Thread: German vs. French

Pick the language you like better, for whatever reasons, musical or nonmusical.

I grew up in France (and Switzerland) and speak the language so I'd have to pick French. I'm a long way away from there but got the opportunity to go back in June and it felt like home.

Fluent in German, a status I never reached with french even though we lived there for two years.

I prefer French, but I wish I were fluent in German. A ton of the great sacred works are in German, and I dislike having to stare at librettos with imprecise translations.

As for French, I remember once someone asked a renouned linguist what his favorite word was. He immediately said,
"Fr-o-o-o-m-a-a-a-ge." Leave it to the French to have a beautiful word for something as basic as cheese.

For the French, cheese is definitely not basic - it is to be savored in all its variations.

In vocal music, especially the baroque, French is so much more fluent and natural sounding.
I've always found the German language awkward and ugly with music.
The only composer that seems to transcend this successfully is the great JS Bach.

I really would love to understand German as there are often great interviews in the German press.

Languages I speak in order of preference:

French, Italian, Spanish, English, Dutch, Flemish, German and lastly Romansh.

I also know a little Yiddish but don't ask me to say anything please. I also did Latin at school but I don't claim to remember it.

Originally Posted by mamascarlatti

I really would love to understand German as there are often great interviews in the German press.

It's never to late to learn Mama a cheap book from Amazon and off you go. There are a lot of German interviews of the classical kind on YouTube well worth watching if you know a little German.

Every time they sing "Niiiiiiibelung" I always have to smile.



"Niiibelung"

But other than that one word I prefer french.

Just my $0.02, don't buy that Rosetta Stone course. From what I've heard about it, it is ridicilously overpriced and not all that helpful.

Originally Posted by SiegendesLicht

Just my $0.02, don't buy that Rosetta Stone course. From what I've heard about it, it is ridicilously overpriced and not all that helpful.

My language learning capabilities are only matched by my love of popular musical genres. I learnt French for 12 years and I can barely go to the supermarket on holiday there. I'm not learning either at this stage I think.

As for myself, I am a hopeless, incurable Germanophile, both as concerns music and the language as such (in fact I fell in love with the language a bit earlier before I fell in love with Wagner). I am listening to parts of Siegfried right now and cannot detect any ugliness whatsoever

Originally Posted by SiegendesLicht

Just my $0.02, don't buy that Rosetta Stone course. From what I've heard about it, it is ridicilously overpriced and not all that helpful.

I agree with Siegey it won't teach you anything that a book or audio CD/mp3 can't for much cheaper.

Originally Posted by Lenfer

I agree with Siegey it won't teach you anything that a book or audio CD/mp3 can't for much cheaper.

Thanks, both of you! I've always felt guilty for not shelling out big bucks for that.