Last week I came across an interesting blog post from EF English Live which is aimed at Germans learning English. It was about how much English they already speak as part of their German language. It was partially about ‘proper’ English, but most of the article was about ‘Denglisch’- English words which have been Germanised.
- Words like E-Mail and Skateboard, which have been taken over by the German language as they are.
- Words like Gehirnwäsche (brainwashing), which have been translated literally.
- Words like Pferdeschwanz, which haven’t been translated directly. The English word is pony tail and therefore the German should be Ponyschwanz.
And lots more. You can read the whole article here: Wie viel Englisch beinhaltet Ihr Deutsch wirklich? It could be a good ‘read German’ practice!
They also have a quiz where German speakers can find out how much English they understand. EDIT: They sadly deleted it on their site which means you can’t play it here either.
