Terence Ajbro

@GermanSimply_ Accusative or Dative? The prepositional challenge.

German learners – be honest. Which one of these genuinely still confuses you? 𝗔. 𝗱𝗲𝗿 / 𝗱𝗶𝗲 / 𝗱𝗮𝘀 Three genders. No consistent logic for new words. Still guessing after months. 𝗕. 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 You build the perfect sentence in your head. It comes out completely backwards. 𝗖. 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗯𝘀 You finally find the verb. Half of it is at the end of the sentence. Waiting. Silently. Judging you. 𝗗. 𝗙𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗲𝗱 Textbook German: clear, slow, logical. Actual German at a train station: incomprehensible at the speed of sound. Drop your answer below. ⬇️ German natives – which one do you remember being impossible to explain when someone asked you why? Because there's always one.

@wylfcen Let him who pulls the sword from the stone rule over us!

I will not vote for Restore Britain

@GermanSimply_ German verbs are less work than Spanish verbs in my experience. Every language has its unique challenges!

Nobody taught you German wrong. They just skipped the one rule that unlocks everything. One formula. Every regular verb. Conjugated correctly. Takes 3 minutes to learn. Lasts forever. This is the only formula you'll ever need! Let's go. 🇩🇪🧵

@GermanSimply_ Schmerzlich vermisst bei uns in Schweden.

𝟳. They kept their town centres alive. Walk through a German town on a Saturday morning. Bakeries open. Markets running. People buying bread from the same baker their parents bought bread from.

Germany figured something out that the rest of the world is still pretending it doesn't need to know. 11 things. One thread. Some of these will make you uncomfortable. All of them are true. 🇩🇪🧵

@Carl_Portman Probably some Chinese kid.😊

@Multilanguman Aaah, yes. That is true. I wonder if there is a world domino champion?

Darts, chess and snooker. Back in my day all were seen as old men's games. Now each world champion is virtually a child. Bravo to the youth of today. ✊️

@GigoloIncognito @VFinnishProbs Exactly! You probably know the German folk band Faun too then, they sing in multiple languages, ancient and modern. You can hear that they have been inspired by Hedningarna.

@Multilanguman @VFinnishProbs I discovered Hedningarna rather late, through listening to Finntroll. I was surprised how well mixing Finnish and Swedish in the song lyrics actually worked. Those songs have an authentic pagan feel, or that's how it strongly feels when listening to Hedningarna.

I love the fact that J.R.R. Tolkien was so into Finnish he used it as the basis for Quenya, the Elvish language in The Lord of the Rings. He said, "Discovering Finnish was like discovering a wine cellar filled with bottles of amazing wine of a kind and flavour never tasted before. It quite intoxicated me."

@JRRTLore He sustained an injury which may have affected his speech if I recall correctly. Tough game rugby!

@Multilanguman Correct!

#Tolkien trivia: what sport did Tolkien play at King Edward’s and later Oxford?

@InsideSweden That's the way it has been in Denmark these last twenty years. Glad you are catching up!

In Sweden, citizenship is no longer something you simply “get after staying long enough” it has become something you have to prove you deserve. The new law has fundamentally changed how naturalization is viewed: The residency requirement has been extended from 5 to 8 years You can no longer rely on welfare; you must be financially self-sufficient You must pass language and civic knowledge tests And your lifestyle and background are now examined more closely than before In the past, simply living here for a long time and staying out of legal trouble was almost enough. But now, the reality is very different. It’s no longer just about living here you have to show that you are truly integrated into society.

