GERMANY: BACKGROUND FEATURE INTO GERMAN GOVERNMENTS DECISION TO SIMPLIFY THE GERMAN LANGUAGE

Record ID: 646218

  • Title: GERMANY: BACKGROUND FEATURE INTO GERMAN GOVERNMENTS DECISION TO SIMPLIFY THE GERMAN LANGUAGE
  • Date: 22nd December 1997
  • Summary: BONN 1. INTERIOR OF GERMAN LANGUAGE SCHOOL 0.03 2. FOREIGN STUDENTS IN CLASSROOM (4 SHOTS) 0.13 3. TEACHER WRITING ON WHITEBOARD (3 SHOTS) 0.20 4. PEOPLE IN STREET 0.29 5. VOX POPS: "I find the whole thing dumb. I don't know why we need new rules, the language was fine the way it was." "It's all so confusing, should 'das' be spelled with one 's' or two? But it's too late to complain. They've already wasted so much money on this project, they might as well go ahead with it." "Maybe for the young people it is OK, but for old people like me it will be difficult, I plan to stick with the rules I learned at school." (GERMAN) (3 SHOTS) 0.52 6. COMMITTEE ON GERMAN SPELLING MEETING (3 SHOTS) 1.06 7. DR WERNER SCHOLZE-STUBENRECHT, EDITOR, DUBEN PUBLISHING, SAYING "The opposition in Germany was a bit surprising to me. It is something that should be done because it makes orthography and German a bit more systematic,easier to learn, and a bit easier to teach." (ENGLISH) 1.18 8. LANGUAGE COMMITTEE AT NEWS CONFERENCE (2 SHOTS) 1.26 9. MAN PROTESTING NEW RULES AT NEWS CONFERENCE 1.32 10. NEW SPELLINGS ON BLACKBOARD (5 SHOTS) 1.54 MANNHEIM 11. SCHOOL TEACHER FREIDRICH DENK DENCH LOOKING THROUGH PETITION AGAINST CHANGES (3 SHOTS) 2.07 12. DENK SAYING: "Known German linguists have stated that it is rubbish, I think we must stop this foolish act called spelling reform." (ENGLISH) (2 SHOTS) 2.21 13. PRINTING PRESS AT WORK (4 SHOTS) 2.30 14. PRINTER CHECKING PRESS 2.36 15. EXTERIOR OF DUDEN PRINTING WORKS 2.39 16. DR WERNER SCHOLZE-STUBENRECHT, DUDEN PUBLISHERS, SAYING "Nobody wants to buy dictionaries. Now all of a sudden they realize that they have to learn something new and they seem shocked that something they are used to should be different." (3 SHOTS) 2.59 17. INTERIOR OF CLASSROOM (2 SHOTS) 3.04 18. TEACHER URUSLA OBERHEM SAYING: It can be confusing....some schools are teaching the new German and others are teaching the old rules." (GERMAN) 3.13 19. TEACHER WRITING ON BLACKBOARD (2 SHOTS) 3.20 20. STUDENTS IN CLASSROOM (3 SHOTS) 3.28 21. STUDENT READING FROM BOOK (2 SHOTS) 3.41 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
  • Embargoed: 6th January 1998 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BONN, MAINZ AND MANNHEIM, GERMANY
  • City:
  • Country: Germany
  • Reuters ID: LVA4NQ48BF12IZM9AK5F7UTIVIEM
  • Story Text: INTRO: Germany is famous for its efficiency and logic. So what went wrong when they designed their language? German is notoriously complicated, its grammar so dense and illogical that even many native speakers don't know all the rules.

    But when the government decided to make the language simpler, things got ... well, even more complicated, as Reuters Colleen Connaughton reports from Bonn.

    ------------------------------------------------------------ THE AMERICAN WRITER MARK TWAIN ONCE DESCRIBED IT AS 'THAT AWFUL GERMAN LANGUAGE.' THE FOREIGN STUDENTS AT THIS LANGUAGE SCHOOL IN BONN MIGHT AGREE. GERMAN IS NOTORIOUSLY HARD TO LEARN.

    EVEN NATIVE SPEAKERS SOMETIMES STRUGGLE WITH THE COMPLICATED GRAMMAR AND SPELLING.

    BUT WHEN THE GOVERNMENT RECENTLY PRESENTED GERMANS WITH NEW RULES AIMED AT SIMPLIFYING GERMAN LANGUAGE, IT SPARKED UNEXPECTED PROTEST.

