My German online class meets twice a week for 90 minute sessions, and I am enjoying them. My last experience in a class setting was in Spain, where I met with 8 other students in a very warm classroom overlooking one of the plazas in Valencia. After a 2 month intense course, I elected to proceed further with private instruction, which turned out to be a very wise move on my part.
It was not that I did not enjoy the other class participants, but I kept finding myself a little inhibited to speak up in class. A lot of it had more to do with some of the other students rambling on and not giving others a chance to speak. True, they had achieved that level of fluency which allowed them the comfort to just habla habla habla, which is a really key point in learning.
My first years in Germany, I studied with a private instructor, and again, believe it was the right decision. I was in an tailored environment where I could quickly accelerate with the guidance of my teacher, who was also a personal friend.
With her help, along with my own initiative, I rather quickly achieved a level of fluency, noticeably with my speaking ability; I became more than capable of having pretty complex discussions about a variety of topics.
Over the years as I met more people, had more conversations and experienced different things, I reached a pretty high level of German, but at the same time, noticed that I kind of plateaued. Besides that, I had picked up a couple of bad habits along the way, which from time to time have hindered me from progressing further.
In comparison to my first few years in Germany, where I quickly found the other newbies as we all struggled to speak the language, more recent years have me in a nice comfort zone where I switch happily back and forth between whichever language. Mostly that is German and English, but the Spanish still peeks in from time to time.
The point is, I can think of really only two friends of mine who are (semi) actively trying to learn German. Both friends speak native English, and for the most part, the only thing I can help them with is sharing my own learning experience: the importance of self study, speaking as much as much as possible, and basically putting forth the effort.
Putting forth the effort is a bit of a trick. My Spanish really took off after I moved to Spain, and my arrival in Germany was filled with all kinds of distractions that come with a move abroad. But, I was fortunate that I was really motivated to do what was needed in order to learn the language. I have commented numerous times in the past 15 years about the number of people who have lived here in Germany that never really attempted to learn the language. This was never my problem, and obviously helped me get over some of the initial hurdles.
One of the things that I think helped me the most with learning both Spanish and German is that I have made a bit of a game of it. As a child, I spent tons of time in the library, and most people know me as a voracious (to quote Pablo) reader. In language learning, I turned to children's books, as it was a relaxed way to get familiar with the language, and on a level that I could sort of connect with. I discovered a little series of books about a Spanish boy Teo, and spent lots of time reading about his First Visit to the Zoo, or his First Visit to the Doctor. The books were engaging enough, Teo had a nice family, and my Spanish vocabulary quickly grew to a point where I was actively able to speak with my sister's 5 year old niece in Spanish without any problem at all.
About the time I was considering looking for Spanish equivalents to Judy Blume type books, I moved to Germany, so basically started over at the really young reader level. This made for some interesting visits to the big bookstore in Frankfurt, where I was nestled into the children's section reading about German kids kind of like Teo in Spain.
Because my German experience was more immersion, I actually moved in the direction of creating my own children's book, which to some extent are detailed in some of my blog posts. I, too, had to go to the dentist for the first time in Germany, and I also went to the zoo. Suddenly, just about every new activity I was doing had an accompanying book with it. Bryan's visit to the Unemployment Office, Bryan Learns How to Ride the Trains, and many others are all listed by ISBN.
In my imagination.
Experiences can be relative and influenced by interests, so is is no surprise that my level of German might have limits when it comes to topics like: the Solar System, Dinosaurs, and other areas that many of us as children might have read about. I probably could name all the dinosaurs when I was 10, but that was never really my thing, so was no where on the Prio list when I started learning German vocabulary.
Because of my interest in detective series, like Midsomer Murders, Agatha Christie stuff, and Henning Mankell, I have learned a ton of Germany vocabulary with regards to rather violent crime, ways murders are committed, and police procedure. Yes, I know that these are not necessarily words that I will be using in every day conversation, but still, who am I to turn down opportunities to learn new vocabulary. It is a game after all.
In my German class, I quickly noticed that I do kind of speak more fluently than some of my classmates. But, I was there once, myself. So, I tend to try and stay silent, just to allow the other students the opportunity to speak up. Sometimes people get intimidated, just like I did back in Spain. I do not want to be a roadblock for them. That said, I do speak when I feel so inclined. Because all of us are from various nationalities, I am noticing that everyone learns German a little differently. I imagine that this can be a challenge for the instructor. For example, most Americans trip up on the same few things in German, and in fact, many Germans acknowledge that with regularity.
So, during my class, I kind of pay attention to what the other students are saying, or how they are comprehending things. Just last Thursday evening, I was a little surprised when the teacher asked a simple question, "Can anyone give me an example of an adjective?"
You might think this to be a very basic question, which indeed it is. However, the subject was comparatives, and even though our level is fairly advanced, this was kind of a review session.
What was most surprising is when one of the students, probably the one who is also most advanced in the class, proceed to respond to a different question entirely. For a moment, I thought maybe the online connection was bad and he had misheard, but later I realized that he just simply did not understand.
It happens.
And that is precisely why I am taking the class, because it is high time for me to crack on with the refresher course, which will eventually help me get to the next level and off of my plateau.
As the guy answered the random question with a random answer, I thought of one of my experiences about 5 years ago when I sat in a job interview, my very first ever interview in German. (That book was entitled, "Well That Did Not Go Well At All." I was so concentrated on what I wanted to say, I forgot to actually pay attention to what my speaking counterpart was saying.
Learning the language is as easy as you want to make it. Vocabulary and grammar rules are really just a matter of taking the time to study, and learn them on your own. The teacher is there to help guide, and hopefully boost us over the hurdles, and while it always helps when the teacher is engaged, it is equally important that the students are equally engaged in motivated.
I cannot stress enough how much respect I have for people like my sister who are dedicated teachers in the field of education. I am fortunate to know many other teachers, at various levels of the school system. And, I will take pride in the fact that I have done a fair share of teaching myself.
And out of this respect, I make sure to do my homework, attend class, and show the teacher that I am interested in learning.
After so many years of living here, the "new" experiences are not quite as frequent as before. But, throw in job change, a world wide pandemic, and shitloads of other stuff, and I think there will more opportunities to expand the children's library of my life.
For example, yesterday evening I was picking up a pizza down the street, but had moment of confusion when the guy asked me if I was wanting to take-out or eat-in. He had to repeat himself three times before I finally understood. No, it was not so much my German level as simply it has been 8 months since anyone has been able to actually sit in a cafe (outdoor or indoor, for that matter). Still, I took it as a bit of a sign that I need to remember that everywhere is a classroom environment, and I still need some work on my language.
Part of me however, was distracted because I was thinking about another book (probably a 2 parter), the first part being "Bryan's visit to the nice doctor who gave him a covid jab" which happened yesterday afternoon. Part 2 is still unwritten, but will have something to do with whether or not I get knocked on my keister. As luck would have it, I just finished my reverse lunge 21 day challenge, and my legs are talking to me in their special little way. I am trying to decide if it is just muscle soreness or truly effects of the vaccination.
At any rate, it will give me something to think about over the course of the rest of the weekend, along with how to incorporate keister into a few more conversations.
See you out there, but don't forget to do your homework.
bryan
1 comment:
Interesting! This pretty much answers my question "Are you fluent in German?" ��
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