Wednesday, January 18, 2012

life in this republic

german lessons


It never hurts to learn a new language. 


The last week and a half I have been put through a crash course in German. Up until this time I have never spoken German, I know a few words only. I couldn't order a coffee in Austria, even if my life depended on it.


All this changed, however, when I got a new student on our first day back from winter break. She speaks only Turkish and German and I had to step up to the plate and begin speaking German NOW.


Obviously, she will have to learn English and she will very quickly. But right now my concern for her is that she feels safe and understands what is going on. Plus I have to understand what she is saying. The other hard bit is that the mum also only speaks Turkish and German and it totally bothers me that I can't communicate with her. So I am trying to open the decaying recesses of my mind to acquire this language. So far so good, and after a week and a half I am able to basically understand what my new student is saying, and I am able to tell her what is going on and what she needs to do. I am able to tell the mum about homework, if her daughter had a good day and what she ate for lunch.


There is still alot of work to do. I am not looking to speak well, just to be able to communicate ideas and thoughts would be nice.


I am off to look up a few words that I will be needing today to add into my growing lexicon....

1 comment:

  1. this.is.amazing. taking up a language just like that and speaking it in just a few days??? well, actually, I guess if God gave the "gift of tongues" in the Bible times, He can certainly help you learn a new language with modern technology. And it helps that your brain isn't as old and decaying as mine.... :)

    ReplyDelete