Tag Archives: language

Ich spreche ein bisschen Deutsch

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I really do!  (Speak a little bit of German, that is.)

Just this week, I’ve been contemplating whether to take another German class this semester.  On the one hand, my German is minimal, and it would be nice to have more . . . and, given that we’re living here for a limited time, the sooner I learn it, the more useful it is, the more practice I’ll get, the better I’ll retain it.  On the other hand, B just started school 4 hours a day, which changes schedules and priorities, and I’m not certain that I want to dedicate two afternoons a week, from now until January, to German class.  Honestly, it would give me little time for anything else — I’ll have to cram my chores, errands, Skypes plus fun stuff (like going to the park, doing a little sightseeing) into three afternoons a week between nap time and dinner time.  That’s really not a lot of time (and this, after all, is supposed to be a vacation).

I’m still undecided on that point, so we’ll see.  But, this evening, I had a nice reinforcement on the German that I’ve learned.  After dinner, I was feeding Liam while B watched some tv.  He asked (as he does from time to time) if I would change Team Umizoomi to German, so I did.  We went along, B watching, me not really paying attention.  And then, at one point, they got to a word I didn’t know, which caught my attention.  It caught my attention because I realized that I had gone for several minutes (maybe longer?!?) understanding exactly what was being said.

That was a cool feeling.  Granted, we’re talking about a tv show intended for preschoolers, so we aren’t doing differential equations or philosophizing about moral turpitude.  But still, it’s something.  And it’ll make me feel slightly less guilty if I do decide to shirk German class to opt for more time at the upcoming Christmas markets.  At least, ein bisschen.

Erste German class

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Today was the last day of my first German class.  It was definitely a helpful class — I can understand and communicate more than I could before.  Now it’s up to me — I have to study and practice, and I certainly get plenty of opportunities to practice.

We learned to describe time, use numbers, ask questions, introduce ourselves, ask for/interpret directions, order from a menu, spell, tell someone our phone number or address and conjugate regular verbs.  At the end of class today, we had a few minutes for open questions, and I also made sure I learned how to ask “Can I pet your dog?” because Benjamin has been dying to learn how to say that.

Dan had to forgo taking a German class this summer.  We couldn’t take class at the same time, because we have two kids that won’t sit through an hour of adults learning German.  Both sections of the summer class were at the same time, and we figured I was a higher priority because Dan gets to spend the day speaking English and I don’t.  Our plan for the fall, though, is for both of us to take class.  Benjamin starts preschool next week, too, so our schedule for this fall should be pretty interesting.  I want to make it a priority to get myself to a German class, though — I need to stay at least one lesson ahead of Benjamin, at least, and he has age on his side.

Telling time

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Today, in my German class, we worked on telling time.  (Actually, we worked on reporting the time and understanding it when someone else tells us — the ability to actually tell time was assumed.)

There are a variety of conventions used, most of which I found to be fairly complicated — some are used by all German speakers, but a few were specific to Austria.  What I found particularly interesting is that after (and including) quarter past the hour, they orient everything to the hour that is coming, rather than the hour that has passed.  For example, you’d say it’s “half eleven” when it’s 10:30.  You’d say it’s “three quarters six” at 5:45 (i.e., three quarters of the hour towards 6:00).  At 8:15, you could either say a quarter after 8:00 or “quarter nine” (a quarter of an hour towards 9:00).

As our teacher said, after a quarter past the hour, that hour is history — old news.  They look ahead to what’s coming, not what’s already happened.  They also ask the time (literally) as “How late is it?”  When I consider that the Austrians are the most punctual people I’ve ever been around, this all seems to make a lot of sense.  They aren’t stuck on where they’re coming from, they’re looking to where they’re going.

Double translation

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I knew, of course, that there would be a language barrier when I moved here.  (The fact that the only thing I knew how to say in German was “Gesundheit” before getting on the plane was a small clue.)  I’m really very fortunate:  as far as I can tell, most people here study at least some English at school.  Under the age of about 40, the vast majority of people I encounter do speak at least a little English.  But, I didn’t know that there would be an additional barrier — the fact that I speak American English and not British English, which is what they study.

Whenever I am fortunate enough to come upon someone who does speak English, I still have to remember that an elevator is a lift, a diaper is a nappy, an apartment is a flat, a binky/paci is a dummy, a boo-boo is an owie, a bathroom is a wc . . . I know there are more that I’m not thinking of.  (There are many, many, many of these . . . )  It may not seem like a lot, but it adds to the language gymnastics I have to do in my head.

Recently, at a restaurant, I was looking for a place to change Benjamin’s diaper.  I tried, unsuccessfully, to ask in German, and resorted to English.  I asked three people where I could find a bathroom, and did it have a place to change a diaper.  I got blank stares.  So, I tried asking if I needed to take the elevator down a floor to get there.  More blank stares.  They called someone over to help this poor, confused, English speaking crazy woman and I repeated my question to the new arrival.  He understood, and upon hearing his explanation (in English) all three of the original guys said, “Oh!” in unison.  It wasn’t the English that was the problem, it was the American-ish.

