A friend of mine's mother(90) lives in Luzern and is only able to communicate in German, sadly I don't speak a word. I would like to surprise them both by sending an audio Christams Card from the UK via a 30-second recording in my own voice; nothing too fancy but the odd Swiss German word would be marvellous. I seem to recall a word that I have been unable to find something like 'showrig' as in 'showrig schoen' ? Mu audio text, bearing in mind that I don't speak German(Swiss or otherwise) would read something like this:
"Dear.........
Please accept this sincere Greeting from the UK, wishing you much peace, joy and happiness in this Festive Season. I will raise a glass on the day to my very dear friends. I teasure your friendship and trust that we shall remain in contact as a true expression of love for one another for many years to come ; you are quite simply The Best, thank you.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Much love ............................"
If nothing else, I am sure that my pronunciation will keep them entertained! If any one can help as soon as possible(Christams Post!) that would be splendid. Thank you
Thank you Elu, that wold be hugely appreciated. I write to the mother every week to keep her spirits up; I believe we owe at least this much to the older generation in their 'sunset years'
Ok here is my take on the translation in my oltner dialect.
Please note that
a) someone 20 km away from where I grew up would spell and write completely different
b) Your text seems a bit formal/oldschool to me, i try to keep it that way but this is not the wording i usually use.
"Dear.........
Please accept this sincere Greeting from the UK, wishing you much peace, joy and happiness in this Festive Season. I will raise a glass on the day to my very dear friends. I teasure your friendship and trust that we shall remain in contact as a true expression of love for one another for many years to come ; you are quite simply The Best, thank you.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Liebe (male) or Liebi (female)
Met dem härzleche Gruess us England/schottland/Irland/ (you cant translate UK) wönsch ech öich i dere festleche Zit frede, Freud ond Glöck. ( I will raise a glass on the day to my very dear friends, don't know how to translate that, "Ech trenke uf üch" maybe). Ech schätze eusii fröndschaft sehr ond hoffe dasmer för veli witeri johr in liebevollem (maybe a bit too much, full of love, fröndschaftlech, like friends) Kontakt blibe. Der send eifach die beste, danke vöu mou.
Frohi wiehnacht ond e guete rotsch is neue johr
Standart german (maybe for a better understanding of my translation:
Mit diesem herzlichen Gruss aus England/Schottland/Irland wünsche ich euch in dieser Festlichen Zeit Friede, Freude und Glück. Ich trinke auf euer Wohl. Ich schätze unsere Freundschaft sehr und hoffe, dass wir viele weitere Jahre in freundschaftlichem Kontakt bleiben. Ihr seit ganz einfach die Besten.
Thank you both so much to Elu and Curley for taking so much time and trouble with my litle surprise. You are of course both right, I will struggle greatly with the pronunciation and will thus inscribe the card with your kind translations . My attempt at speaking the text will no doubt produce much mirth for mother and daughter, but it is after all Christmas and I hope will at least show that I have tried albeit with some over-the-top sentiment! To add to the seasonality whilst recording my 'oration' , playing in the background will be O Tannenbaum, in German of course! Bless you both for your efforts and I shall be sure to keep you posted as to the result. Frohe Weihnachten und ein gutes neues Jahr
Elu's fantastic translation is EF at its best. However, you could also just use High German and use the Google Translate app to help you translate and pronounce the words for the message.
Fonseca, I guarantee that your attempts at pronouncing German, let alone Swiss German from Olten, will be nowhere near the result when a local reads that message. (And as Elu pointed out, Swiss German from Olten is quite a way from the German spoken by "Lozärner"... yes, the two cities are just a few miles apart, but they may as well be on different continents. Here are several Swiss German natives unable to understand Swiss German words in the Lucerne dialect).
So, I suggest that either you pick a few words from the translation that Elu so kindly provided and sprinkle them into your English message, as a decent attempt to make some connection with your friend-s mum in her own language, or you give the message in full in English as well as in Swiss German, accepting that the recipient won't understand a word of either message but will indeed be greatly amused by both.
To all who have so kindly contributed their thoughts to my little project, please accept my sincere thanks. I have taken all your well-considered points on board and no doubt will end up with a unique 'mashup' , one that will I hope bring a little light into someone's life.
I have never posted on an open Forum before and have been touched by how willing people are to help; altruism at it's best. Bless you all
It doesn't have to be perfect - it's a lovely gesture either way.
Just one tip: speak very slowly and word by word, then even if it's not pronounced properly (as it wouldn't be with anyone in any foreign language), she will likely understand. My non-German speaking colleagues occasionally say some word in Swiss German and when they pronounce it slowly vs trying to rush through it, it's indeed quite understandable.
The "ch" will be your biggest obstacle as I find most English-speakers (or most non-German speakers) can't quite make the proper sound. So even if it comes out as a "k" or "sch" or something, that's ok - again, if spoken slowly. Also, check online how to roughly pronounce the Umlauts as there are so many of them (e.g. here https://www.dummies.com/languages/ge...onouncing-and/ )
And Elu is right, I would write that differently coming from a different part of Switzerland - yet needless to say we understand each other's dialects.
Agree to translate "raising a glass" to "ich stoss uf eu aa" (in my dialect) or "ech stoss uf üch aa" (in Elu's dialect - roughly)
Excellent advice, thank you, slow is good. I have inserted the text on the card which, when opened, triggers the audio that she can then play over and over again.............or not! Few of that generation have taken to computers so I think something tactile and visible will do the trick. The daughter will give me chapter & verse in due course with which I will bore you all at a later date! Meci