Franconian Beer Message Board

Excitement mounts in the Dative
Posted by barry on 2013-10-28 04:46:25
I guess (US usage) that you are correct about the influence of the English language media.  Conversely, it is one of the reasons that native English speakers from all countries find learning other languages so difficult.  We just do not have that level of immersion or acquaintance with any other dominant language.

Interesting comments about 'Bierkeller English'.  I wonder whether this is because it is simpler to learn to conjugate one verb 'to do' than to learn conjugate every other verb and also have to worry about strong and weak verbs?  This is what so many English speakers find so difficult about German, English usage having largely done away with these distinctions over the centuries.  I suppose (having never really thought about it before) that, conversely, this is one of the reasons that non-English speakers find it relatively easy to make themselves understood.  We always say to people who worry about their grammatical grasp of the English language that you can structure a sentence in almost any order and be understood (though not necessarily recommended) - similarly with spelling as we prove all the time on this and most other internet forums! 

Perhaps the use of auxullary verbs is the logical development of the West Germanic languages and the Bierkeller folk are simply following a path established by English speakers over the years.  Most interesting.
 
Followups:
                       Evolution of English and German by Uncle Jimbo on  2013-10-28 19:55:06
                       Excitement mounts in the Dative by Nick B. on  2013-10-29 12:37:29
                         Evolution of English and German by Nick B. on  2013-10-29 12:42:00
                           Evolution of English and German by barry on  2013-10-30 04:39:06
                         Excitement mounts in the Dative by barry on  2013-10-30 05:01:34
                             Evolution of English and German by Uncle Jimbo on  2013-10-30 05:41:34
                               Evolution of English and German by Uncle Jimbo on  2013-10-30 05:50:12
                                 Evolution of English and German by Nick B. on  2013-10-30 05:58:08
                                   Evolution of English and German by Uncle Jimbo on  2013-10-30 20:03:42
                                     Evolution of English and German by Nick B. on  2013-10-31 01:14:22
                                       Non-standard German by Nick B. on  2013-10-31 01:18:38
                                       Evolution of English and German by FredW on  2013-10-31 05:01:57
                                       Evolution of English and German by Uncle Jimbo on  2013-10-31 06:11:15
                                         Evolution of English and German by Nick B. on  2013-10-31 06:04:43
                                           Evolution of English and German by TreinJan on  2013-10-31 09:07:35
                                             Evolution of English and German by Nick B. on  2013-10-31 12:48:41
                                         Evolution of English and German by barry on  2013-10-31 13:21:56
                                           Evolution of English and German by Uncle Jimbo on  2013-10-31 16:40:03