    -------------- VOXPOPS: "I find the whole thing dumb. I don't know why we need new rules, the language was fine the way it was." "It's all so confusing, should 'das' be spelled with one 's' or two? But it's too late to complain. They've already wasted so much money on this project, they might as well go ahead with it." "Maybe for the young people it is OK, but for old people like me it will be difficult, I plan to stick with the rules I learned at school." ----------------- IT ALL STARTED WITH THIS COMMITTEE -- LANGUAGE EXPERTS FROM GERMANY, AUSTRIA AND SWITZERLAND. AFTER DECADES OF WORK - THEY PRESENTED THE NEW GERMAN SPELLING REFORM PACKAGE.

    ------------------- CAPTION: DR WERNER SCHOLZE-STUBENRECHT "The opposition in Germany was a bit surprising to me. It is something that should be done because it makes orthography and German a bit more systematic,easier to learn, and a bit easier to teach." (ENGLISH) ------------------- THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS DIDN'T EXPECT THEIR PLAN TO CAUSE A STIR A THE MAJORITY OF GERMANS DONT WANT TO ACCEPT THE NEW RULES.

    UNDER THE NEW PLAN - MANY FOREIGN WORDS WOULD BE GERMANISED.

    RESTAURANT - WOULD BE SPELLED LIKE THIS.

    SOME COMPOUND WORDS - VERY COMMON IN GERMAN -- LIKE WIEDERSEHEN - TO MEET AGAIN - WOULD BE SPLIT INTO TWO WORDS.

    USE OF THE MUCH LOVED DOUBLE-SS, WOULD BE REDUCED. SOME CHANGES SEEM CLUMSY. THE WORD FOR NAVIGATION, FLUSSSCHIFFFAHRT - WOULD HAVE THREE FFF'S IN A ROW.

    ----------------- REPORTER STANDUP: THE NEW RULES REDUCE SPELLING RULES FROM TWO HUNDRED AND TWELVE TO ONE HUNDRED AND TWELVE AND COMMAS USAGE RULES FROM FIFTY-TWO DOWN TO NINE. THE REFORM WOULD BE THE FIRST OFFICIAL CHANGES TO THE GERMAN LANGUAGE SINCE 1902. THE GOAL OF THE COMMITTEE WAS TO MAKE GERMAN EASIER, BUT MANY GERMANS SEEMS RESISTANT TO CHANGE.

    ------------------- THE OPPOSITION, LED BY SOME WRITERS AND INTELLECTUALS, ARE CALLING ON GERMANS TO IGNORE THE NEW GRAMMAR.

    -------------------- CAPTION: FRIEDRICH DENK, SCHOOL TEACHER "Known German linguists have stated that it is rubbish, I think we must stop this foolish act called spelling reform." ------------------ FRIEDRICH DENK IS A SCHOOL TEACHER IN BAVARIA. HE'S COLLECTED OVER ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND SIGNATURES AGAINST THE REFORM.

    ------------------- CAPTION: FRIEDRICH DENK, SCHOOL TEACHER "The new rules are very confusing - students tend to make even more mistakes than before." ------------------- THE ENTIRE SPELLING REFORM PROJECT IS NOW IN DOUBT. PUBLISHERS ARE LOSING MILLIONS - MANY PRINTED BOOKS WITH THE NEW RULES - AND IF THE REFORM FAILS BOOKS WILL HAVE TO BE REPRINTED.

    THE COMPANY THAT MAKES GEMRANY'S MOST POPULAR DICTIONARIES HAS STOPPED PRINTING - UNTIL THE SPELLING CONTROVERSY IS RESOLVED.

    --------------------- CAPTION: DR WERNER SCHOLZE-STUBENRECHT "Nobody wants to buy dictionaries. Now all of a sudden they realize that they have to learn something new and they seem shocked that something they are used to should be different." ---------------------- WHILE LINGUISTS, POLITICIANS AND SPELLNG NERDS DEBATE - CHILDREN DON'T KNOW WHAT TO LEARN.

    ---------------------- CAPTION: URUSLA OBERHEM, SCHOOL TEACHER "It can be confusing....some schools are teaching the new German and others are teaching the old rules." ---------------------- SOME STATES WILL BE HOLDING REFERENDUMS ON WHETHER TO ADOPT THE NEW RULES OR NOT, AND PARLIAMENT WILL DEBATE THE MATTER SOON. GERMANY'S HIGHEST COURT WILL HAVE THE FINAL WORD - AND IS EXPECTED TO DECIDE THE FATE OF THE GERMAN LANGUAGE EARLY NEXT YEAR. UNTIL THEN GERMANY REMAINS IN LANGUAGE LIMBO.

    NARRATION: 10:47:12 to 10:51:13
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