The film Silent Light/Stellet Licht (http://www.silent-light.co.uk/) is available from your file serving source of choice.

For those who don't know it is filmed almost entirely in Plautdietsch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plautdietsch).

Even if German is your mother tongue do not try watching this without subtitles. It is as far removed from High German as the sort of Swiss German spoken by grizzled old men in the deepest darkest alpine valleys.

We speak German at home and I am comfortable in most of the southern dialects. I also spent a lot of time in the far north and get on alright with Plattduutch. Without the subs I would have understood maybe 5%. My german wife concurs.

This makes "Texas German" look easy by comparison.

Weird film btw, and the subs aren't really well translated (available as well from the usual suspects).

Ons Voda em Himmel,
lot dien Nome jeheilicht woare;
lot dien Ritjdom kome;
lot dien Welle jedone woare,
uck hia oppe Ed, soo aus em Himmel;
jeff ons Dach fe Dach daut Broot, daut ons fehlt;
en vejeff ons onse Schult,
soo aus wie den vejewe, dee sich jeajen ons veschuldicht ha;
en brinj ons nich en Vesetjunk,
oba erlees ons von dem Beese.
wiels die jehiet daut Ritj,
en dee Krauft en dee Harlichtjeit
en Eewichtjeit.
Amen.

kölsch

kölsch

Yep., they are related. Interestingly Amish German is a lot clearer and fairly understandable to Southern Germans.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b116/horta/untitled.jpg

(Writing System2)

well, I have a theory, when you learn 2 german dialects from different wind directions you understand them all. or maybe it´s because my parents liked to travel a lot when I was a child and very outgoing. another theory is that germans have way more training in speaking different sounds and therefor a better training in understanding them as well.

weird film though ..

I'm gonna watch this when I get home. I wonder how well I can understand it.