Friday, September 12, 2008

Quirky Euro Files: Are You Smart Enough To Be German?

Smart enough to be German? I think I'm a dummkopf.

5 comments:

Marian said...

WHOAH! They even bothered to translate this crap into English???

Dummkopf? C'mon, Maddie, be honest! YOU DIDN'T EVEN TRY!

The problem is not the questionnaire itself, but the answers provided. To some questions, the correct answer would simply be: NONE OF THE OBOVE.

Take question 5/33, for example:

What is the name of the German constitution?

* The People's Law
* The Federal Law
* The German Law
* The Basic Law


This question is baloney. It should read: Why Germany does not have a propper Constitution? And that would be a pretty good question indeed, since it's laid down in the German Basic Law that it ought to be replaced by a constitution ASAP and one would assume that almost 60 years (or at least 18 years, for that matter) would be enough to come across with a Constitution deserving this name. Even the PRC has one!

Plus, I liked the bold answer of question 6/33 (my emphasis):

What is not stated in Germany's Basic Law?

* A person's dignity is inviolable.
* Everyone should have the same amount of money.
* Everyone is allowed to express their opinions.
* Everyone is equal before the law.

Okay, it's not stated in the Basic Law - but the current government's policy (under St. Angela!) surely will result in exactly that one day.

Mad Minerva said...

I did try!!! I quit halfway through because if I put in a wrong answer, it won't tell me what the right one was -- it made me try, try, try again and waste time.

Of course, some of the right answers are strange or confusing. Is this really the test given for German citizenship???

Mad Minerva said...

Oh, and I really have NO IDEA what the flag of North Rhine-Westphalia looks like or how many components there are in Bavaria. Dummkopf-ness? I should Google the real answers...

Marian said...

I did try!!!

Oh. I'm sorry. How embarrassing to assume that you didn't. Again: Sorry.

it made me try, try, try again and waste time.

Worse: You helped creepy Spiegel Online to earn more money by generating tons and tons of clicks.

Is this really the test given for German citizenship???

Yep. Those questions were taken out of a pool of questions. Flag of NRW, oh my. I mean, the people at one of the big newscasts (Tagesschau) got in hot water lately for confusing the stripes in the German flag - and our government asks applicants for the NRW flag. Strange, no?

I'd prefer dummkopfity over Dummkopf-ness. But the question still is: Who is the Dummkopf here?

Mad Minerva said...

Don't apologize -- it's OK! ;-)

I like the term dummkopfity. I will start using it in everyday conversation!