anyway, it's not that i'm worried about not understanding people or being understood; i'm told most germans speak english (well) and i'll have a german speaker at hand should i encounter someone who doesn't, but aside from feeling like that asshole american who doesn't speak the language, i feel like i'm missing part of the cultural experience. unfortunately, not much can be done, although i'm going to give the "learn german by music" cd a fair chance before submitting myself to complete failure. otherwise, my handy german-english dictionary will have to suffice.
Monday, April 13, 2009
learning a new language.
german is not an easy language to speak, and i am learning this the most difficult of ways. although i've had an interest in studying german for more than a decade, it is the upcoming trip that has shot me into gear. however, with such a short amount of time to prepare, i am failing so hard at learning anything substantial. i believe fully in immersion, but listening to german phrases (mind you, phrases that normal people don't even say on a regular basis) on tape and cd doesn't really stick in my head, so i've pretty much given up hope, for now (although i'm hoping to finagle room in my schedule this fall to take an introductory german course in the midst of all my graduate school work).
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You'll find more people in Germany who speak English than people in the United States who speak German. You don't have to know that much to get around.
ReplyDeletei'll teach you some useful phrases... and some other ones which might not be that useful but a lot of fun :) huzzah! or, for that matter, hurra! alles ist super, alles ist wunderbar :)
ReplyDeletepeople in germany, from my experience, are really understanding about how unusual it is to study german in the US. they don't generally think you're inconsiderate or an asshole or anything, just that it's more normal for people to study spanish or french.
ReplyDeleteanyway, you should let me know when you're in Berlin. i spend a lot of time in the south, but i should be back home when you're around, because my parents are visiting me around the same time you're there.