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With the whole city of Berlin as my classroom and all the people I talk to - from my host family to random people on the street - as my teachers, it's hard not to be learning German 24/7 just by existing here. Since I stepped off the plane 3 weeks ago to now, my German has vastly improved with my hardly noticing.
For not having taken German in forever, I've retained a surprisingly solid foundation (something I am oh-so grateful to my past teachers for!). That being said, it is humbling to be around IES students in my pre-semester language course who are already really, really good...it makes me realize that I have a longggg way to go. The more I learn, the more I realize how hard it really is to truly master a language, and how much we take the our native languages for granted. All the prepositions and the gendered articles alone are near impossible to get down, not to mention all the subtleties and connotations attached to different words and phrases...naja, one baby step at a time, right?
Well, for those who are learning German, or any foreign language really, here are some language lessons I've learned in the past month.
1. Rambling is a good thing when you're learning a language!
I have a terrible tendency to ramble about God-knows-what, and that occasionally that carries over into German (though I find rambling way harder in German because you usually have to remember what verb/verb ending you wanted to use at the end of your sentence, and it's too easy to forget!) But it turned out to be a positive trait because, well, rambling = more conversational practice, and of course, practice makes perfect. (at least, that's my justification and I'm sticking with it.)
2. If you don't know a word, just use English...but with a German pronunciation.
One day, my German vocabulary exponentially multiplied -- when I discovered that words I thought didn't know, like "communication" or "integration", were..."kommunikation" and "integration". How convenient, huh? There are a surprising number of words that are the same in both languages, you just gotta figure out the pattern or simply try. (Not to mention, all the English words that the Germans apparently got too lazy to translate. But that is a whole different story...)
3. When that fails, just pretend like you're playing a game of Taboo.
I've started pretending that if I don't know a word, it's just because I have to explain it in a roundabout way like you do in Taboo. Wait...that's not pretend. That's life in German. But after having played the game twice in German, it's nice to have a fun, game-like mentality instead of getting frustrated at not being able to express yourself adequately (which trust me, will happen more often than not).
4. Learn the actual "taboo" words.
This will help you avoid potentially awkward situations and just make your generally more language-savvy. I had a funny conversation the other day about the use of the word "Fuehrer", which is a big no-no here with its obvious historical implications but would seem totally appropriate to the unaware for a lot of normal translations. While people will obviously understand what you're trying to say and kindly correct you, it's definitely better to learn what's "politically incorrect" in their language early on in the game.
5. Speak like you're fluent, even when you're not.
It's those that speak the most fluidly, NOT the ones who agonize over the correct syntax and article gender, that sound like they have the best grasp on the language. Having the conversation flow smoothly is far more important than tripping over the fact that you said "die Tisch" instead of "der Tisch". And while people tend to be patient if you get uncertain, I get the feeling they'll be even more grateful if you let go of your uncertainty and just talk. All those little vocab/grammar faux pas can be looked over. Of course, it's far easier said than done, and I'm definitely prone to freezing up over wanting a perfect sentence. But hey, we all know that confidence is sexy, and with a foreign language, it's also downright impressive.
So. Even if you found this advice absolutely useless, my point is this: it's not only good but necessary to get comfortable being uncomfortable in a foreign language. Because, well, it' s going to happen.
So do whatever needs to be done, lose the hesitation, and plunge into the conversation! If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed! - Janet Ma, IES Abroad
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