Post by karl on Dec 11, 2017 8:35:55 GMT -7
Language is a tool of communication, in this manner, to be successful, the receiver must understand the sender, or it will not work. But in such a multicultural area such as Neukölin, this concept has a tendency to be a bit challenging. But then,for every question of: Why? there is the answer of: Why not?
Zeit Online
Berlin Neukölln
:
Do you speak Hipster?
The Conservative Jens Spahn recently complained about people speaking too much English in Berlin-Neukölln. "The
Guardian"-reporter Kate Connolly checked his theory.
Von Kate Connolly
5. Dezember 2017 6 Kommentare
AUS DER
ZEIT NR. 50/2017
DIE ZEIT 50/2017
Berlin Neukölln: On Hermannplatz, Hussein sells his coffee speaking English, Turkish and Spanish. The 37 year old is still working on his German.
On Hermannplatz, Hussein sells his coffee speaking English, Turkish and Spanish. The 37 year old is still working on his German. © Nikita Teryoshin für DIE ZEIT
Within 10 minutes of walking through the door of the most German of department stores on Hermannplatz in Neukölln, "Karstadt", several sales assistants in the department store have allowed me to bend their ears with my queries on everything from the compatibility of different makes of wooden rail tracks in the toy department, to the origins of a make-up range at the beauty counter, or the availability of a make of Irish handbag in the luggage section. Only in English. In the konfiserie, my inquiry into whether they stock a certain brand of chocolate is met with raised eye-brows, and it ping-pongs between three assistants, before the one with the most passable English responds: "zis iz not in our range, I am sorry." All very polite, patient and, by Berlin standards, surprisingly
smiley.
This is where the experiment began: at 10am, on a gorgeous autumnal day in October, I was trying to find out just how far a native speaker gets by only speaking English in Berlin Neukölln. The Conservative Jens Spahn (CDU) recently complained about restaurants where one would be served exclusively in English, mainly in Neukölln. Well, yes, Neukölln. That part of Berlin former mayor Heinz Buschkowsky warned about parallel Turkish or Arabic societies springing up. Even Spahn himself has complained about the number of headscarves he counts there. But now the hipster is to blame, because he speaks to much English. I want to check his theory. How far will I, as a native speaker, get speaking English and only English? Is Neukölln now as globalised as he claims?
Immediately outside, the market on the square is in full flow, buzzing with the stall holders' banter, in German, Turkish, Arabic. Locals drift through, on their way to work, or meander slowly, enjoying the warmth of the sun. Hussein pours a coffee for a homeless man in a khaki jacket and rucksack, waving his hand when the man asks if he can give him his last 30 cents towards it. Coffee Bus Berlin is a bright yellow vision which Hussein has converted from a VW camper van. Rather ingeniously the roof opens up to become the black board behind the counter on which the wide range of coffees he serves is chalked. Lattes, Macchiatos, Americanos, and Cappucinos - "lactose-free, caffeine-free, with soya, without, however which way you want it," he recites in perfect English. Coffee Bus Berlin attracts a constant flow of customers and, as I try to converse with him, Hussein switches between German, Turkish and English to communicate with them, and once during my short stay, even produces a smattering of Spanish. "In this part of Berlin you should be able to speak English," he says, in a US-accent. "But here almost everyone also speaks German, and many many people who don't are here specifically to learn it." Learning German has become a lot more fashionable in recent years, he thinks.
Born in Anatalya, Hussein moved to New York almost 12 years ago. There he met his German wife and they decided to move to Berlin from New York City around 18 months ago. The 37 year old is working on his German, so English is his preferred means of communication. The gowns in a wedding dress shop on the corner of Weserstrasse come in a multitude of hues and are mostly priced at between 289 and 299 Euros. A sales assistant emerges from a back room, saying she speaks "little English", but enough to tell me to "not photograph and not touch." If we like, there are more "married dresses" upstairs, she says.
We keep on walking on Weserstraße, entering the heart of Neukölln. Vasiliki, who describes herself as a "Greek-born Berliner" and is wearing a t-shirt bearing the slogan: "What Does Ok Actually Mean?" She co-runs the Alfa and Omega International Afro shop on Weserstrasse. It sells cosmetics for dark skin, as well as a vegan range, a wide array of hair extensions and wigs in everything from pink to ginger, alongside African, South American and European foodstuffs, including mango beer, Malta guinness, 'Let's Dred’ coconut oil, and Rotkäppchen Sekt. She speaks a heavily-accented English. She has learnt her English over the years largely from the huge flow of foreigners she has met coming in and out of the city, she says. Does she think English is too dominant in the district? "If anything dominates it's Arabic and Turkish. But I certainly don't think there's too much of anything. But at the end of the day it doesn't matter what language you speak, as long as you communicate. Those who say there's too much this or that spoken are just scared of humans," Vasiliki insists. I have trouble at first understanding her very German-style English, but mulling it over at the counter while she switches to German to admire her neighbour's new crew cut, her meaning gradually becomes clear.
Speaking to her, I find myself modifying my English so that I drop pronouns or change my grammar to simplify what I'm saying. It is, I suppose, a subconscious attempt to fit in, so that I too sound like a German speaking English. Sometimes I wonder whether over the years I'll adopt their version of the language, and lose my own 'Queen's English' skills.
