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. 

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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.

This week, let's review the vocabulary in German for political and geographical subdivisions. We will start from the largest subdivisions and proceed to the smallest.

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Dann natürlich auch, um 'nen fremden Kontinent kennenzulernen,

Then of course also in order to get to know an unfamiliar continent,

weil man aufm Fahrrad eigentlich so nah dran ist wie sonst nicht, wenn man reist.

because on the bicycle you actually are so much closer to it than when you otherwise travel.

Captions 14-15, Mountainbiken - Auf dem Anden-Trail

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Welches Land ist ein Nachbarland von Deutschland?

Which country is a neighboring country of Germany?

Caption 27, Bundesrepublik Deutschland - Einbürgerungstest - Part 14

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Die Region zwischen Amrum und Sylt wurde wegen der Meeressäuger unter Schutz gestellt.

The region between Amrum and Sylt was placed under protection because of the marine mammals.

Caption 2, Abenteuer Nordsee - Unter Riesenhaien und Tintenfischen

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You probably already know the word die Stadt ("the city") and related words like die Hauptstadt or die Großstadt. The word der Staat is not to be confused with die Stadt. Although the United States is die Vereinigten Staaten in German, the word used for a federal state is generally das Bundesland. Der Staat is more often used when referring to something being done or provided by the federal or state government. 

Es ist sein erster Besuch in Berlin als Präsident der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika.

It is his first visit to Berlin as the president of the United States of America.

Caption 4, Angela Merkel - Gemeinsame Pressekonferenz mit Barack Obama

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Der Staat muss die Gesetze einhalten.

The state has to abide by the laws.

Caption 4, Bundesrepublik Deutschland - Einbürgerungstest - Part 7

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In Deutschland gibt es in jedem Bundesland sogenannte Landeshauptstädte.

In Germany, there are so-called state capitals in each federal state.

Caption 15, Bundesländer und ihre Spezialitäten - Baden-Württemberg

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When speaking about a district of a city, or a "quarter," the German word is der Bezirk or der Stadtteil or das Viertel. The word der Kiez is used in certain cities on an informal basis to denote a particular part of a district that may even be just a few square blocks. In these places, it is much more commonly used than die Nachbarschaft. 

Hallo, ich stehe hier am Eingang des Viktoriaparks im Berliner Stadtteil Kreuzberg.

Hello, I am standing here at the entrance of Viktoriapark in the Berlin district of Kreuzberg.

Caption 1, Berlin - Eva im Viktoriapark

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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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In German, die Kleinstadt specifies a town rather than a city. To talk about rural life, there is das Dorf ("the village") and also die Gemeinde, which can be used for a rural community as well as an urban one. 

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Further Learning
Practice these words and their correct articles by describing where you live. Begin with the smallest area unit and progress until you are at continent level! Yabla German can provide more examples using these words if you get stuck on the declensions. 

If you happened to be reading a German article about a bracelet that Mick Jagger was wearing while recording the 1965 album Rolling Stones Vol. 2, you could potentially see the word Band appear three different times in single sentence, and yet the word would mean three very different things. That's a pretty unlikely scenario, but aren't you at least a little bit curious about the fact that there is a der, die and das Band?

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The masculine noun der Band is probably the least common of the three, and is a term primarily used with publications, such as a volume in a book series.

Seine Arbeit hat er jetzt im Bildband „Werbung gegen Realität" veröffentlicht.

He has published his work in an illustrated volume "Advertising versus Reality.”

Caption 34, Werbung gegen Realität - Kunstprojekt Fertigprodukte

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The plural of der Band is die Bände.

The neuter noun das Band has the largest variety of applications and possible translations: 

Allerdings ist es nicht das erste Band, das in diesem Jahr feierlich durchtrennt wurde.

However, this is not the first ribbon that was ceremoniously cut this year.

Caption 22, Rund um den Flughafen - Direktflug Frankfurt-Houston

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Das wird bei denen auf Band aufgezeichnet.

Because that is then recorded by them on tape.

Caption 57, Frankfurter Flughafen - Flugzeugschlepper

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Rund fünfundsiebzigtausend Exemplare liefen insgesamt vom Band.

Around seventy-five thousand specimens left the assembly line.

Caption 35, Porsche 356 - Der erste Porsche

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Das würde dann halt irgendwelche Bänder kosten da, wenn ich Pech hab'.

That would cost some ligaments then, if I'm unlucky.

Caption 91, Lokalhelden - Mini-Airplane - Part 2

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Note that the plural of das Band is die Bänder. Das Band is also used in a number of compound nouns, such as das Tonband (recording tape), das Fließband (assembly line or conveyer belt), das Armband (bracelet), das Halsband (collar or necklace), das Gummiband (rubber band) and many others. 

And now to return to the Rolling Stones with the feminine noun die Band:

Die Band mit den spröden Songs und den klaren, ehrlichen Texten…

The band with the rough songs and the clear, honest lyrics…

Caption 9, Pankow - Rolling Stones des Ostens

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Und weil die in ganz vielen Bands gespielt haben…

And because they played in a lot of bands…

Caption 23, Lokalhelden - Art House - Part 3

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Thus die Band singular becomes die Bands plural, just as in English.

So to simply round it all up:
— der Band (die Bände) is mostly about publications; 
— das Band (die Bänder) is mostly about things relating to belts and rubber bands, etc.
— die Band (die Bands) is about music groups.

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Further Learning
Look at these many examples of compound words containing Band and see if you can find them on Yabla German to see them used in a real world context.

In the lesson on The Many Ways to Say "Well" we covered one way to sound more like a German speaker. This time we'll talk about another: using slang or colloquial language. Tschüss (bye) is a good example of this. It's an informal way of saying goodbye and in many situations of even passing familiarity, it's how people part.

Let's look at some more slang you can sprinkle into your German speech.

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In the following example, we learn that:

Die Catwalks der Welt sind voll von schicken

The catwalks of the world are full of chic

und vor allem nicht ganz billigen Klamotten.

and, above all, not exactly inexpensive clothing.

Caption 2, Highend-Fashion aus dem Kloster - Ein Mönch als Maßschneider

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Klamotten is a very common colloquialism for "clothing." As with all such words, you might use it with a hip store clerk or a friend, but not with a complete stranger or even a less familiar coworker.

Another common slang word is blau, meaning "drunk":

Ich find' diese Aktion "bunt statt blau" total wichtig.

I think this campaign "Colorful Instead of Blue [Drunk]" is totally important.

Caption 3, Luxuslärm - rockt gegen's Saufen

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Slang can vary greatly according to region. The word Kiez, used in the following example, is fairly specific to Berlin, where it means a small, cohesive neighborhood. It is also used in Hamburg, and to a lesser extent in Hannover, where it is suggestive of prostitution. By contrast, it is entirely unfamiliar in most of southern Germany.

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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That just about wraps things up for now. Tschüss and till next time!

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Learning Tip

Getting frustrated with the pace of your learning? Try this fun exercise. Watch a video that is a level of difficulty higher than usual and then go back to one you had to work particularly at to master. You will find that you have come a longer distance than you had thought.