Have you ever seen "Berlin" as the verb berlinern? It means to speak with a Berlin dialect. Now you may not necessarily want to learn to speak like a waschechter Berliner (Berlin native), but it's good to get your ears around hearing it a bit so it's easier to understand! This week we'll go through some sample videos of people speaking Berlinerisch. Here are some of the main features of the dialect. 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Ick (or icke) instead of ich: 

Ick [ich] hab' die alle manipuliert, ick hab' die alle manipuliert.

I've manipulated them all, I've manipulated them all.

Caption 17, Rapucation - Lernen durch Rapmusik

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Wat instead of was: 

Und Bananen, so wat [so was] fressen bei uns nur die Affen, du Affe.

And bananas, only apes devour stuff like that where we live, you ape.

Caption 60, Die Klasse - Berlin '61

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Keen and weeß instead of kein and weiß; in fact, most standard German "ei" sounds are pronounced as "ee": 

Alle keen [kein] Zuhause oder wat [was]? -[„Die Anstalt“, Regie: Axel Bock]

All of you don't have a home or what? -["The Institution", directed by Axel Bock]

Caption 53, Alexander Hauff - Showreel

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Dett [dass] ick [ich] nicht deine Geliebte bin, weeß [weiß] ick [ich] och [auch].

I do know that I'm not your lover.

Caption 14, Mathieu Carriere - Ein Mann will nach oben

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You probably noticed too that dass in the above is spoken as dett and auch as och: a translation to standard German would be: Dass ich nicht deine Geliebte bin, weiß ich auch.

Another typical feature of Berlinerisch is that the hard German "g" is rendered as a soft German "j": janz jenau!

Sind janz [ganz] schön viele. -Bärbel.

That is a whole lot. -Bärbel.

Caption 12, Die Klasse - Berlin '61

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There are also a number of words that are unique to Berlin, such as der Kiez instead of die Nachbarschaft:

Gitarrist Jürgen Ehle wohnt seit fünfundzwanzig Jahren

Guitarist Jürgen Ehle has lived for twenty-five years

in dem Kiez und schwelgt in Erinnerungen.

in the neighborhood, and luxuriates in memories.

Captions 3-4, Pankow - Rolling Stones des Ostens

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Further Learning
Read the German Wikipedia page about the Berlin dialect and look for some of the unique Berlin words on Yabla German to accustom yourself to understanding it.

The words in the above headline all mean "at least," but it can be confusing as to which context is correct for the right word. Note too that "at least" is a prepositional phrase in English, whereas in German the expression is usually a simple adverb. The adverb mindestens is probably the most common: 

In Deutschland ist es so:

In Germany, it's like this:

Asylbewerber müssen mindestens drei Monate warten.

Asylum applicants must wait at least three months.

Caption 35, Flüchtlingskrise - 10 Vorurteile, die nicht stimmen

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BANNER PLACEHOLDER

The adverb mindestens usually, as in the first case above, refers to a length of time or an amount of something:

Heutiger Hochwasserstand: wieder mindestens zehn Zentimeter.

Today's flood water level: at least ten centimeters again.

Caption 44, Die Klasse - Berlin '61

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It's used somewhat less often to refer to circumstances: 

Zwar haben die Zuwanderer in der Regel eine hohe

Indeed, the immigrants normally have a high

oder auch mittlere Qualifikation,

or also mid-level qualification

die also mindestens einem deutschen, äh, Abschluss.

that is at least on par with a German, uh, degree.

Captions 35-36, Rhein-Main-TV aktuell - Mehr Beschäftigung in Rhein-Main

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The related adverb zumindest, on the other hand, is used much more commonly for situations rather than lengths of time or amounts: 

Nun, zumindest habe ich meinen ersten Anruf hinter mir.

So, at least I have my first call behind me.

Caption 69, Berufsleben - das Vorstellungsgespräch

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Be careful not to jumble mindestens and zumindest into one (incorrect) word, something that even native German speakers occasionally do!

Eislaufen ist leicht,

Ice skating is easy,

zumindestens [sic, zumindest] leichter als auf Vanessas Party eingeladen zu werden.

at least easier than getting invited to Vanessa's party.

Captions 82-83, Küss mich, Frosch - Leb wohl, kleiner Prinz

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So remember that mindestens and zumindest are real words, either of which would have been correct in the above sentence, but "zumindestens" is not a proper word at all!

Even less common, but making things even more complex, is the adjective min­des­te / min­des­ter / min­des­tes. This adjective can also be nominalized, or turned into a noun, such as das Mindeste (the least thing), or zum Mindesten (at least). 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning
Go to Yabla German and find examples of the above adverbs and adjectives to see how they are used in a real-world conversational context. To go even deeper into the adjectival usage, read the Duden page for min­des­te / min­des­ter / min­des­tes.  

Thank you for reading this newsletter and keep up the good work! If you have any good ideas for lesson topics, please email them to us at newsletter@yabla.com, and you can tweet us @yabla.

After some very pleasant summer weather, the last week has been very rainy in Germany. Like English, German has many words and expressions to describe different types of rain. Let's take a look at some examples from Yabla German. 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

In Berlin, we most often only have vereinzelte Schauer (what we refer to in English as "scattered showers"), but in other parts of the country flooding can become a real problem: 

Heutiger Hochwasserstand: wieder mindestens zehn Zentimeter.

Today's flood water level: at least ten centimeters again.

Caption 44, Die Klasse - Berlin '61

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Even when it isn't dangerous, rain can create a lot of complications: 

Der Dauerregen drückte zwar nicht auf die Stimmung...

The constant rain didn't dampen the mood...

Caption 7, FC Bayern München - Triple-Feier im Dauerregen

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The Piggeldy and Frederick cartoon linked below has quite an exhaustive list of types of rain: 

Es gibt Platzregen, Dauerregen, Sprühregen,

There are cloudbursts, [there is] constant rain, misty rain,

Nieselregen, Eisregen, Landregen, Gewitterregen,

drizzle, freezing rain, steady rain, thunder shower,

Sommerregen, Winterregen und Bindfadenregen."

summer rain, winter rain and string-like rain [pouring rain]."

Captions 10-12, Piggeldy und Frederick - Regen

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One other word to know is der Niederschlag ("precipitation") which is often used in weather reports:

Von Westen her kommen dann wieder Tiefausläufer,

Low-pressure areas are then coming from the west again,

die dann eben auch Niederschlag mit sich bringen können.

which can also then bring precipitation with them.

Captions 22-23, Rheinmain im Blick - Der Frühling ist da

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BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning
What kinds of rain are common where you live? Try to find the equivalent in German. For a challenge, watch this weather report for last week from der Spiegel.