Britpop, Video Games and Denglish

The following comments reflect the views of our readers. Not all reader comments have been published. DW-WORLD reserves the right to edit for length and appropriateness of content.

Britpop in Germany

I'd like to commend you Germans on your great musical taste; Oasis is an extremely talented band. But did you know the Gallagher brothers are actually Irish in ethnicity? We of Irish heritage are violent, crude, lazy, passionate, and poetic. But most of all we have the gift of self-deprecating humor! These traits are not often found in the reserved, cerebral Germans, so I'm not surprised that Oasis is beloved in Deutschland! Germans who love Oasis should read Frank McCourt's memoir, Angela's Ashes, to get a real feel for the Irish spirit! There's a laugh on every page, and God knows you Germans could use plenty of laughs right now! -- ccook

For better or worse, you have to sing in English to be internationally successful these days. Also, young German bands are just too "serious" to make it in Britain. (German singer Herbert) Grönemeyer is a good example -- good songs but he needs to relax a bit! -- alsharples

Violent Video Games

Halo 2 video game screen shot

The idea that games should be banned completely is simply silly. Parents are the ones responsible in making sure that their children are not exposed to what they feel is not appropriate. Only they know their child well enough (I should hope) to be able to determine how their child would be affected. Not all children react the same way to stimuli, and some children are more mature than others. To involve government to this level is simply a waste of money and legislative time. The government is not meant to raise our children for us. They are meant to protect our basic civil liberties, and provide social services. -- Suppleshadow

No democratic country has the right to ban video games of any sort. I've said it before, and will say it again: parents are to be responsible for their children, not the state or federal government. Besides, over 98 percent of all youngsters with violent video games either got them because their parents felt sorry for the kid's pathetic feelings or some other adult moron bought it for them. -- Drgnemperordante, US

I am one of the leaders here in the US of efforts to ban the sale of violent video games to minors. I hope to be working with the German government on the proposed ban there. -- Jack Thompson

Everyone knows kids are playing violent video games. Yesterday when I was at my local game store, I overheard a conversation with a 7-year old holding the newest "Mortal Kombat" game. So reluctantly, the guy at the counter asks, "Where's your father or mom?" The kid points to a guy who is just standing there, and the guy nodded. When the shoppers left, I asked indignantly, "What? You're just going to let that kid buy that?" And he replies, "Yeah. If I didn't, I'd get fired." So I think I've found the source of all the child exposure to violent video games: The adults. -- leedude

Parents should better control what there children are doing. This shouldn't be a government issue. -- Steve Kestler

Denglish

"Coffee to go" has become popular in Germany

As an English speaker, Denglish is great from my point of view. Of course, when Denglish is spoken in Germany, it is useful for it to be understandable to Germans. I don't think that the use of Denglish will undermine the use of the German language. It is one thing to throw a few foreign words into your speech. It is another thing to begin absorbing an entire language into your thought process. For example, a few isolated foreign words thrown into your speech doesn't require knowledge of a foreign language's sentence structure. A few isolated foreign words in your speech doesn't require knowledge of a foreign language's verbs and how each verb changes in its singular, plural, etc. forms. Exposure to a few foreign words can help people to become interested in learning a new language. It broadens our perspective on the world. -- John Helmeke, US

I think people using Denglish can't speak really English to make them self understand. So they mix it up. I personally don't except a mish-mash of a language. -- Heinz Reinert, Canada

I believe it is a natural occurrence in the mixing of people and ideas to have this sort of language evolution. Here in America, we have several forms from Ebonics to Spanglish which come more out of specific neighborhoods. Is this not how the structured rank and file Latin spread into the other Romantic languages of French, German and Spanish which then organized into their own rights. Change is good and it should be embraced for its positive effect, with the advent of the printing press and computers, I doubt that high German will be lost or run the way of the dead Latin language because it contains too much related to the arts, sciences, history and music. The strict rules of the German language mixed with the flexibility of English I think gives way to better understanding and increased flexibility. -- brwnmm