It is Tuesday afternoon and here in Neu Ulm at the Edison it must be almost 26 degrees and set to get hotter still. My class of information managers are all trying to decide which fictional employee to give a job too and hopefully the whole exercise will take up the rest of the afternoon. Having to type on a German keyboard means my educated British fingers keep thinking that z is y or rather y is z the keys are transposed and of course all the punctuation is a mystery so no contractions in this blog. It is so hot that all I am thinking of is getting home sitting on the balcony and watching Voyager now that Sky re runs have reached series four. Cool For tomorrow my British and American TV class at the Uni will be watching The Office, Sex in the City and Queer Eye for the straight gu (UK) so they will be studying the pink pound and surreal docucomedy.
Someone on Quora asked the loaded question - why are Germans so unfriendly - and when I read this at the crack of dawn I could not resist the temptation to answer it with one finger typing on my tablet. So here is the text below German social behaviour is different from say, English speakers. English is a mid-subtle language. Saving face and politeness are important, being perfect is less important. German dignity comes from merit. Being perfect is important. 1. We generally avoid direct refusals English : We'll see what we can do . German. No . 2. Specific confirmation of informal social events. English: "Are you going to the pub on Friday? Probably/possibly/perhaps /maybe." (avoids No) German: " Yes + time/No ." 3. The imperative: (which is considered abrupt or rude in English even if you have authority. Imperative sentences are normal in German.) English: "Could you give me that book?" German: " Give...
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