Languages in Europe

[GodLovesCats]

I don't want to learn any European languages for a Danube River cruise but was wondering if I should or need to know a few basic words and phrases in Budapest and Prague. Also, what are the languages spoken in Vienna and the Czech Republic/Slovakia?

 

[Occams Barber]

I don't want to learn any European languages for a Danube River cruise but was wondering if I should or need to know a few basic words and phrases in Budapest and Prague. Also, what are the languages spoken in Vienna and the Czech Republic/Slovakia?

The Viennese speak a dialect of German. From what I hear it's fairly different from standard German.

Budapest is in Hungary where they speak a range of Hungarian dialects.

Prague is in the Czech republic where they speak Czech. Czech and Slovakian are related languages.

To be polite, it's always a good idea to learn things like "Please', "Thank you", "Hello and "Goodbye" in the local lingo. Learning the basic number words and the local currency names is also useful.

Apart from that "Where is the nearest toilet - I'm desperate!" is an essential phrase no matter where you are.
OB

 

[GodLovesCats]

LOL Hopefully I will never be desparate to find a restroom.

 

[JackRT]

LOL Hopefully I will never be desparate to find a restroom.

I sincerely hope that you are never in that unfortunate position.

 

[GodLovesCats]

I sincerely hope that you are never in that unfortunate position.

Me too. The only country on my itinerary I have visited before is Germany and that was the west side. On tris trip I will set personal records for most countries (5) and most days (14).

 

[Coady]

There's an app for that!

 

[Occams Barber]

Me too. The only country on my itinerary I have visited before is Germany and that was the west side. On tris trip I will set personal records for most countries (5) and most days (14).

I wouldn't worry too much about language. English is a common EU second language and, on the cruise ship and in the standard tourist haunts, you'll be surrounded by English speakers. Locals will appreciate your Pleases and Thank Yous but I doubt you'll need much else.
OB

 

[Occams Barber]

LOL Hopefully I will never be desparate to find a restroom.

I was half joking. Sometimes a change to a different diet can play hell with your system. I'm assuming you'll get a few 'national dishes' on your cruise. 'Immodium' is a good 'just-in-case 'remedy to pack next to your toothpaste. It once saved me from the after-effects of an Egyptian hotel pizza.
OB

 

[GodLovesCats]

I am not worried about people on the ship and tours. In Italy was a clerk telling me to leave because she does not know English.

 

[GodLovesCats]

I was half joking. Sometimes a change to a different diet can play hell with your system. I'm assuming you'll get a few 'national dishes' on your cruise. 'Immodium' is a good 'just-in-case 'remedy to pack next to your toothpaste. It once saved me from the after-effects of an Egyptian hotel pizza.
OB

Breakfast and supper will not be "weird" food, but lunch should be interesting.

 

[JackRT]

I just had lunch in a Turkish restaurant and now I falafel.

 

[Occams Barber]

I just had lunch in a Turkish restaurant and now I falafel.

I had to imagine someone saying 'falafel' with a generic North American accent - then I got it.
OB

 

[GodLovesCats]

I had to imagine someone saying 'falafel' with a generic North American accent - then I got it.

There is no such thing as a North American accent. People from different regions in the United States do not always sound similar. Sometimes I can tell if someone grew up in the Southeast by hearing his voice. Then of course there are Mexicans with their Spanish accent and some Canadians sound different too.

 

[Occams Barber]

There is no such thing as a North American accent. People from different regions in the United States do not always sound similar. Sometimes I can tell if someone grew up in the Southeast by hearing his voice. Then of course there are Mexicans with their Spanish accent and some Canadians sound different too.

I agree that there is a range of American accents but there is also a standard version of North American referred to as General American or Standard American English - it also covers Canadian.

All languages have regional dialects and accents. Because of this, most languages have a standardised version which is typically the version taught to those learning the language as a foreign language. General American also has value as the basis for comparative linguistic analysis of regional American accents/dialects. Its sometimes taught to non-American actors who need to sound like an American without any particular regional flavour or Americans looking to lose a regional accent.

This excerpt from Wikipedia explains more:

General American (abbreviated as GA or GenAm) is the umbrella variety of American English—the continuum of accents[1]—spoken by a majority of Americans and popularly perceived, among Americans, as lacking any distinctly regional, ethnic, or socioeconomic characteristics.[2][3][4] Americans with high education,[5] or from the North Midland, Western New England, and Western regions of the country, are the most likely to be perceived as having "General American" accents.[6][7][8] The precise definition and usefulness of the term continues to be debated,[9][10][11] and the scholars who use it today admittedly do so as a convenient basis for comparison rather than for exactness.[9][12] Some scholars, despite controversy,[13] prefer the term Standard American English.[4][5][14]

Standard Canadian English is sometimes considered to fall under the phonological spectrum of General American,[14] especially rather than the United Kingdom's Received Pronunciation; in fact, spoken Canadian English aligns with General American in nearly every situation where British and American English differ.[15]​

OB

 

[JackRT]

There is no such thing as a North American accent. People from different regions in the United States do not always sound similar. Sometimes I can tell if someone grew up in the Southeast by hearing his voice. Then of course there are Mexicans with their Spanish accent and some Canadians sound different too.

I am a Canadian and I can assure you from decades of experience that we are accent free but everyone else has one!

 

[GodLovesCats]

I am a Canadian and I can assure you from decades of experience that we are accent free but everyone else has one!

I know what you mean. It seems like most people don't have accents unless you travel far enough.

 

[Occams Barber]

I know what you mean. It seems like most people don't have accents unless you travel far enough.

George Bernard Shaw is attributed with describing the Americans and the English as "two peoples divided by a common language".

OB

 

[GodLovesCats]

George Bernard Shaw is attributed with describing the Americans and the English as "two peoples divided by a common language".

I wonder why. English people have a totally different form of their language that looks wrong to me as an American. However, I would understand them much better than Hungarians for sure!

 

[Red Gold]

In Vienna they speak German.
Just think of the "Wienerschnitzel".

 

[Occams Barber]

I wonder why. English people have a totally different form of their language that looks wrong to me as an American. However, I would understand them much better than Hungarians for sure!

English and Hungarian come from two different language 'families'. Hungarian is related to Finnish and Estonian from the Finno-Ugric language family.

All other European languages (apart from Basque) are Proto Indo European along with (old) Persian and most of the languages of northern India. English and Hindi are cousins.

OB