I speak native level English and C1 Level german, while there are many similarities between the two and they come from same linguistic family, there are also many many profound differences. You don’t automatically understand most German as an English speaker.

April 05, 2026 - 03:00 UTC

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Correct. Scots is even more closely related to standard English than German but most English speakers will struggle to understand a native Scots speaker broguing it up. I wasn’t suggesting that German and English are mutually intelligible, just that they have a common ancestor within historic times
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