Why Can't Germans Say 'Squirrel'?

Scot Dutchy · **#61** by **Scot Dutchy** » Mar 09, 2012 6:45 pm

Regina wrote:Well, I can say Enschede, at least!

How about "meeuwen" (seagulls) or "leeuwen" (lions).

The sound does not exist in English.

Regina · **#62** by **Regina** » Mar 09, 2012 6:46 pm

It's fine when I replay it on my computer. Is there a problem with your speakers?
Or are you taking the piss, perhaps? Wouldn't put it past you! :smile:

Scot Dutchy · **#63** by **Scot Dutchy** » Mar 09, 2012 6:55 pm

Regina wrote::scratch: It's fine when I replay it on my computer. Is there a problem with your speakers?
Or are you taking the piss, perhaps? Wouldn't put it past you!

I heard it through my head phones.

Did you say (I presume it is you): "There are lot of queers in Enschede". :lol:

Regina · **#64** by **Regina** » Mar 09, 2012 6:57 pm

Nope, I said: There's loads of squirrels in Enschede! :mrgreen:

Scot Dutchy · **#65** by **Scot Dutchy** » Mar 09, 2012 6:58 pm

Regina wrote:Nope, I said: There's loads of squirrels in Enschede!

Sorry.

Scot Dutchy · **#66** by **Scot Dutchy** » Mar 09, 2012 6:59 pm

BTW Enschede was perfect :clap:

Regina · **#67** by **Regina** » Mar 09, 2012 7:02 pm

Scot Dutchy wrote:
Regina wrote:Nope, I said: There's loads of squirrels in Enschede!

Sorry.

On second thought, there might be actually more queers than squirrels in Enschede! :grin:

cherries · **#68** by **cherries** » Mar 09, 2012 7:15 pm

Regina wrote:
cherries wrote:
Paul G wrote:
Blip wrote:Although I'm a Brit, I have a slight 'literary R' and find 'squirrel' rather difficult to say. One of the 'r's falls into a bit of a 'w'; both of them on a bad day. Speaking German I always had a problem with ü - no idea why, really.

Same.

I can't pronounce Th either. Always comes out as F.

Come on everyone lets hear your squirrels!

http://vocaroo.com/

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0wGyvUCiSaQ

oh,i got it mixed up http://vocaroo.com/i/s0EtusYgqf5D

Regina · **#69** by **Regina** » Mar 09, 2012 7:22 pm

SafeAsMilk · **#70** by **SafeAsMilk** » Mar 09, 2012 7:34 pm

Would any Russians here like to pronounce squirrel? :evilgrin:

Over here, it's usually pronounced 'skwerl', only posh folks pronounce it 'skweruhl'. I don't know why you think of rednecks with the 'skwerl' pronunciation, in my experience they pronounce it 'dinner' :dunno:

Evolving · **#71** by **Evolving** » Mar 09, 2012 8:01 pm

SafeAsMilk wrote:Would any Russians here like to pronounce squirrel?

Over here, it's usually pronounced 'skwerl', only posh folks pronounce it 'skweruhl'. I don't know why you think of rednecks with the 'skwerl' pronunciation, in my experience they pronounce it 'dinner'

I see the differences apparently begin with the first syllable: in America it begins like "squirm", whereas in England it begins like "squid".

And it seems any German who has trouble pronouncing squirrel in an English way (not any of the Germans on thi thread, obviously) can simply say he's speaking American.

The_Piper · **#72** by **The_Piper** » Mar 09, 2012 8:46 pm

Scot Dutchy wrote:
Regina wrote::scratch: It's fine when I replay it on my computer. Is there a problem with your speakers?
Or are you taking the piss, perhaps? Wouldn't put it past you!

I heard it through my head phones.

Did you say (I presume it is you): "There are lot of queers in Enschede".

I understood the sentence perfectly, except for that last word.

cherries wrote:
Regina wrote:
cherries wrote:
Paul G wrote:

Same.

