Have you ever stumbled over time? I mean, have you ever not understood when something is happening?
Wait, let me make this easier. Try this out, “The movie starts at 19:30.”
When? Excuse me?
One of my major confusions after coming to Austria was (and often still is) the time. I was always used to the am/pm system (here explained by Adrian) - and it suited me just fine, thank you. But after coming here I had to learn to understand (and sometimes use) the 24 hour clock.
It sounds easy - and it is - until you need it quickly in conversation. Then I get all confused and stressed and generally can’t figure it out anymore. The am/pm system just seems easier (and more intuitive) to me, because that’s what’s on the clock (old fashion non-digital ones).
Hmmm, learning a foreign language is a lot more than just a bunch of new words, it seems.
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October 23, 2007 at 8:34 am
Monika
Right Lisa! And then comes: “Es ist drei Minuten nach dreiviertel acht!” And then you are really confused…
October 23, 2007 at 10:12 am
Werner
and it’s getting even more difficult if you look at the different dialekts in austria:
19:15
would be:
vierl üba siemi (viertel über sieben) in upperaustria
but:
vierl ochti (viertel acht) in carinthia
October 23, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Lisa
That’s exactly what I mean! Can’t we make it easy? But then again… the German language is not famous for being easy ;-)
October 28, 2007 at 10:51 am
Justi
Half past the hour is a HUGE problem in Slovene because they say ‘half TO’ the next hour. So ‘half seven’ to them is actually 6.30 (I think…or is it 8.30????) - anyway, I’ve learned, when making arrangements with my Slovene friends, to triple check exactly which time we’re talking about!
October 29, 2007 at 1:43 am
Werner Patels (THE SPADE)
But then there’s also that lovely British way of telling time: “Let’s meet at half seven.”
So the big prize question is: is that 6:30 or 7:30?
This would be particularly confusing for German speakers, as “halb sieben” would be 6:30.
October 29, 2007 at 8:18 am
Lisa
This is all particularly confusing for right brain people (like me). I’m quickly approaching my limits for logical thought. If I’m not careful, I’ll have a time-induced-melt-down.
But not until half seven…