Deutsch, die Sprache
Kann ich jetzt spreche die Sprache? Ich wisse nicht.
It was a big step for me to come to a German-speaking country knowing no German. I had terrifying visions of being lost, hungry, stranded, and not being able to talk to anyone. But really, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Because the fact is, I am really an American who just happens to be living in Vienna sometimes. I speak English at home. At school. When I'm with my friends, who are all Americans in my program.
And as a result, my German sucks. The fact is, I realize now that I had really high expectations of what how much I would learn. And I have come a long way - certainly learned more than I would have in a semester of classes at home. Naturlich. But I feel like it's not enough. The few times I had to communicate with my 10-year-old students in German, I couldn't really do it. I still understand about one in ten words that my choir conductor says. In the social conversations after choir, I understand about half of what's going on. But can I say anything back? Nope.
I feel like I should have achieved more. The fact is, I think that I can speak the language better than most of the other people in my level of German, because I put myself into these environments, like choir, where I had to speak German. But I feel like I could have done more. Or, rather, should have done more, and feel like I was held back by my teachers. Which sounds ridiculous. But although the two German teachers I've had this semester have been really nice people, they have both been very grammar-focused. And yes, I know you have to learn grammar to learn a language. But it would help so much if they just took five minutes at the beginning of class and asked us questions, questions that we had to reply to on the spot, rather than reading the dialogue sheet in front of us. And you'd think, that with an entire German-speaking city out there, we'd go experience it, or at least use it. The number of times we've gone out to experience it as a class? Twice.
It seems to come down to the fact that this branch of IES, here in Vienna, is not a language program. As evidenced by the fact that quite a number of us, like me, knew no German. As evidenced by the fact that most people live in apartments with other Americans. There are a few who live with Austrian families, but they're not host families. They don't involve them. They're just boarders.
It's a bit of a dichotomy. As much as I think I would have liked to be in a real immersion program and really learn more German, I remember back to the beginning, and I'm not sure if I could have handled a program like that. Ambition doesn't always follow reality, does it?
It was a big step for me to come to a German-speaking country knowing no German. I had terrifying visions of being lost, hungry, stranded, and not being able to talk to anyone. But really, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Because the fact is, I am really an American who just happens to be living in Vienna sometimes. I speak English at home. At school. When I'm with my friends, who are all Americans in my program.
And as a result, my German sucks. The fact is, I realize now that I had really high expectations of what how much I would learn. And I have come a long way - certainly learned more than I would have in a semester of classes at home. Naturlich. But I feel like it's not enough. The few times I had to communicate with my 10-year-old students in German, I couldn't really do it. I still understand about one in ten words that my choir conductor says. In the social conversations after choir, I understand about half of what's going on. But can I say anything back? Nope.
I feel like I should have achieved more. The fact is, I think that I can speak the language better than most of the other people in my level of German, because I put myself into these environments, like choir, where I had to speak German. But I feel like I could have done more. Or, rather, should have done more, and feel like I was held back by my teachers. Which sounds ridiculous. But although the two German teachers I've had this semester have been really nice people, they have both been very grammar-focused. And yes, I know you have to learn grammar to learn a language. But it would help so much if they just took five minutes at the beginning of class and asked us questions, questions that we had to reply to on the spot, rather than reading the dialogue sheet in front of us. And you'd think, that with an entire German-speaking city out there, we'd go experience it, or at least use it. The number of times we've gone out to experience it as a class? Twice.
It seems to come down to the fact that this branch of IES, here in Vienna, is not a language program. As evidenced by the fact that quite a number of us, like me, knew no German. As evidenced by the fact that most people live in apartments with other Americans. There are a few who live with Austrian families, but they're not host families. They don't involve them. They're just boarders.
It's a bit of a dichotomy. As much as I think I would have liked to be in a real immersion program and really learn more German, I remember back to the beginning, and I'm not sure if I could have handled a program like that. Ambition doesn't always follow reality, does it?