Berlinerisch, or Berliner Schnauze, as it’s also lovingly called, is our last post about the middle German dialects. As the name says, Berlinerisch is spoken in Berlin.
Anybody learning German who is struggling with the pronunciation of the ‘ch’ in ‘ich’ will love the Berlin dialect, because they say ‘ick’. I can almost hear you sigh and think ‘Why can’t they say this in all of Germany …’
But don’t take my word for it. Watch this great video with some Berlin sentences and explanations:
If you fancy something easy, watch these primary school children name some items in German, Berlinerisch and English:
And if you want something more difficult, watch this video – all in German and Berlinerisch:
This video mentioned an old Berliner poem. Can you work out what it’s about?
Berliner Klopsgeschichte
Ick sitz’ am Tisch und esse Klops,
uff eenmal klopp’s.
Ick kieke, staune, wunda mir,
uff eenmal jeht se uff, de Tier!
„Nanu!“, denk’ ick, ick denk’: „Nanu?
Jetz isse uff, erst war se zu?!“
Ick jehe raus und kieke
und wer steht draußen? … Icke.
Oh, and if a Berliner ever said to you ‘Ick liebe dir’ …. the use of the dative instead of the accusative is common in Berlin ☺
Did you miss my other dialect posts?
German dialects – Hamburgerisch and Ostfriesisch
German dialects – das Grafschafter Platt
German dialects – Mecklenburgisch
Your more advanced students might like to read Wolfdietrich Schnurre: “Man sollte dagegen sein”, large chunks of which are written in Berliner dialect -if I recall aright. The ‘forgotten classic’ of the ‘Stunde Null’ lit, it used to be an A level course book here in the UK.
(although knowing you Anschi, you’ve probably already done a blog post about him/it 😛 )
Nope, contrary to popular belief I have not covered everything ……. yet 🙂
Angelika! Enjoyed my visit. Very interesting presentation. Like taking in a language in, “small bites.” 🙂 Thank you for the opportunity. Fondly, Robin
Thank you Robin, and thanks for stopping by x
My pleasure. Bringing my husband back this morning. He had six years of German and is interested in seeing what you are up to! 🙂
Brilliant! I hope he likes it!