Hecker: Bow-wow-wow-wow? = Is that a Schnitzelbank?

Germerika: No, a Schnitzelbank is a carpenter’s bench (for planning down).

We pass it on to our children, because there are so many “ungehobelte = unplaned = boorish” people in America. - Says Mama …

Hardly any cultural characteristic is as important for the history and unity of the Germans as the language. At the same time it is however also the cultural characteristic that has suffered under the cultural developments of the last decades most conspicuously - in Europe too, by the way! …

While the capability to speak German in America (originally) got lost most of all by force, people in Europe destroyed their linguistic potential voluntarily – as a part of a general lack of national self-respect – or even out of self-contempt!

Language itself offers the easiest explanation: It doesn’t take much to replace “anti-Semitism” by “anti-Germanism” …

One feels the weight of responsibiliy less, if one dissociates oneself … - and imitating occupying forces is a very old primitive human behavior …

It would be enticing, to leave such negative aspects away at this important topic, but on the other hand they show how important it is that AMERICANS, with all the strengths of their self-confidence, learn German again!

One of the most remarkable symptoms of the „Anglicism-plague“ in Europe is, how they subverted the „emotional language“, as another result of a lack of self-respect. While one used to describe feelings proudly and skillfully, one is today only prattling and beating about the bush - using Anglicisms in Germany ...

In contrast to that, it would even have a doubled value, if German-Americans expressed their feelings with German words: You get used to it rapidly(!) and feel more German in your daily life - apart from that German-Americans recognize each other easier this way - and both is what our project is about. - So please all take part! ...

… and is it necessary to mention, that there are marvelous ways to express your anger or joy in German? We want to present a few especially nice expressions here soon. This job could however also be done by the readers of these lines, by interchanging in a forum.

That there is a lack of German-lessons in American schools, we’ve mentioned in the chapter „Taking part“, which is of course anyhow always important here, and also a look into our state-sites can be helpful, as many German-American clubs offer language-courses, sing in German (even though they don’t always master it perfectly ... - the singing and the language ...) and experience American history thereby (Germans established the choirs), as well as what the German language can cause in your life too: Comradeship, security, „Gemütlichkeit“, self-respect!

Most touchingly it has probably been said by the great Jewish sociologist Hannah Arendt, when she was once asked about the feelings with which she had experiences her first return to Germany, after having been prosecuted by the nazis as a little girl:

„Es hat mich ungemein gefreut, dass auf der Straße deutsch gesprochen wurde!“.

„It delighted me extraordinarily, that (people) spoke German in the streets.

Everyone, who considers the simplicity of this surprisingly-positive answer and the brutal, giant contexts, should actually feel, how much “language” can “express”!

... and why this text here began with criticism ...

This leads to our approach for the future:

There are many good reasons to learn German. A liste exists for example on the website of the German Language and School Society in Brookfield Wisconsin (dssvwi.org), but OUR approach stays the most AMERICAN one of all:

The German language belongs to America! The destruction of it’s importance was a betrayal against the USA and it’s constitution! Learning German in our days means contributing to making this right!

Today special Language-learning-sites make it possible, to really learn German at home or even mobile – just step by step - and of course there are also still the “good old” language tapes and CDs. Certainly many of our visitors know the “Pons dictionaries”. These also exist online.

www.pons.de even offers an automatic translation for entire sentences - for free! - Why don’t you just try it ... - for example greetings for cards can be translated easily this way.

... and finally germerika.net is all together concieved as a giant language training: Just open the articles in different tabs in German and English and than read the texts in both languages - it was a lot of work to write things so that the original texts and the translations are always as equal as possible!

A popular practice in America is the Schnitzelbank song. The time will come, when we’ll present an own Germerika-version of it. Currently however we simply haven’t made it that far. - On the other hand, creating such Schnitzelbank rhymes together with language students is certainly one of the easiest and nicest ways to integrate Germerika and Hecker into the real German-American cultural life ...

In this sense also this chapter may start as a motivation! It will however soon continue to develope - and until than we want to remember you once again of the link „Taking part“, where you can find the anthem of the United States in German, as this is certainly also already a great way to practice speaking German:

„...oh SAGT, dass dies Banner mit Sternen besäht, überm Lande der Frei’n und Tapf’ren noch weht!“