Perspective

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The changes I’m experiencing here happen slowly.  In a given moment, I usually feel like I’m still pretty much the clueless, overwhelmed fish-out-of-water I was when I got here in April.  But really, things have changed.

I went out this evening, just to take a break, after Dan got home from work.  I walked to the bakery on the next block and picked out a doughnut that I wanted, ordered in German, actually got what I had asked for, paid in Euros (and even understood the price when the guy behind the counter said it) and waved goodbye when I was leaving, because I go in there a lot, and this was the guy who is the most helpful to me when my German fails me.

I walked down the street to the Starbucks and got a coffee.  I didn’t bother to order in German there, because no one seems to mind, and “Grande Decaf Caramel Macchiato” is Italienglish anyway.  I picked a spot outside, read my book and walked home.  I didn’t need to consult a map or check any street signs.  I’m able to move through the crowds like someone who knows where she’s going . . . because I do.

I’m learning a little German, and I’m learning my way around.  It gets a little better all the time.

In fact, if you could have shown the me of 4 months ago a preview of my little adventure today, I think I would be impressed and pleased that things were going so well.  So, I think that’s exactly what I’ll be:  impressed and pleased.  Go me.

Survival in Vienna

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I started my first formal training in German today — the class is called “Survival in Vienna”, so I think it’s right for me.  It’s put on by the UN, so it’s geared towards people from a variety of backgrounds, all of whom are assumed to understand English but not German.  However (perhaps to mimic the immersion we’re experiencing in Vienna) the class is taught completely in German.  (Yikes.)

So far, it’s great.  I’ve already learned something, and the teacher is really impressive — imagine the challenge of teaching 20+ non-German speakers for an hour entirely in German.  She did a great job and managed to get a ton of information across given how little we all knew.  I also got to talk to other adults about something that had nothing to do with children.  I think that was a first since arriving here, too.

I also can’t help but be a little relieved that Dan & I were among the more advanced German speakers in the class — probably mostly a function of the fact that the class is intended to be taken almost immediately upon arrival and we waited almost 4 months to start.  (Although there were others who have been here longer.)  Intellectually, I know it would be ok to enter a beginner level class as a complete beginner, but my ego appreciates not being the biggest novice in the class.

I learned how to introduce myself and others, and how to say where I’m from.  All of that information was new to me.  I already feel less lame — I’m no longer the person living in a country where I don’t speak the language who hasn’t even ever had any instruction in the language.  I’m just the person who doesn’t speak the language, but I’m learning.

Nein!

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Benjamin is a talker.  He has vastly surpassed what is expected for a child his age — speaking to him is a lot like speaking to an adult.  He’s even been quickly picking up words in German:  he’s just the right age, he picks up language easily in general and, frankly, we watch a fair bit of Nick, Jr. in German.  But, up until recently, he’s only spoken German when specifically prompted.  He has added his first unsolicited word in German, and it is (of course):  “Nein!”

For a lot of kids, their first word is “no” (or whatever is the appropriate variant for their native language) but for Benjamin, his first word was “down” and he didn’t really overuse “no” for his first couple of years of speaking.  But, “nein” has become one of his most common utterances these days.

It’s fun to see him picking up the language without any particular effort on either of our parts.  It’s as though he’s just absorbing it out of the air.  And, honestly, hearing your three year old run around the house chanting “nein!” is a lot cuter and less irritating than “no!”  (I think it fails to push the same emotional button.)  Maybe we’ll get lucky and we’ll pass through the “terrible threes” in German — and I might not even understand enough of what he’s saying to be driven crazy by it.

Language traffic jam spoken here

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When we first moved here, we found ourselves paralyzed when it came to language — the prospect of trying to communicate at all when we knew so little prevented us from even trying most of the time.  Shortly after arriving here, I had an experience of being so traumatized when it came to communication that I even had trouble speaking English to another native speaker.  One of Dan’s friends described the experience as “a language traffic jam in your head”.  That’s exactly what it’s like — the brain processes dealing with language become so overloaded that even simple communication becomes difficult, slow and stressful.

Luckily, that first phase was temporary — we’re doing a lot better now.  We have some German we’re pretty comfortable using (“excuse me”, “I’m sorry”, words used in restaurants and grocery stores and various other words and phrases we’ve picked up) and we’re getting less embarrassed about resorting to English when we need to.  Dan will use Spanish when both English and German fail, and I’ll throw in some of the French I know.  Usually, between all those options, something will work out, and when it doesn’t, improvised sign language will.

Tonight, we tried a new restaurant near our house — an Italian place.  We had an Italian waiter who spoke less German than we do, and no English.  That threw us, a bit, at first.  We’ve gotten to the point of being really comfortable reading menus and ordering in German (even though many places offer English menus, we won’t always request one) and I think this is the first time we’ve failed with both German and English.  After a couple of failed attempts, Dan ended up using Spanish, and although we understood very little of what the waiter said, he apparently understood enough Spanish to make things work.

