May102014 Posted July 27, 2014 Report Share Posted July 27, 2014 Overall, no I don't think German sounds aggressive. It comes down to the individual speaking the language. I have spoken to many Germans and some are soft spoken and polite while others are a bit more aggressive in tone. And it depends on the conversation we're having. If someone is passionate, well the words are bound to have a little more force behind them. It's no different than when you communicate with people from other countries. Everyone is different but I can understand how certain sounds or phrases in German can come across a little rough to the ears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archangelos Posted July 28, 2014 Report Share Posted July 28, 2014 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat Posted August 7, 2014 Report Share Posted August 7, 2014 I think that to categorise a whole language as aggressive or rough is an oversimplification... Most of the time it depends on the regional accent and even among people that belong the the same linguistic region there can be major differences in the way they sound due to personal disposition toward a certain behaviour...I read somebody pointing out that "when somebody hears German he/she is automatically reminded of Hitler"... I think that, without meaning any disrespect, this statement is plain crap, the world is a big place and some years have past since WW2, I think most people know better than to think about that awful man when they hear German...Anyway, I also think that most of the time the roughness or softness of a language also depends on the listener, I think that a German child listening to his mother singing a lullaby will never say that it sound rough... And I think that most of us non native German speaker when we first started studying german we had a totally different feeling about how German sounds with respect of what we think now that we speak it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transluzens Posted August 11, 2014 Report Share Posted August 11, 2014 German dialects often contain syllables and sounds not usually found in other languages. These sounds are guttural, and lead to the speaker sounding rough, and occasionally aggressive. Overall, I think body language is most important when speaking to someone. Though German can sometimes sound aggressive, if the speaker's body language is warm and inviting, that should clear everything up. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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