@EconomyInformal @UN @ONU_es @UN_HRC @UNHumanRights Sweden forgotten

Freedom of Expression Index 2025 1. Denmark🇩🇰 2. Ireland🇮🇪 3. Belgium🇧🇪 4. Estonia🇪🇪 5. Switzerland🇨🇭 6. France🇫🇷 7. Luxembourg🇱🇺 8. Norway🇳🇴 9. Czechia🇨🇿 10. Finland🇫🇮 12. Korea🇰🇷 13. Canada🇨🇦 20. Poland🇵🇱 22. Australia🇦🇺 24. Germany🇩🇪 26. Brazil🇧🇷 43. Japan🇯🇵 45. Spain🇪🇸 51. South Africa🇿🇦 53. UK🇬🇧 56. Israel🇮🇱 62. Colombia🇨🇴 63. Greece🇬🇷 70. Mongolia🇲🇳 74. Italy🇮🇹 82. Argentina🇦🇷 84. USA🇺🇸 90. Indonesia🇮🇩 97. Philippines🇵🇭 105. Mexico🇲🇽 109. Thailand🇹🇭 110. Malaysia🇲🇾 111. Morocco🇲🇦 115. Pakistan🇵🇰 118. Tanzania🇹🇿 123. Bangladesh🇧🇩 127. Hungary🇭🇺 130. India🇮🇳 133. Serbia🇷🇸 134. Ukraine🇺🇦 136. Singapore🇸🇬 151. Egypt🇪🇬 152. Türkiye🇹🇷 155. Iran🇮🇷 160. Venezuela🇻🇪 164. Saudi Arabia🇸🇦 166. Russia🇷🇺 167. Cuba🇨🇺 170. China🇨🇳 175. Belarus🇧🇾 179. North Korea🇰🇵 @OurWorldInData

@JensOdlander Samma sak för engelsmän och tyskar idag.

Tänk om man tiiläts vara svensk och vara glad och stolt. Precis son kurder, eritreaner, judar, araber och israeler. Svensk.

@kangminlee It's from Latin and just means East.

As an Asian, I believe we should revive the usage of the term "Oriental" to distinguish East Asians from South Asians, Arabs, and other races in Asia Everyone knows we're extremely different, yet we're lumped together simply because we share the same continent

@GermanSimply_ I spent a year in Villach, Austria back in the 80s, I didn't understand a word the first three months!

@Multilanguman Ja, rules can be bent during a speech as long as everyone understands. 🇩🇪

You argued. You debated. You picked sides. Let's settle it. 🇩🇪 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗕. 𝘞𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘪𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘻𝘶 𝘏𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦. Because of the rain, I am staying home. Here's why – and why this matters more than you think. 𝘞𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯 is a genitive preposition. That means it grammatically requires the genitive case. 𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗲𝗻 in nominative becomes 𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘀 in genitive. That -s ending on 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘴? That is the genitive case doing its job. So why did so many people choose A? Because in spoken German – especially in casual, everyday conversation – native speakers often say: 𝘞𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘮 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯. 𝘋𝘦𝘮 is dative. Not genitive. Grammatically incorrect. Colloquially completely normal. This is the gap between textbook German and real German – and it exists in every language. Native speakers bend rules in speech that they would never bend in writing. 𝗕 is grammatically correct. 𝗔 is what you will hear every day in Germany. Both are worth knowing. For completely different reasons. The rule: 𝘞𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘯 + genitive. The reality: spoken German increasingly accepts dative. The standard: written German holds the genitive firm. This is not confusion. The language is simply being alive.

@C_Westling An upgrade then?😊

St. Johanneskyrkan blir officiellt katolsk. 🇸🇪🙏🇻🇦

@Carl_Portman What's with the tea cloth?

And another one. You would think that a 'small boat migrant' presumably fleeing war torn France would just be happy to be here and start a new life with all the help that my state would give him. But no- he wants to commit murder. Oh well. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

@MasterMaliq There is the Salvation Army.😊

People love to say “every religion has extremists.” Fine, I agree. Now let’s be honest. Point me to a Christian extremist group today that is openly killing in the name of Jesus, holding the Bible as justification, the same way some Muslim groups loudly claim Islam. Until then, we need stop forcing a comparison that doesn’t match reality.

@wealthyanon About the same in Sweden too.

This costs 40 euros ($47.06) in Germany. Things are getting out of control.