Presenter
Karl
Zeit Online
Berlin Neukölln
:
Do you speak Hipster?
The Conservative Jens Spahn recently complained about people speaking too much English in Berlin-Neukölln. "The
Guardian"-reporter Kate Connolly checked his theory.
Von Kate Connolly
5. Dezember 2017 6 Kommentare
AUS DER
ZEIT NR. 50/2017
DIE ZEIT 50/2017
Berlin Neukölln: On Hermannplatz, Hussein sells his coffee speaking English, Turkish and Spanish. The 37 year old is still working on his German.
On Hermannplatz, Hussein sells his coffee speaking English, Turkish and Spanish. The 37 year old is still working on his German. © Nikita Teryoshin für DIE ZEIT
Within 10 minutes of walking through the door of the most German of department stores on Hermannplatz in Neukölln, "Karstadt", several sales assistants in the department store have allowed me to bend their ears with my queries on everything from the compatibility of different makes of wooden rail tracks in the toy department, to the origins of a make-up range at the beauty counter, or the availability of a make of Irish handbag in the luggage section. Only in English. In the konfiserie, my inquiry into whether they stock a certain brand of chocolate is met with raised eye-brows, and it ping-pongs between three assistants, before the one with the most passable English responds: "zis iz not in our range, I am sorry." All very polite, patient and, by Berlin standards, surprisingly
smiley.
This is where the experiment began: at 10am, on a gorgeous autumnal day in October, I was trying to find out just how far a native speaker gets by only speaking English in Berlin Neukölln. The Conservative Jens Spahn (CDU) recently complained about restaurants where one would be served exclusively in English, mainly in Neukölln. Well, yes, Neukölln. That part of Berlin former mayor Heinz Buschkowsky warned about parallel Turkish or Arabic societies springing up. Even Spahn himself has complained about the number of headscarves he counts there. But now the hipster is to blame, because he speaks to much English. I want to check his theory. How far will I, as a native speaker, get speaking English and only English? Is Neukölln now as globalised as he claims?
Immediately outside, the market on the square is in full flow, buzzing with the stall holders' banter, in German, Turkish, Arabic. Locals drift through, on their way to work, or meander slowly, enjoying the warmth of the sun. Hussein pours a coffee for a homeless man in a khaki jacket and rucksack, waving his hand when the man asks if he can give him his last 30 cents towards it. Coffee Bus Berlin is a bright yellow vision which Hussein has converted from a VW camper van. Rather ingeniously the roof opens up to become the black board behind the counter on which the wide range of coffees he serves is chalked. Lattes, Macchiatos, Americanos, and Cappucinos - "lactose-free, caffeine-free, with soya, without, however which way you want it," he recites in perfect English. Coffee Bus Berlin attracts a constant flow of customers and, as I try to converse with him, Hussein switches between German, Turkish and English to communicate with them, and once during my short stay, even produces a smattering of Spanish. "In this part of Berlin you should be able to speak English," he says, in a US-accent. "But here almost everyone also speaks German, and many many people who don't are here specifically to learn it." Learning German has become a lot more fashionable in recent years, he thinks.
Born in Anatalya, Hussein moved to New York almost 12 years ago. There he met his German wife and they decided to move to Berlin from New York City around 18 months ago. The 37 year old is working on his German, so English is his preferred means of communication. The gowns in a wedding dress shop on the corner of Weserstrasse come in a multitude of hues and are mostly priced at between 289 and 299 Euros. A sales assistant emerges from a back room, saying she speaks "little English", but enough to tell me to "not photograph and not touch." If we like, there are more "married dresses" upstairs, she says.
We keep on walking on Weserstraße, entering the heart of Neukölln. Vasiliki, who describes herself as a "Greek-born Berliner" and is wearing a t-shirt bearing the slogan: "What Does Ok Actually Mean?" She co-runs the Alfa and Omega International Afro shop on Weserstrasse. It sells cosmetics for dark skin, as well as a vegan range, a wide array of hair extensions and wigs in everything from pink to ginger, alongside African, South American and European foodstuffs, including mango beer, Malta guinness, 'Let's Dred’ coconut oil, and Rotkäppchen Sekt. She speaks a heavily-accented English. She has learnt her English over the years largely from the huge flow of foreigners she has met coming in and out of the city, she says. Does she think English is too dominant in the district? "If anything dominates it's Arabic and Turkish. But I certainly don't think there's too much of anything. But at the end of the day it doesn't matter what language you speak, as long as you communicate. Those who say there's too much this or that spoken are just scared of humans," Vasiliki insists. I have trouble at first understanding her very German-style English, but mulling it over at the counter while she switches to German to admire her neighbour's new crew cut, her meaning gradually becomes clear.
Speaking to her, I find myself modifying my English so that I drop pronouns or change my grammar to simplify what I'm saying. It is, I suppose, a subconscious attempt to fit in, so that I too sound like a German speaking English. Sometimes I wonder whether over the years I'll adopt their version of the language, and lose my own 'Queen's English' skills.
Presenter
Karl