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Issue 14/2005, June 2 2005 (No. 188)
German version
Finds (4)
Fundsachen (4) German version 

        
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Mein Style
From the advertising of a clothing manufacturer

A few weeks ago a bill on a tree struck me. The heading on the bill was 'Nachhilfe Unterricht' (private lessons). The private tutors, who offered this lessons, described themselves as 'hochqualifizierte Pädagogen' (highly qualified educationalists). They described their teaching method as 'Lernen mit Fun' (learning with fun).
 
The funny thing is, that the highly qualified educationalists made a spelling mistake: They wrote 'private lessons' as two words 'Nachhilfe Unterricht', but it is one word: 'Nachhilfeunterricht'. Their spelling seems to be anglicized. Many compounds, which are one word in German, are two words in English, for example 'Fahrradladen' and 'bicycle shop'.
 
The highly qualified educationalists seem to love English. They didn't use Anglicisms, they bravely used English words in a German sentence: 'Lernen mit Fun'. But they were not brave enough. They used an English noun, but they also used the German capitalization of nouns.
 
I understand their problem: I often use the English word 'website' in my German texts. I don't know an apter and shorter term. Sometimes I write 'Website' and sometimes I write 'website'.  
 

 
A few weeks ago I found this bill on a tree.
 
But there is a distinction between their problem and my problem: You can easily translate the English word 'fun' into German: 'Spaß' or 'Scherz'.
 
Wait! A German brewery writes the English word 'fun' with a capital. Their alcohol-free beer is called 'Fun'.

Please also read Finds (5)

Next issue 'The Daily Groove':
Thursday, June 9 2005


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We would like to point out that we translated articles from German into English for the purpose of service. We would like to make it clear that the German translations are deciding, because the articles are directed to users who live in Germany.

Wir möchten darauf hinweisen, dass wir zu Servicezwecken englische Übersetzungen vorgenommen haben. Klarstellen möchten wir, dass maßgeblich die deutsche Übersetzung ist. Grund dessen ist, dass wir uns an in Deutschland ansässige Nutzer wenden.

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