Just started re-learning German. The last time I took German was 1977 so it has been a while. However, I've just been through the very first two modules of Level 1 and my question is, aren't the conversations showing more familiarity between the speakers than is warranted by the conversations? Using "du" instead of "Sie" as the pronoun seems a bit odd for people that have never met. Maybe I remember a bit more formal German and this is more conversational and modern? Any thoughts?
Familiarity
Kevin-R3
April 2, 2020
Julia-Rocket-German-Tutor
April 5, 2020
Hi Kevin-R3,
Welcome to Rocket German! The host Nik and co-host Paul already know each other so they say "du" to each other. In some situations when doing a role play, like 2.3 At The Airport, the formal "Sie" is used when Paul is playing the part of the check-in operator.
All in all, whether someone chooses to say "du" or "Sie" can depend on a lot of things: Familiarity between the speakers, but also age difference, personality and context. There can also be regional differences.
Viele Grüße
Julia
Welcome to Rocket German! The host Nik and co-host Paul already know each other so they say "du" to each other. In some situations when doing a role play, like 2.3 At The Airport, the formal "Sie" is used when Paul is playing the part of the check-in operator.
All in all, whether someone chooses to say "du" or "Sie" can depend on a lot of things: Familiarity between the speakers, but also age difference, personality and context. There can also be regional differences.
Viele Grüße
Julia
Kevin-R3
April 6, 2020
Thanks for the reply. I'm finding that not only are things more nuanced in real conversations and situations than they are in a textbook, some things have changed culturally as well. Back then, we used "fräulein" for grown women, which always seemed a bit odd to me. I understand that this term is used differently now. Wie hat Dylan gesagt, "Denn die Zeiten anderen sich".