The essay is a humorous exploration of the frustrations a native speaker of english has with learning german as a second language. Fur seine beruhmtesten geschichten als schriftsteller. Mark twain ebooks epub and pdf downloads ebookmall. Mark twain the awful german language the shackman press. Es hat mich tief geruhrt, meine herren, hier so gastfreundlich. Preface from the preface to the english edition of mark twains sketches if i were to sell the reader a barrel of molasses, and he, instead of sweetening his substantial dinner with the same at judicious intervals, should eat the entire barrel at one sitting, and then abuse me for making him sick, i would say that he deserved to be made sick for not knowing any better. Oct 02, 2018 the awful german language, by mark twain 1880 as read by luke amadeus ranieri german was my first foreign language, which i learned in high school and i have loved it ever since. Mark twain the awful german language shackman press. My philological studies have satisfied me that a gifted person ought to learn english in 30 hours, french in 30 days. And we are surprized to know that many of the defects of that language used to be the rule in the english language, and that some of them appear to have still been noticed in print in mark twain s days.
Sein eigentlicher name ist samuel langhorne clemens. The awful german language, by mark twain 1880 as read by luke amadeus ranieri german was my first foreign language, which i learned in high school and i have loved it ever since. Da auch ich deutsch lerne, kann ich seine frustration gut nachvollziehen. Meine philologischen studien haben mich davon uberzeugt, dass ein begabter mensch englisch au. Wer nie deutsch gelernt hat, macht sich keinen begriff, wie verwirrend diese sprache ist. The awful german language is an 1880 essay by mark twain published as appendix d in a tramp abroad. Lawrence, the president of the lotos club, recalled the fact that the first club dinner in the present clubhouse, some fourteen years ago, was in honor of mark twain. I went often to look at the collection of curiosities. Mark twain is funny, hilarious, and true as he precisely describes the confused feelings of any foreigner starting to learn german. A tramp abroadappendix d wikisource, the free online library. A tramp abroadappendix d wikisource, the free online. Mark twain in heidelberg a tramp abroad the awful german.
Samuel langhorne clemens november 30, 1835 april 21, 1910, better known by his pen name mark twain, was an american author and humorist. Im folgenden konnen sie ein teil dessen ubersetzung ins deutsche lesen. Mai2005montag ein bisschen bildung macht alle welt verwandt. Compliments and degrees delivered at the lotos club, january 11, 1908 in introducing mr.