Low German

[hilarystravels]

Since I have been here, I have been hearing the word , "Plattdeutsch".  Plattdeutsch, for those who do not know, is a regional dialect/language spoken in the Lower Saxon part of Germany (my location). Based on what many Germans have told me, I believe that Plattdeutsch is a mixture of German and Dutch (or Hollandisch).    Here is the Wikipedia Article:

Auf Englisch: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plattdeutsch.
Auf Deutsch: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plattdeutsch.

I have also found a ten minute clip from a Plattdeutsches Theater. My host father said that he used to watch plays spoken in this language:

Click to view

All the Germans here say that it's almost impossible to understand a person speaking in Plattdeutsch!

Since residing here, my German has improved tremendously. It it still hard to follow conversations, but my vocabulary  is improving.  I get embarrassed when I speak German and I receive a funny look from someone. I am feeling less and less embarrassed as time goes by though...hopefully by January I will be able to translate all of my journal entries into Deutsch. :)

Well, I have found that I learn a lot of German when watching English television with German subtitles (specifically Mtv, despite the fact that I do not like Mtv).  I try watching American television shows dubbed German, but I do not learn anything through this...I don't know why. I think it's because I can see the word (I am a visual learner).

For example:
On Mtv, someone will say "Whats up?", the subtitle will say "Was gehts?"  and the phrase will stick in my head.

Well, along with Plattdeutsch, I have also been researching  German-speaking countries. A country in Africa sparked my interest:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namibia



Namibia
(Well, German is a regional language here. The official language is English).