Will Germans get offended if I speak a dialect of German rather than standard German (Hoch Deutsch)?
I am currently in Germany and I am taking German classes. The classes are in standard German but I also learn a bit by living here. An American friend said that Germans are offended by foreigners speaking a dialect of German (which I am likely to pick from living in Saxony) rather than standard German. Is this true?

Thanks for reading :)

Question

Will Germans get offended if I speak a dialect of German rather than standard German (Hoch Deutsch)?
I am currently in Germany and I am taking German classes. The classes are in standard German but I also learn a bit by living here. An American friend said that Germans are offended by foreigners speaking a dialect of German (which I am likely to pick from living in Saxony) rather than standard German. Is this true?

Thanks for reading :)

Answer

That's rubbish, no one will be offended! In general accents are charming! However, it can be a bit funny listening to a foreigner speak a German accent. Especially when it comes to a Saxon accent (not all Germans like it). So you might make some people smile with it and hopefully this will not offend you then. ;)

Answer

No, not at all! =) Every German will be glad that you are learning this hard language and that you are trying to talk in German. The dialect doesn't matter at all.
Quite the reverse! It will be a good reason to start a conversation: "what, you can speak Saxon, how does it come?"...and so on =)

Answer

First of all, nobody will be offended when you speak a dialect. The question is how they will judge you when they hear you speaking. And then there is the question whether you really speak the dialect or just Standard German with a more or less distinct accent.

When talking to people from the same area, a local accent and some dialect expressions will usually be fine, as it reduces the distance between you and them. On the other hand, people who don't speak the same dialect, will expect you to speak a clear Standard German. A slight accent that reveals where you come from (or where you learned German), will still be ok (although some older West Germans particularly don't like the Saxon accent, because it reminds them of the former East German border police). But if you can only speak a heavy dialect and cannot express yourself in proper Standard German, people will perceive you as "uneducated" - which is something you should avoid as much as possible.

Answer

I think that depends on the person. In my experience, I have never heard of a German person becoming offended because of someone using a bit of dialect, but if you use the dialect outside of the region it comes from, you may run the risk of not being understood. That is the only issue that I could foresee by speaking in dialect rather than the standard German.

I think some locals may actually find your attempt at the dialect endearing,  but again, that depends on the individual.

Answer

Nice. Unless you stay with old aged Saxons, and make philological surveys in the local library, you will optimistically learn some "youth slang" rather than the "dialect".

I see some foreigners here, being interested in an Italian dialect rather than in Italian itself. This is very nice and curious to see, but the choice is perhaps due to where they are going to spend their holidays

If you feel this desire, you might of course study the local dialect with books and talking with old people: I myself have found it very nice and helpful to dig "in the roots" of my new hometown (and I myself have tried to learn a German dialect!)

Unfortunately, yes, there often is a bit of racism behind a dialect. But to what I see, I don't think that a saxon accent is exactly your issue ( LOL ); and in any case, I'm sure you will never be going to speak a saxon dialect in Munich.

Who knows, your nordic accent could be a good starting point in a southern conversation; but no one is made to be appreciated by everyone. So you know it. Bye

Answers · 8

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