Language Barriers

There are many aspects to Language that have been barriers since we have arrived in Germany. I had the impression that since English is considered a universal language more of the street signs and store signs would be in English. I had difficulty knowing the types of stores or what product/service they offered when no pictures were present. When ordering at restaurants I thought the process would be much easier. The majority of menus are in German, but you can ask for English menus. At most fast food chains or local to-go places English menus are not available, so again we have to go by the pictures on display.

Another language barrier that has presented itself occurs when asking for directions. The majority of Germans I have met or come in contact with have been able to speak English. However, they seem to be hesitant about speaking English in the case that they may be wrong or make a mistake. I think as Americans we are bolder and will try to say German words without worrying about wrong pronunciations. In the subway stations when I have been in a group of people and we were not sure about which direction we should be headed in or what train we need to get on, people were not very helpful when we tried approaching them. I chose the picture above because while at a subway station I could not read the posters because they were all in German, with no English translations available. Demonstrating the lack of directions and information available in English within the subways stations.

On a more personal level, when speaking to the students of the IMK institute in Berlin there have been a few language barriers as well. All of the students are well learned in English, however, we speak much faster and use slang which they have difficulty understanding. In one of our classes the professor used the term “geek culture” and the German students were very confused. She had to use the word nerd for them to understand the concept she was trying to relay. However, in this case I really believe that patience can eliminate a lot of the barriers that exist. If we make a conscious effort to slow down and enunciate our words it is much easier for them to understand our English.

The last language barrier I noticed has occurred at clubs. But, this barrier exists on the German’s part. The clubs that we have visited in Berlin play a variety of music ranging from Hispanic music, reggae, pop, hip-hop, and techno at one location. I observed that even when the Germans cannot speak English very well they still know almost all the lyrics to every song playing. This concept ties in with the Media System Dependency Theory, because the media is having effect on their feelings and behaviors. They are altering their behavior, which is to speak in their native language- German, to sing in a language that is unfamiliar to them-English. For example, One of my friends at the IMK Institute was singing along to a hip hop song, he knew the lyrics but stopped to ask me the meaning behind the lyrics were. It is interesting that music is something that we can all relate to even when we do not speak the same language.