Swabian Straightforwardness

Lecture 4’s topic on spoken discourse brought me back some memories of Germany. Before my internship in U.S last summer, I was on a 4-week language immersion program in Stuttgart, Germany. It is located in the state of Baden Wuerttemberg.

During my stay there, I had a few telephone conversations with the native German speakers. I remember making several phone calls to Deutsche Post (the German post office), unfortunately regarding a lost parcel. The other telephone conversations I had were with my course assistant coordinator, Frau Sabine Michel. What I observed about the telephone calls were the fascinatingly short openings and closings.

Deutsche Post
Summons: Ringing
Self-Identification: “Guten Abend. Deutsche Post.” (Good Evening. Deutsche Post)
:
Closing: “Also... (Pause)” (Well/So...)

Frau Sabine Michel
Summons: Ringing
Self-Identification: “Michel”
:
Closing: “Also... (Pause)”

In Singapore, while it is common to hear an opening similar to that of Deutsch Post, it is highly rare to have anyone opening a telephone conversation with his/her surname. When I called Frau Michel for the first time, I was so taken aback by the abrupt greeting that I stumbled for a good couple of seconds before speaking. The fact that I tried speaking to her in German delayed the lag time further. Eventually, I had to reconfirm with her, “Guten Tag. Sind Sie Frau Michel?” (Good Afternoon. Are you Frau Michel?) We then continued our conversation with a mix of German and English.

Finally, when I got the needed instructions from her, I was yet again greeted by a short closing. As I have learnt during my stay in Germany, the word “also” (pronounced as “ow-zo”) has a very similar meaning to “well” or “so”. The function of the word is however so unique to native German speakers that when one says it, the other would know that it is time to end the conversation. It could also act as a cue that one plans to move on to another topic. In that conversation, upon saying “also”, Frau Michel paused for a while, as if to wait for a concluding statement from me. Thankfully, the conversation ended amicably without any misunderstandings.

While you may be as puzzled as I was initially, a little background information will help you better understand their style of telephone greeting and closing.

The people of Baden Wuerttemberg are commonly referred to as Swabians, and they are best known for their performance driven culture. They tend to be excessively serious and straightforward, even during conversations. Their unique culture has a great impact on the state’s pursuit for excellence. Home to several prominent companies (i.e. Daimler AG (Mercedes-Benz), Porsche, Bosch, SAP), Baden Wuerttemberg is one of modern Germany’s most economically successful states. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabia#Popular_culture

Wednesday’s lecture gave me insights as to why Frau Michel and Deutsche Post’s Phone openings/closings were considerably succinct. It is likely that the Swabian culture shaped the spoken discourse of the community. Unlike most communities, they see voice samples and further recognition as unnecessary and perhaps a loss of time. Their straightforwardness, even in telephone openings/closings, is indeed one of a kind.