The "flavor" of colloquial German comes from —small words like ja , doch , halt , and mal that do not change the basic meaning of a sentence but convey the speaker’s attitude or expectation.

: To feel like doing something (e.g., "Ich habe keinen Bock" – I don't feel like it).

VK users will find these abbreviations and "Denglish" (German-English) terms familiar:

Tired of textbook German that sounds like a 1950s radio broadcast? If you want to speak like a local, you need to head where the locals (and the most dedicated learners) hang out. Enter (VKontakte).

: This is a full conversation in two letters. It means "Hey," "How are you?", and "What's up?" all at once. The correct response is usually just "Na?" back.