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July 20, 2005
zur Hochzeit in Kalifornien
okay, i'll tell you right away: this means "to the wedding in California." it's a phrase on our reply cards that i wouldn't have been able to really understand just a few weeks ago. but that was before i started my quite rigorous German lessons, which i obliquely referred to a few posts ago.
yes, part of the reason this blog has fallen a bit by my life's wayside is that on top of earning the rent AND planning a wedding, i'm also making good on my promise to learn German. not traveller's German, but really how to speak & understand the language. i'd promised myself and T.T. that if we ever got married, i would make a concerted effort to learn German. while i was working in New York City, i managed to teach myself, via Internet-downloaded flashcards, some vocabulary so i could feel like i was doing something. but as soon as i returned to Los Angeles, i started researching language schools/programs. i opted for the one that meets for 6 hours of instruction total, twice a week, with just one other student. so there's nowhere to hide when you didn't do all your Hausaufgaben (homework).
i was excited when i started. i felt i would have a few advantages:
1. i already learned a second language, Japanese, by virtue of growing up there. with Japanese comes three whole new writing systems, a grammar system with no real English equivalents, and very interesting pronounciations. German seemed positively simple just on the "no new alphabet" alone.
2. i taught ESL (English as a Second Language) classes to put myself through college, and still do so once a week as a volunteer. thus i have a unusually geeky appreciation for grammar, and the inner workings of a language.
3. i once called English an old musty Germanic language. thus much more one-to-one correlations and therefore better learning curve.
4. i'm not learning German for college credit, because i might visit there, or even because i love certain German foods like Duplo bars and Minikokos Brandt zweiback-thingys. no. i'm incredibly motivated because not only will this allow me to somewhat communicate with my future family, but because this is the first language of the man i love. this is actually my wedding present to him.
so. i'm still excited, but i really wasn't prepared for how much my wedding present to T.T. was going to make my brain hurt. while i was actually correct with all four of my so-called advantages, there were pitfalls i did not see. for example, woops, i mean zum Beispele:
1. German involves gender for its nouns which dictates how much of the rest of the sentence will happen. learn vocabulary without gender, and you, mein Freund, are pretty much sunk.
2. then there are "cases" which is sort of like tenses in English but not really. in fact, i will not bore you with this because Lord knows i barely understand this. what i do understand is that it HURTS MY BRAIN.
3. i've been out of school as a student for so long that it's really hard to get back into that gear. kudos to you return-to-graduate-school people. i don't know how you do it. oh yeah, you're probably studying in English, which you actually understand.
4. so many other things that have to get done besides studying. for once, i actually want to study and instead, i have to, oh, go to work, which has actually been more plentiful this summer than i expected. (not complaining, mind you!)
5. did i mention that my brain hurts?
the good thing is that any of these five pitfalls are completely overcome by the motivation mentioned in Advantage Number Four. i'm really enjoying myself, despite Pitfall Number Five.
sigh. sorry, HadashiWorld, i'd like to post to you more often but i've got Hausaufgaben waiting.
Posted by hadashi at July 20, 2005 10:00 PM
Comments
Deutsch ist ganz einfach :-) ! Vielleich wird das helfen:
http://dogmaradio.com/dfa
Ciao, Tschüß!
Posted by: Roland Tanglao at July 22, 2005 9:47 PM
All I know is how to say "I'm a danish" in German. It hasn't gotten me far in life, FYI.
Posted by: Pauly D at July 23, 2005 12:26 PM
vielen dank für your encouragement, Pauly & Roland. while i don't think Deutsch ist GANZ einfach, i suppose it is einfach enough that i actually understood that post. and i enjoyed dogmaradio.com/dfa. i'll head over there & comment.
Posted by: hadashi at July 23, 2005 6:56 PM
eep, that was downright BAKA of me to claim yesterday that I don't know how to make comments to your blog. fahrvehnugen.
I am extremely proud and in awe of your language learning efforts. alas, I will have to admire you from a distant country, because German makes my brain hurt too...when I think about it!! you can do it, and I know it will be well worth it, your in-laws will love you more than they already do. Question: does this means your future children will be German-English bilingual and shut out on Asian languages?! the possibility is sad, but then again you know I'm terribly biased.
hey, did you make it to Family Mart yet?
Posted by: ukognet at July 24, 2005 6:20 AM
sadly, no time yet for fuamilimaato. i shall try to make some... i think Hans & Lola (that's the future kids) will alas, yes, be German-English bilingual, but will probably also learn useful phrases such as "shizukani shinasai" and "mama wa ichiban!"
Posted by: hadashi at July 25, 2005 3:22 PM
phew, that makes me feel slightly bitte, better I mean. Think twice about "Lola," though, do you really want to have a daughter who's mistaken for a "Roller" on your occasional trips to Okinawa... keep me posted on FamiMa, wish I could join!
Posted by: ukognet at July 27, 2005 6:58 AM
What a sweet wedding present! Ich habe Deutsch sieben Jahre studiert. Ich habe viele vergessen. just keep trying... if you forget a word just put a german accent on it and keep going. Besides being a sweet wedding present, think of all the WWII movies you'll now be able to understand without the subtitles!
Posted by: elizabeth at July 29, 2005 12:39 PM
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