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Re: Understanding German native speakers at work?

Postby german2k01 » Mon Nov 15, 2021 6:28 pm

AllSubNoDub wrote:Call it good timing, but SpanishInput's method of transcription seems like a very good intensive listening exercise used in conjunction with videos of German spoken on the streets (some excellent resources already given). I would assume it could be used just as well for any language.


I think I also need to change my sources of content; EasyGerman I think is a great source; I did not use it at the beginning stage as my level was very low and it could be quite a disheartening experience understanding off the cuff language spoken on the streets so I stuck with dubbed television shows to build up my listening base. Now I am slightly venturing into listening to podcasts on Audible and I think that adding Easy German or YT vlogger etc is what I also need to improve my listening skills.
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Re: Understanding German native speakers at work?

Postby Le Baron » Mon Nov 15, 2021 9:46 pm

german2k01 wrote:
Here's a good channel with real people speaking. What makes is special is that it has subtitles. A perfect training machine.


Exactly. That's how they speak. I will be importing videos to lingQ for reading purposes and listening to them again after studying a transcript. Thanks for sharing the link.

Excellent advice above. This whole question is why I was questioning the value of reading classic audiobooks in the other thread. Not so much that they are entirely useless, but because matching audio with those books will not, as einzelne said, match how people talk in real life. It is that speech with which you need to familiarise yourself.

However, there are two things to consider:

1. Transcripts will help at first, but at some point you should forget transcripts for this particular purpose.
2. You need to familiarise yourself with certain pronunciation features and of certain words. Also to learn the few repeated slang words and filler they are likely using. This is done by speaking, interacting and asking questions, rather than observing from afar like an ethnologist.

There are still some people I run into here whose accent or heavy dialect catches me off guard and I have been actively speaking Dutch every day for 20 years. In several provinces and two countries in professional and everyday situations. I don't see this changing. Be aware that no matter who you are, foreigner or native, people adjust to the person with whom they are speaking. It is more or less according to who you are, to how much comprehension you initially display.

To get past this it's good to ask what words people are using. Make friends with someone casually and let them talk. Usually they will start by giving you a break and speaking 90% standard language so you understand. They'll ask you questions and you can be pushed into responding as best you can. They will help you. This person (or people) will also assist you in interpreting other people who address you in e.g. the work environment. It means you don't have to fall into that vortex when someone is speaking and they just rattle on and you get into a comprehension deficit. The very best 'shadowing' you can do is to shadow these people talking, to ask them what they are saying, to copy them and reuse it.

Over time, yes, you will become more and more accustomed to the varied sounds and repeated speech patterns and this will break down most of the barrier. It never gets totally eliminated though. This is normal.
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Re: Understanding German native speakers at work?

Postby tungemål » Tue Nov 16, 2021 5:32 pm

Le Baron wrote:There are still some people I run into here whose accent or heavy dialect catches me off guard and I have been actively speaking Dutch every day for 20 years. In several provinces and two countries in professional and everyday situations. I don't see this changing. Be aware that no matter who you are, foreigner or native, people adjust to the person with whom they are speaking. It is more or less according to who you are, to how much comprehension you initially display.

I'm guessing that you could run into native English speakers with accents or heavy dialects that catches you off guard, too? But in our native language we are more confident. Of course a second language will always be a bit harder. But I often feel more insecure and start to second guess myself in a foreign language, while if I meet a Norwegian who speaks fast, slurry or with a heavy dialect I don't have a problem because:
1 - I rely on understanding the meaning and fill in the blanks (guess) if I miss some words
2 - I ask if there's anything that i don't get
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Re: Understanding German native speakers at work?

Postby Le Baron » Tue Nov 16, 2021 5:52 pm

tungemål wrote:I'm guessing that you could run into native English speakers with accents or heavy dialects that catches you off guard, too? But in our native language we are more confident. Of course a second language will always be a bit harder. But I often feel more insecure and start to second guess myself in a foreign language, while if I meet a Norwegian who speaks fast, slurry or with a heavy dialect I don't have a problem because:
1 - I rely on understanding the meaning and fill in the blanks (guess) if I miss some words
2 - I ask if there's anything that i don't get

I've never had real trouble understanding any accent from Britain (maybe some from the top of Scotland). I'm from around (and lived in) the Border regions so those were never a problem. The only ones I've had to ask for minor repeats are the West Country dialects.

Outside Britain, yes a few. In the U.S. in Georgia. Never had major trouble with Aus/NZ though. I've also done as you say, filling in blanks or asking.
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Re: Understanding German native speakers at work?

Postby Kraut » Sat Nov 20, 2021 9:48 pm

Telephone pranks are a good source for spontaneous colloquial language, all the better if accompanied by the script.

Der kleine Nils Spaßtelefon

Die Telefonzelle und ich

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tqt1wkdZ-jY

Kleiner Nils
Ich hab in die Hose gemacht und frag bei einem Mann um Hilfe. Der hat mich aufgefordert, die eingesauten Klamotten auszuziehen, was ich auch gemacht habe... IN EINER TELEFONZELLE!

Der kleine Nils ruft bei der polnischen Botschaft an
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPVFL3e ... l=FunJakob
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Re: Understanding German native speakers at work?

Postby TopDog_IK » Fri Jan 06, 2023 2:39 am

german2k01 wrote:Hello guys,

I have a question. I have observed one thing at work; the German native workers who work there most of the time slur their words a lot. Just to give you an example, I can easily understand a banker at a local Deutsche bank even though he uses above-average words. It really depends on elocution and my understanding of German varies a lot based on who is speaking.


My suggestion would be lots and lots of reality TV shows. They work like a charm. Also watch youtube and twitch streams/videos, and podcasts, especially ones with multiple speakers. What you need is a lot of extemporaneous speech, as opposed to scripted speech. A bank teller might speak like a person in a scripted tv show, easy to understand. But go to a party with some natives and your comprehension will drop dramatically, because their speech is unscripted. Extemporaneous speech is much less predictable than scripted speech. Also you can try doing some transcription or subtitling with native content. That will boost your comprehension and teach you valuable skills, in terms of figuring out what is being said.
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