[Fic] "Raven Learns German" -- original
This is a bit of family history for Raven Carlson, who is a mutant in the X-Men's universe (mostly the movie version, but I can mix in the comics if I darn well feel like it -- they've been retconned so many times anyway that I can justify almost any inclusions I like). It really has nothing to do with that, though -- it's just a young girl, her grandmother, and some of the logical-yet-wrong conclusions that kids can reach.
It's called "Raven Learns German," because I am too lazy to think of a proper title. *grin*
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Raven Learns German
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On Raven's sixth birthday, her grandmother began to teach her German. "Then you'll know part of where you come from," Oma said, and Raven smiled, liking the idea of belonging to something. The first thing she learned was how to count to ten:
Eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben, acht, neun, zehn.
Raven counted in English, then in German, and then in a mix of both, switching languages for every other number. Oma smiled.
"Now a sentence," she said. "Say with me: Ich bin sechs Jahre alt."
Raven repeated it. "What's that mean?" she asked.
"It means 'I am six years old,'" Oma said. "Here's another: Heute ist mein Geburtstag. That means 'Today is my birthday.' Go on, you try."
Raven practiced her new sentences several times before her party that afternoon, when she proudly told Jenny and Tom that she could speak German, and what could they do that was as special as that?
Oma left for Minnesota the next day, but she promised to teach Raven more German the next time she and Grandpa visited, or when Raven's family came out to the lake. So Raven held onto her numbers and sentences, waiting.
She decided that while she waited, she would invent her own language. It should be easy enough -- all she had to do was make up a different word for each English word, just like German. But she never got very far, and by the time summer came and the family trekked out to the lake where Oma and Grandpa lived, she had decided that it would be easier to learn German instead. Someone else had already gone to the bother of inventing the nonsense words there.
Oma's second lesson began with a review and a promise of cookies if Raven had remembered everything. Raven proudly counted to ten and said her two sentences.
"Wunderbar!" Oma exclaimed, which Raven already knew meant 'wonderful' since that was what Oma always said. She wondered if it was German too.
"Now let's try something new," Oma said. "Let's suppose we've just met and we want to introduce ourselves. What would you say in English?"
Raven thought carefully. "Hi, I'm Raven? What's your name?" she ventured.
"Good! In German, you should say: Hallo, ich heisse Raven. Wie heissen Sie?"
Raven tried to fit that into English. "So that's 'Hello, I am Raven. Who are you?'" she asked.
"Not exactly," Oma said, settling back in her chair. "It's more like 'Hello, my name is Raven,' or perhaps 'Hello, I am called Raven.' There isn't really an English word that matches with heissen, so we have to work around it."
Raven was caught flat-footed. "Then what does heissen mean?" Didn't all German words match up with English ones?
Oma smiled. "It means heissen," she said. "Which is something like 'to be called.' This is the interesting part of learning new languages -- often one will have words that the other doesn't, or will have ways to say something with less trouble.
"When I first came to this country," she continued, "what always caught me was using prepositions." She smiled at Raven's blank look. "Those are words like 'in' or 'with.' Now in English, if you take a trip, you say 'I traveled by bus,' or 'I traveled in a bus.' But in German, you say 'Ich bin mit dem Bus gefahren.' And that, in English, is a bit like saying 'I traveled WITH a bus.' You can see how this confused me."
Raven nodded -- it certainly seemed confusing to her. "I wanted to make up a language," she told Oma, "but I couldn't think of all the words to use for the real ones. I didn't think I'd have to make up words that don't even exist!"
"Oh, German words are as real as English ones, liebchen. But someday, if you do finish making your own language, will you teach it to me?"
Raven beamed at her grandmother. "Sure!" Then she bit her lip, considering. "Can you say 'sure' in German?"
"Ja wohl!" Oma said, and laughed. "Well, more or less you can. It comes to the same thing in the end."
"Good," Raven said. "Are we done now?"
