‘Language sets north Germans apart’

Liv’s post on Expat Dispatches, “How to understand the north Germans”, has been shared hundreds of times on Facebook and been picked up by the German media, including the Hamburger Abendblatt, the country’s biggest newspaper, Bild, and radio stations. 

Her tongue-in-cheek thesis, that you need to learn just three words to communicate with the direct north Germans – Moin, jo and Mmmmm – has struck a chord with people from the area.

When it comes to German regional dialects, Bavarian, Saxon and Swabian normally come to mind, rather than the north Germans’ way of talking, but Liv wanted to change that.

“The reaction has been really positive,” Liv said. "They are really excited to be singled out because the focus tends to be on Bavaria and Berlin. I'm still waiting for someone to say they don't like it."

Liv has lived in Kiel, her partner's hometown, since April, having previously been in Bavaria.

“Having lived in the south, so many people always assume when in Germany you are always drinking beer and wearing Lederhosen," she said. "I wanted to look more closely at the north German language as that is something that really sets them apart.”

You can read more from Liv's blog here.