Why German sounds so aggressive to foreigners

Why does German sound so angry to so many people? From sharp consonants and distinctive speech patterns to movie villains and historical stereotypes, we explore why German has a reputation for sounding harsh. Author and German language expert Andrea Weller-Essers explains what makes German sound different from languages such as Italian or French and why some of its supposedly "hard" features can actually make it easier to understand. Along the way, German learners share their first impressions, and a simple experiment reveals how much our perception depends on more than just words. #dweuromaxx #LearnGerman #languages CHAPTERS 00:00 Does German sound angry? 00:25 What German learners think 00:55 Why German sounds harsh 01:17 The sounds that shape German 02:23 Why German is easy to understand 03:15 How movies shaped the stereotype 04:34 What influences our perception of language? 05:06 The surprise ending 05:13 How does German sound to you? -------------------------------------------- CREDITS Report: Gönna Ketels Camera: Henning Goll, Marek Neumann-Schönwetter Edit: David Jacobi Supervising Editors: Ruben Kalus ------------------------------------------------------------ Subscribe to DW Cultures: https://youtube.com/@dwcultures Would you like to find out more about Euromaxx? ▸Website: https://www.dw.com/english/euromaxx ▸Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dw.euromaxx ▸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dw_euromaxx DW Cultures brings you engaging insights into European cultures and lifestyles.