041Over the course of the meal, we chatted a bit (really) and learned that he’s been here as long as we have and that he, also, has two little kids (although his kids are a little older than ours, and he’s a little younger than we are).

At one point, watching this scene where our Italian waiter, Austrian hostess, Dan, myself and the kids were all interacting, I realized how far we’ve come in terms of communication, and very little of it is because we’re getting better at German.  We’re being more confident and less self-conscious, and ever more aware of the benefit that we can get just from putting ourselves out there a little.  This is quite an adventure, and it’s changing us.

Learning German . . . kind of

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Language is so profound.  Without it, we have no way of categorizing or remembering what we experience.  The words we have in our vocabulary literally shape our perception of the experiences we have.  We can’t understand or process a concept we have no words for (part of why science, philosophy and art can be so difficult to understand — where concepts are created and discovered, words often have trouble keeping up).

And that’s not even to mention the value of being able to communicate with other people, which is another profound experience.

Because of all of that, and for the sake of my sanity in general, I’m starting to work on learning German.  I bought a phrase book back before I came here to visit in 2010, and I rely heavily on Google Translate, but other than ordering in a restaurant, I mainly rely on the English skills and kindness of the people I encounter.  I want to do better.  (Although I doubt I’ll make too many strides in 2 years, but we’ll see.  Lucky for me most people here speak English and are remarkably patient.)

I bought Rosetta Stone months before we moved here, but I haven’t even opened the box yet.  Dan & I have researched language classes (and need to do something about registering for them).  The problem with both of those options, though, is time — I have very, very little.  So, I’ve started working with a site that Dan found, Memrise, which is working remarkably well, at least for vocabulary.  I’ve only done two evenings so far, but I’m learning a little.

I still can’t really say anything useful, but I’ll get there.  Off to study . . . tschüss!

Dan’s first day

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Today was one of those days.  I’ve often said to Dan that these are the days where you make it across the finish line, but rather than making it in one piece, you come across sideways, running on fumes, covered in dirt, with 3 flat tires and a bumper that is hanging off.  That’s what today was like:  we made it, but it wasn’t pretty.

Dan left for work this morning, and I got B some breakfast, fed Liam and played with both of them together.  Shortly after putting Liam down for his first nap of the day (sitting up really wears him out!) B started running laps around the living room.  I looked for potential dangers and didn’t see any — I got the power cords out of the way and moved the sharp-cornered furniture . . . but still, he fell (inevitably) and bumped his poor little nose.  My poor guy — it doesn’t seem to be bad, but I think it really hurt.

008Of course, the kids decided to take turns taking naps — Liam slept for an hour or so while Benjamin was falling and injuring himself, and then just as I was putting B down, Liam woke up.  I got B down, Liam got up and was up for almost 2 hours while Benjamin napped, and then he started getting sleepy.  Just as I was getting him back down (literally, as I’m carrying him in to put him in his bed) B wakes up again.  Sigh.  No rest for Mommy today!

Right after everyone woke up, the cleaning lady showed up.  She’s very nice (near as I can tell) but doesn’t speak a word of English — literally, I speak more German than she does English.  I decided to try to get out of her way, but couldn’t communicate that, so I just got myself and the kids ready to go as fast as I could so we could get out of here.  But, it took us so long to get ourselves together that by the time I got Liam in the stroller and Benjamin dressed, she was done.  Even though that’s really fine, and we didn’t have anywhere to be, it was a little discouraging.

026But, Benjamin was excited to go out, and he kept saying, “That was so nice of her!” about the cleaning lady — it was just too cute for me to stay frustrated.  So, we went out, B with his “do” in hand.  (A “do” is a cloth diaper/burp cloth.  Benjamin coined the term “do” as one of his first words — at first, it meant, “that thing I want” but eventually ended up meaning just those cloths.  Since the term is actually more succinct than what they’re actually called, we’ve adopted it, too.  He has a bunch of them, and they’ve kind of become his little security blankets.)  We had a lovely walk.  It was raining a little, but I was holding Benjamin’s hand and talking about the things he saw, and pushing my happy little Liam in the stroller.  We even stopped for a hot chocolate for me and a chocolate milk for B.  We had a great time.

That is, until we got home, and I realized the “do” that had gone out with us had not come back.  Uh-oh.  So, out we went, into the rain, again, retracing our steps.  I was pretty sure that if it was anywhere, it would be at the bakery where we got our hot chocolate and chocolate milk.  We made it all the way back, but it wasn’t there.  We looked all around, and followed our whole path, but we couldn’t find it.  We even went back to the bakery a second time, just to be sure.  Nope.  Poor Benjamin was pretty heartbroken.  It’s really the first time he’s lost something.  He kept asking me where it was and could I find it.  I had to say it was lost, and no, I couldn’t.  He cried.  It was awful.  He has others, but I know that’s not the point — he’s upset that it didn’t come home with us.

So, it’s been one of those days.  We got through.  We made it.  No points for style, but I think I’ve pretty much given that up for now, anyway.  But Liam is sleeping, B is in the bath and Dan is home.  And tomorrow, we go again.