kultur 1 Terrence Tigney

While reading the "Shaping Culture" portion of the brochure, I found it particularly interesting that the Amish culture originated in Germany speaking areas. Its not surprising however, that much of the culture and language have been retained in their society, due to the distance the keep between themselves and modern society, and the firm grip they keep on traditions. It seems somewhat ironic though, the fact that the Amish population in Europe has dwindled and disappeared, while the ones here in America are in fact growing in number.

Another surprising fact about the German influence in America is how far west their influence reached. Hollywood, in particular, was affected by the German culture. An example would be of the family classic "Bambi", which was originally and allegory, written to show the growing threats to the Jews between the two world wars. Southeast of Hollywood, Texas was experiencing not only German influence, but also Spanish and Czech ones. Here Fred Zimmerle brought together these different cultures into one, via music. By using influences from all three, he was able to create a new, and very unique sound.

Something I actually expected was the frequent use of German words and phrases in English, such as "poltergeist" or "waltz". Being that many of the early inhabitants of America were German, it's to be expected that some words and phrases would still be used today. Some have even been recently introduced to the English language, via television and international travel. However, what is surprising is how many English words are making their way over to Germany- words such as "Management" or "Service". One would not expect an old language like German to be influenced by English; it seems that America has become more linguistically prominent than many expected.