Dear Readers,
A brief account of my newly re-started German
language-learning experience…
This spring (2015) has been the first time since then that I
have had a chance to do anything language-related again. I thought long and
hard about which language to study next. I looked at all the sites, most of
which I have read many times before, describing the benefits of studying this
or that language. I finally settled on German, since this is one that I keep
coming back to. After Spanish, German was the next second language I studied as
a child. I suppose I could say it was the third language, but my brain seems to
clump all languages learned after childhood into one. Any language I have tried
to study since Spanish has been a ‘second language’ for me…which is I guess why
they seem to mix together and I spit out words from random languages when
trying to produce speech in a new language of study…I digress.
So, German. I studied it as a 10-year-old from this
interesting pocket-sized book with hilarious cartoon doodle-drawings and an
audio tape for authentic listening practice. At the time, it seemed like quite
the modern language course. My sister and I spent many hours giggling over the
doodles of boxers with bloody noses, women with fancy haircuts drinking tea,
and extremely thin people standing next to body-builders while trying to
imitate the accents of the speakers on the audio tapes. Sadly, the only things
I remember after 20 years are two completely useless phrases- “My tea is good,
but my teacup is too small,” and “I am big and strong.”
I picked the language up again briefly during an intensive
semester back in 2013, but due to one thing and another, ended up dropping it
again. So now I’m back at it.
I started with a nifty little app called ‘Duolingo,’ originally
recommended to me by a brilliant student about a year ago. I downloaded it onto
my barely-smart phone while on a road trip across Cyprus and immediately set my
goal for the maximum of 30 minutes a day…a bit ambitious, considering I was
going to a place with nearly no reception on a sand dune at the end of the
island. Anyway…
The app is great, because it has vocabulary in pictures and
phrases, and offers practice with spelling, listening and pronunciation as
well. It is fairly intuitive, which helps, and it rewards the learner with
points which can be used to purchase additional lesson packs. It also charts
your progress and sends you reminders if you forget to study for a day.
On top of that, I found some other FREE!! apps for
vocabulary learning and a few about grammar. After a couple weeks of work on my
own, I started taking a weekly lesson with a native speaker who is very
patient, and insists on speaking in German as much as possible. So far, despite
actually being a busy person (like everyone else), I have managed to put in at
least a few minutes every day. I study in two-to-ten-minute blocks between my
classes, while waiting for my daughters, while waiting to fall asleep, and any
other little times when I would otherwise be doing nothing. It is amazing how
much time is actually available in the day when you go looking for it. I admit,
it’s not as good as taking a regular class and doing an hour of homework a day,
but it’s better than nothing, and about all I can manage at this stage.
Happily, although I’m still in the first month of study, I
have been able to understand a lot of what my native speaker says, and can
produce a few grammatically horrible sentences as well. I’m enjoying the
language, which I believe is a key to maintaining interest and motivation to
study.
I’ll periodically post some things about and in German on
here…which reminds me, I need to install the German keyboard onto my laptop.
Thanks for reading! More coming soon.
This is me, signing off…
