Dialect

I was talking with a few of my research colleagues at the university yesterday about one of our projects. Slowly but surely the conversation drifted into Viennese dialect. I still understood what we were talking about perfectly well, but my High German responses paled in comparison to their deep-throated, diphthongal Wienerisch. Our exchange reminded me of a story from the teaching orientation in Graz a few weeks ago.

At dinner one night, one of the teaching assistants was sharing some of his experiences in Bavaria with the other people at the table. He had apparently been visiting the area around Munich for a few weeks and was infuriated that the local townspeople refused to speak High German with him; they would only speak Bavarian dialect. He insisted they were being intentionally rude by speaking dialect, which he did not understand. I can relate to his frustration; Bavarian dialect is extremely difficult for any non-Bavarian to understand. However, the language is part of the local culture there.

The other people at the table tried to persuade him to view the situation in a more positive light: If the Bavarians spoke dialect to him, they must have thought his German was good enough that he would understand dialect. Of course, given that I didn’t know much about the particular situation, it is possible that the locals made an extra effort to alienate him as the lone American, but I highly doubt that would have been the case.

Dialect is a huge part of the culture, not only in Bavaria, but throughout Germany and Austria. If you can speak the local dialect, you are an “insider”. If someone speaks dialect to you, they either don’t speak High German (which is uncommon, but still occurs) or they feel your German is good enough that you would understand dialect. Switching from High German to dialect can be seen as an invitation into a circle of friends, those that have the local language and the associated culture in common.

Being spoken to in dialect is almost always a compliment … regardless of whether or not you understand what is being said! When in doubt, you can always ask someone to slow down. They’ll probably either slow down or switch over to High German, realizing that you don’t understand dialect. As long as you make an effort to understand, you really can’t go wrong.