Languages

I've been studying German for just over five weeks now. My classes take place at the Foreign Service Institute in Arlington, Virginia. The classes are small - average of four students per instructor. I'm enjoying learning German and did very well on my first progress test. It has been a bit frustrating, though.

My teacher has been out sick for two weeks. All the teachers are very good, patient and caring, but I want my teacher back. On her first sick day out, I was placed with my husband in the advanced-beginner class. All the students in his class already speak some German. Not very well and certainly not anywhre near fluently, but they speak German already. The teacher uses very little English in the class. I was lost. The second day my teacher was out sick, I was put in the beginner-beginner class. Whew! Good class. Lots of drills using the vocabulary we had been assigned. Day three of my teacher's illness I was put back into the advanced-beginners class and there I have stayed.

Why didn't I request to be in the real beginners class, you may ask? Because I didn't think our teacher would be out for two weeks. Neither did she.

Being in my husband's class has been good for me in a way. Listening to all the German spoken has helped my ear tune to the sound of the language. It has forced my ear to pick out words even if all I get out of a sentence is mit (with) and und (and). It took me a lot longer than two weeks to begin picking out words in Russian when I was studying it.

I've had to muzzle my attitude. I prepared a script for myself for an auction all the classes gathered for on Wednesday. The teacher changed some of my words and added a few new ones. I don't see the sense of cramming in several new words an hour or so before a presentation - words that are not even on the vocabulary list in the book. I did poorly in the auction because I was stumbling around trying to read the revised script.

Monday I will be back with my class and my teacher, safe in my level.

One thing that intimidates some people in learning German is the long words. The Germans love compound words - compound to the extreme. It's not uncommon to see four or five words linked to form one word with a defnition that combines the definitions of each individual word. My favorite German word so far is Flugzeugverkehrsknotenpunkt. Flugzeug  means "airplane". Verkehr means "traffic". (The 's' is simply a connecting letter.) Knot means "knot". (Sometimes German is easy.) Punkt means point. Here's the riddle for you: What does Flugzeugverkehrsknotenpunkt mean? Think a minute before you read on for the answer. Flugzeugverkehrsknotenpunkt means "airline hub".

It's very common for writers and speakers of German to invent compound words when they see an opportunity or need one.

Here's one more riddle for you. What does the German word Schauspieler mean? Here are your two hints: Schau means "show"; spieler means "player". Okay, this one's a little easier, Schauspieler means actor.

Here are a couple of interesting things about German. Nouns are always capitalized. The word for "I" is not. However, the formal word for "you" is always capitalized.

It's fun listening to the experiences of different people learning various languages and the things they notice while doing so. A sign frequently seen here in the United States is "Lingerie Sale". In French "sale" apparently translates as "dirty"! Lingerie sale takes on a whole new meaning. I remember hearing a story from long ago about what a difficult time Chevrolet had in marketing the Nova in Mexico. It turns out that no va means "no go"! I asked one of Doug's former classmates if they (the Foreign Service) was going to give him language training before sending him to Australia. He laughed and said, "No, but they ought to."

(My next post will come sooner than this one did and it will have pictures so be on the look out.)