Berlin

[erotic cheeses]

Just come back from a long weekend there - great place if you get the chance to visit

[Larry B.]

Can confirm. The one other city that changed my life.

[Artemis]

Been there twice - love it!

It's a city I would live in.

[Hype]

Ditto. It's my favourite city on the planet.

[Matz]

what a Berlin love fest

[Mescal]

what a Berlin love fest

Yeah, what's up with that.

It's ok. But to say the greatest city ever? Do have a lot of cool vintage stuff though. I wished I was with a truck last time I was there.

I don't like Germans too much though

[Hype]

Yeah I get that. Mescal, if it's any consolation, Northern Europe in general is great. I've heard nothing but great things about Copenhagen, but just haven't had the chance to go.

As a descendant of a holocaust survivor, I have a weird connection to Germany and the German people. My experience of most Germans was that they are an incredibly warm people (supposing they're not neo-Nazis, and the Bavarians are a little different) -- at least, the younger generations.

I went to the Netherlands too, and, aside from Krakle, found the Dutch culture much more like the Canadian... nice, but cold.

As a city, Berlin just seemed like it had everything in the right place.

To be fair, a lot of other cities in Europe are probably similar (I'm sure Vienna and Prague are just like that, and probably Budapest too.) But then again, Germany also has the strongest economy in Europe. I also went there just after the World Cup in 2006, so I guess maybe it's different now.

[Larry B.]

All the Germans I've met have been nothing but great. The ones that pissed me off were German-Chilean, so that's alright.

To me, Berlin felt like a city that had the perfect balance of joy and pain. Inhabited by people who will work efficiently but will demand a relaxed evening and a good night's rest. It felt comfy.

[erotic cheeses]

Awful food though....

[creep]

Awful food though....

and sorry but awful language too. just very harsh sounding. i have never been a fan.

best sounding languages:

1- english with an australian accent
2-french
3-italian

that's all i can think of now

[Larry B.]

Awful food though....

That shit they sell in the street is tastier than most of the stuff in a lot of restaurants. You're crazy.

Awful food though....

and sorry but awful language too. just very harsh sounding. i have never been a fan.

best sounding languages:

1- english with an australian accent
2-french
3-italian

that's all i can think of now

As an absolute expert in languages and one of the greatest geniuses on Earth, I can safely say you're mistaken. You should get a hearing checkup.

Best sounding languages (in the Western world)

1- Argentinian Spanish. Very sexy intonation, rich vocabulary and the best ingredients of Italian.
2- English with a manc accent. The best language 'nockin' abou'.
3- German. Very strong, logic and accurate.

[perkana]

It's a city I would live in.

[perkana]

Awful food though....

and sorry but awful language too. just very harsh sounding. i have never been a fan.

best sounding languages:

1- english with an australian accent
2-french
3-italian

that's all i can think of now

you haven't heard me yet...

[perkana]

Awful food though....

That shit they sell in the street is tastier than most of the stuff in a lot of restaurants. You're crazy.

Awful food though....

and sorry but awful language too. just very harsh sounding. i have never been a fan.

best sounding languages:

1- english with an australian accent
2-french
3-italian

that's all i can think of now

As an absolute expert in languages and one of the greatest geniuses on Earth, I can safely say you're mistaken. You should get a hearing checkup.

Best sounding languages (in the Western world)

1- Argentinian Spanish. Very sexy intonation, rich vocabulary and the best ingredients of Italian.
2- English with a manc accent. The best language 'nockin' abou'.
3- German. Very strong, logic and accurate.

It's fun to hear Argentinians, but it's not particularly my favorite accent. Chilean accent is not that bad, once you get used to it.

[Hype]

Awful food though....

Depends on how much you like schnitzel, sausages, and roasts, and what region you go to (best food I had was in Munich, by a long shot... but I had difficulty with the city itself)... Also, best bread in Europe, by far.

Dutch food was pretty lame by comparison, frankly. Except some of the desserts.

As for how the language sounds... I think again it depends on which dialect and which people are speaking it. Bavarian bothers me, but the Hamburg accent sounds awesome.

German might also be the least harsh of the Germanic languages... Norwegian sounds brutal to me.

Blixa Bargeld is a good example of the (a) Berlin accent, which imho sounds similar to the Hamburgisch.

[perkana]

As for how the language sounds... I think again it depends on which dialect and which people are speaking it. Bavarian bothers me, but the Hamburg accent sounds awesome.

It's Hochdeutsch:

Linguistically and historically, it refers to the High German languages (Hochdeutsche Sprachen), or dialects (Hochdeutsche Mundarten/Dialekte), which developed in the Southern uplands and the Alps, for example, modern central and southern Germany (Saxony, Bavaria, etc.), Austria, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland. This is opposed to Low German dialects (Plattdeutsch, Niederdeutsch), which developed on the lowlands and along the flat sea coasts of modern northern Germany (Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Hamburg, etc.).
It is also used to refer to Standard German, a standardized form of the German language (Standarddeutsch), used as a written language, in formal contexts, and for communication between different dialect areas, which everybody in the German-speaking regions is supposed to understand, and which is taught to foreigners. This use is somewhat misleading since it collides with the linguistic term for the High German languages, but in fact Standard German is composed mostly from these High German dialects.