"Sure, liebchen," Oma said, reaching over to ruffle Raven's hair as she stood from her chair.
And they went to the kitchen for cookies.
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End of Story
It's called "Raven Learns German," because I am too lazy to think of a proper title. *grin*
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Raven Learns German
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On Raven's sixth birthday, her grandmother began to teach her German. "Then you'll know part of where you come from," Oma said, and Raven smiled, liking the idea of belonging to something. The first thing she learned was how to count to ten:
Eins, zwei, drei, vier, fünf, sechs, sieben, acht, neun, zehn.
Raven counted in English, then in German, and then in a mix of both, switching languages for every other number. Oma smiled.
"Now a sentence," she said. "Say with me: Ich bin sechs Jahre alt."
Raven repeated it. "What's that mean?" she asked.
"It means 'I am six years old,'" Oma said. "Here's another: Heute ist mein Geburtstag. That means 'Today is my birthday.' Go on, you try."
Raven practiced her new sentences several times before her party that afternoon, when she proudly told Jenny and Tom that she could speak German, and what could they do that was as special as that?
Oma left for Minnesota the next day, but she promised to teach Raven more German the next time she and Grandpa visited, or when Raven's family came out to the lake. So Raven held onto her numbers and sentences, waiting.
She decided that while she waited, she would invent her own language. It should be easy enough -- all she had to do was make up a different word for each English word, just like German. But she never got very far, and by the time summer came and the family trekked out to the lake where Oma and Grandpa lived, she had decided that it would be easier to learn German instead. Someone else had already gone to the bother of inventing the nonsense words there.
Oma's second lesson began with a review and a promise of cookies if Raven had remembered everything. Raven proudly counted to ten and said her two sentences.
"Wunderbar!" Oma exclaimed, which Raven already knew meant 'wonderful' since that was what Oma always said. She wondered if it was German too.
"Now let's try something new," Oma said. "Let's suppose we've just met and we want to introduce ourselves. What would you say in English?"
Raven thought carefully. "Hi, I'm Raven? What's your name?" she ventured.
"Good! In German, you should say: Hallo, ich heisse Raven. Wie heissen Sie?"
Raven tried to fit that into English. "So that's 'Hello, I am Raven. Who are you?'" she asked.
"Not exactly," Oma said, settling back in her chair. "It's more like 'Hello, my name is Raven,' or perhaps 'Hello, I am called Raven.' There isn't really an English word that matches with heissen, so we have to work around it."
Raven was caught flat-footed. "Then what does heissen mean?" Didn't all German words match up with English ones?
Oma smiled. "It means heissen," she said. "Which is something like 'to be called.' This is the interesting part of learning new languages -- often one will have words that the other doesn't, or will have ways to say something with less trouble.
"When I first came to this country," she continued, "what always caught me was using prepositions." She smiled at Raven's blank look. "Those are words like 'in' or 'with.' Now in English, if you take a trip, you say 'I traveled by bus,' or 'I traveled in a bus.' But in German, you say 'Ich bin mit dem Bus gefahren.' And that, in English, is a bit like saying 'I traveled WITH a bus.' You can see how this confused me."
Raven nodded -- it certainly seemed confusing to her. "I wanted to make up a language," she told Oma, "but I couldn't think of all the words to use for the real ones. I didn't think I'd have to make up words that don't even exist!"
"Oh, German words are as real as English ones, liebchen. But someday, if you do finish making your own language, will you teach it to me?"
Raven beamed at her grandmother. "Sure!" Then she bit her lip, considering. "Can you say 'sure' in German?"
"Ja wohl!" Oma said, and laughed. "Well, more or less you can. It comes to the same thing in the end."
"Good," Raven said. "Are we done now?"
"Sure, liebchen," Oma said, reaching over to ruffle Raven's hair as she stood from her chair.
And they went to the kitchen for cookies.
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End of Story