I can't pronounce Th either. Always comes out as F.

Come on everyone lets hear your squirrels!

http://vocaroo.com/

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0wGyvUCiSaQ

oh,i got it mixed up http://vocaroo.com/i/s0EtusYgqf5D

Perfect. What was that mysterious first recording though? :smile:

SafeAsMilk wrote:Would any Russians here like to pronounce squirrel?

Over here, it's usually pronounced 'skwerl', only posh folks pronounce it 'skweruhl'. I don't know why you think of rednecks with the 'skwerl' pronunciation, in my experience they pronounce it 'dinner'

We posh Americans who say skweruhl consider the skwerl pronunciation barbaric.
I think the entire northeast says skweruhl, except for the rednecks. :shifty:

Emmeline · **#73** by **Emmeline** » Mar 09, 2012 9:07 pm

Blip wrote: Speaking German I always had a problem with ü - no idea why, really.

When I learnt German at school, those of us with Devon accents (mine's virtually gone now) could do it easily as that's similar to how we say the "oo" sound.

We had 2 German teachers in our school and they spoke differently. One had learnt in the north and the other in the south. I think the southern one was softer on the "ch" and a bit more "sing-song" - is that right?

SafeAsMilk · **#74** by **SafeAsMilk** » Mar 09, 2012 9:08 pm

The_Piper wrote:
We posh Americans who say skweruhl consider the skwerl pronunciation barbaric.
I think the entire northeast says skweruhl, except for the rednecks.

Damn, a redneck I must be :lol:

I do like to call them 'quibbles', but that's another story. Not redneck at all.

Evolving wrote:
I see the differences apparently begin with the first syllable: in America it begins like "squirm", whereas in England it begins like "squid".

Yeah, that makes sense. I tried saying it like "squid" without the "uh" at the end. It was hard, but I felt very English :mrgreen:

And it seems any German who has trouble pronouncing squirrel in an English way (not any of the Germans on thi thread, obviously) can simply say he's speaking American.

Actually, I need to listen to some recordings of Germans saying squirrels. If that one video of Life trying to pronounce forum member's name is any indication, it should be :awesome:

cherries · **#75** by **cherries** » Mar 09, 2012 9:54 pm

The_Piper wrote:
Perfect. What was that mysterious first recording though?

"eichhörnchen" is german for squirrel

The_Piper · **#76** by **The_Piper** » Mar 09, 2012 11:06 pm

cherries wrote:
The_Piper wrote:
Perfect. What was that mysterious first recording though?

"eichhörnchen" is german for squirrel

Thanks Cherries. 8-)

cherries · **#77** by **cherries** » Mar 09, 2012 11:34 pm

..pleasure :cheers:

THWOTH · **#78** by **THWOTH** » Mar 10, 2012 2:05 am

Scot Dutchy wrote:
Regina wrote::scratch: It's fine when I replay it on my computer. Is there a problem with your speakers?
Or are you taking the piss, perhaps? Wouldn't put it past you!

I heard it through my head phones.

Did you say (I presume it is you): "There are lot of queers in Enschede".

Scot Dutchy · **#79** by **Scot Dutchy** » Mar 10, 2012 12:54 pm

cherries wrote:
The_Piper wrote:
Perfect. What was that mysterious first recording though?

"eichhörnchen" is german for squirrel

Eekhorn in Dutch.

The German I really like to listen to is Austrian German. I understand every word without any problem. Swiss German is a strange beast.

I like the Dutch from the province of Gelderland in the east. Much easier on the ear than say Amsterdam or Rotterdam.

NilsGLindgren · **#80** by **NilsGLindgren** » Mar 10, 2012 4:01 pm

Scot Dutchy wrote:Swiss German is a strange beast.

A guy we soemtimes visit in Alsace says he understands the Schwyzerdeutsch from aroud Basel, but further to the East they are incomprehensible to him (he speaks Alemannish apart from French).

Why Can't Germans Say 'Squirrel'?

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