[nausearockpig]

Awful food though....

and sorry but awful language too. just very harsh sounding. i have never been a fan.

best sounding languages:

1- english with an australian accent
2-french
3-italian

that's all i can think of now

I'll read to you for $50 an hour if you like...

Awful food though....

That shit they sell in the street is tastier than most of the stuff in a lot of restaurants. You're crazy.

Awful food though....

and sorry but awful language too. just very harsh sounding. i have never been a fan.

best sounding languages:

1- english with an australian accent
2-french
3-italian

that's all i can think of now

As an absolute expert in languages and one of the greatest geniuses on Earth, I can safely say you're mistaken. You should get a hearing checkup.

Best sounding languages (in the Western world)

1- Argentinian Spanish. Very sexy intonation, rich vocabulary and the best ingredients of Italian.
2- English with a manc accent. The best language 'nockin' abou'.
3- German. Very strong, logic and accurate.

I'll read to you for $50 an hour too

Perk: the Chilean accent is an odd one... You can really spot the differences between Argentine and Chilean a mile off... it's gold..

[Hype]

True. I didn't want to sound too pretentious... but I do have a degree in German.

[perkana]

Awful food though....

and sorry but awful language too. just very harsh sounding. i have never been a fan.

best sounding languages:

1- english with an australian accent
2-french
3-italian

that's all i can think of now

I'll read to you for $50 an hour if you like...

Awful food though....

That shit they sell in the street is tastier than most of the stuff in a lot of restaurants. You're crazy.

Awful food though....

and sorry but awful language too. just very harsh sounding. i have never been a fan.

best sounding languages:

1- english with an australian accent
2-french
3-italian

that's all i can think of now

As an absolute expert in languages and one of the greatest geniuses on Earth, I can safely say you're mistaken. You should get a hearing checkup.

Best sounding languages (in the Western world)

1- Argentinian Spanish. Very sexy intonation, rich vocabulary and the best ingredients of Italian.
2- English with a manc accent. The best language 'nockin' abou'.
3- German. Very strong, logic and accurate.

I'll read to you for $50 an hour too

Perk: the Chilean accent is an odd one... You can really spot the differences between Argentine and Chilean a mile off... it's gold..

I know! Lately I have a soft spot for Chilean and Colombian accents
And I agree with creep, Aussie English sounds lovely.

[Artemis]

To my ears the worst sounding language is Filipino(Tagalog).

[Hype]

To my ears the worst sounding language is Filipino(Tagalog).

I think I agree. We might just be racist though..

Some languages/accents, other than German, that I think sound nice:

• British-educated Indians of a certain kind (especially women, but some men), speaking English.
• Bulgarian, but it might just be because of this:
  
  FYI:

  In the 1980s, Ivo Watts-Russell (founder of 4AD) was introduced to the choir from a third or fourth generation audio cassette lent to him by Peter Murphy, singer from the band Bauhaus. He became thoroughly entranced by the music, and tracked down and licensed the recordings from Cellier. So in 1986, it was re-released on the 4AD label in the UK, in 1987 the Nonesuch label in the US and on the Philips label in other territories.

• Romanian

I think the Austrialian English accent sounds stupid... makes me cringe (But I also think this about Canadian accents. I hate that my own voice now has some of the Ottawa Valley sounds in it... ugh...) . Likewise, sorry to Krakle, but a lot of Dutch sounds to my ear like deaf people trying to speak German (I know that's a horrible way to put it, but that's what it sounds like to me... and I work on Dutch philosophy...).

[creep]

But I also think this about Canadian accents.

sorry...out of all of the english accents yours are the worst followed by (sorry romeo) thick new york accents.

[Hype]

But I also think this about Canadian accents.

sorry...out of all of the english accents yours are the worst followed by (sorry romeo) thick new york accents.

I really dislike the upstate NY (Rochester, Buffalo) accent. Not a fan of Boston either (eithah).

There are different Canadian accents, but I agree that a lot of them are terrible. the one I mentioned, the Maritime accents... they're awful.

[Japhy]

On the aussie english thing... the few times i've been to Canada, they always know i'm english (and generally get quite excited - maybe that's me more than the accent!). The first time i went to New York however, they couldn't make their mind up whether i was a brit or an aussie!

I don't have any real language preferences (not that i've ever actually thought about for any length of period at least) but Penelope Cruz can talk to me all bloody day any time she likes.

In terms of the actual topic... can't comment, never been. I think you'll agree that my input has been phenomenal.

[Bandit72]

Australians have an awful accent. Kiwis do too, but I actually prefer it. I've been to New York twice, but I think there are about 50 odd nationalities (in Manhatten anyway) so you don't really feel as if you don't fit in.

Catalan is my favourite language by a country mile, closely followed by Spanish. English accents in this country can be pretty grim too.

I've never been to Berlin either, only Frankfurt, and from what I remember it was very cool. Never had a problem with Germans ever. I even went to the 1999 Champions League final in Barcelona with some of my United supporting friends and we had a really good laugh with the Bayern fans.