How something sounds, tastes or smells depend also on the condition the thing is in this particular moment. Sometimes one might feel like having an apple and sometimes not. And on top of this all apples taste different. German sounds differently depending on who is talking, a child, a man, a woman, depending on the type of text and so on. Let's have some examples.

German spoken by kids

a kid says in ...     German: ene dene dippe dene dippe dene dalia ebbe bebe bembio bio bio puff     English: ene dene dippe dene dippe dene dalia ebbe bebe bembio bio bio puff

Ok, we admit that this was not German. It is more like a universal language. Something that an English child pronounces is probably quite the same a German or any other child would pronounce.

But now a real German example:

The song of joy (by Friedrich Schiller*)

a) sung by a girl b) sung by a man c) recited by a woman

The text is the beginning of the famous Song of Joy (Freude schöner Götterfunken). This song forms part of the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven and was adopted as the hymn of the European Union in 1986.

Freude schöner Götterfunken Tochter aus Elysium wir betreten feuertrunken himmlische dein Heiligtum deine Zauber binden wieder was die Mode streng geteilt alle Menschen werden Brüder wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt

Joy, Oh ! divine scintillation Sparkling from Elysium, With a cheerful animation Goddess, to thy shrine we come. These our nations once divided Now your magic spells unite, Where your wing does beat around them Brotherhood and love delight.

Und du wartest, erwartest das Eine, das dein Leben unendlich vermehrt; das Mächtige, Ungemeine, das Erwachen der Steine, Tiefen, dir zugekehrt. Es dämmern im Bücherständer die Bände in Gold und Braun; und du denkst an durchfahrene Länder, an Bilder, an die Gewänder wiederverlorener Fraun. Und da weißt du auf einmal: das war es. Du erhebst dich, und vor dir steht eines vergangenen Jahres Angst und Gestalt und Gebet

You wait, expect the one, that enriches you life endlessly the powerful, the mighty the wakening of the stones depths towards yourself in the book shelf the tomes in golden and brown doze you think of lands you crossed of pictures, of robes of long lost women And suddenly you know: that was it you stand up and in front of you stands the fear, the form and the prayer of the last year.

This is our last example and we hope that we have given you the understanding that sometimes even German sounds beautiful. With this poem we would like to close the introductory chapter. Like all the poems of Rilke (1825-1926) this one is full of philosophical ideas on the one side and little nothings on the other. But in principle it expresses something we all know, the never-ending search for something special.

Und du erwartest, erwartest das Eine
das dein Leben unendlich vermehrt,
das Mächtige, Ungemeine,
das Erwachen der Steine,
Tiefen dir zugekehrt.

If we stop searching we stop to live and the content people hopefully have found the beauty of this world