Dialect Difficulties

I’ll write a wee bit more about F.F. Bruce, in a proper post tomorrow. Right now I note an amusing comment that I can certainly relate to. He mentioned his struggles in Vienna to communicate in German, and to understand the Viennese dialect. He had a professor with a strong Berliner accent, which he found difficult. He looked to the other (native Viennese) students and they said,

“You must not think that we understand him any better than you do.”

Some of the residents here who have come up north from England tell me that the local speech was just as difficult for them, initially. And, in a month I will be traveling to Tuebingen, where the local Swabbish dialect, I understand, is quite distinctive. I doubt that will be a problem in the academic setting; it might be when I try to order Maultaschen. (Not that I don’t expect to struggle with standard Hochdeutsch!)