Daily German Lessons
So I came to Germany knowing a some German. But my German skills were pretty limited to basic conversations like booking train tickets and discussing the weather. I did amazingly at discussing various types of sunscreen with a pharmacist in Halle (Fünfzig SPF? Das würde am besten, weil ich so weiß ist). But beyond that, I'm pretty hopeless.
Luckily, the Germans I have met here are really patient when I try to speak German to them. They listen, suggest words, and even correct grammatical errors. I mentioned to a lab tech I work with that I wanted to improve my German, and now whenever I see her she asks me questions, and if I don't know how to answer in German, she tells me. And then she makes me repeat it back to her. Twice. It's amazing.
Language isn't the only way I've delved into German culture. When I came to Germany, I didn't know how to ride a bicycle. Now I do. Learning was a pretty painful process, figuratively and literally. I think I've managed to convince the entire MPIZed that I am absolutely nuts. An old German man, most likely some prestigious plant biologist I will run into for the rest of my life, tried to push me on the bicycle for a bit. It didn't work.
But I now have a rust-covered older-than-I-am bicycle to ride around on. Luckily, the citizens of Köln are not only patient language teachers, but patient drivers. I haven't hurt myself too badly yet because I am very good at finding objects to gracefully break my fall (like thorn bushes. ouch). Having a bicycle has allowed me to ride local health food store and buy wonderful things like tofu, soy burgers, organic carrots, and organic curry paste. And I get to interact with friendly health food store shop clerks who point out that there's blood dripping down my arm. If only I knew how to say 'I bicycled into a thorn bush' in German.
Luckily, the Germans I have met here are really patient when I try to speak German to them. They listen, suggest words, and even correct grammatical errors. I mentioned to a lab tech I work with that I wanted to improve my German, and now whenever I see her she asks me questions, and if I don't know how to answer in German, she tells me. And then she makes me repeat it back to her. Twice. It's amazing.
Language isn't the only way I've delved into German culture. When I came to Germany, I didn't know how to ride a bicycle. Now I do. Learning was a pretty painful process, figuratively and literally. I think I've managed to convince the entire MPIZed that I am absolutely nuts. An old German man, most likely some prestigious plant biologist I will run into for the rest of my life, tried to push me on the bicycle for a bit. It didn't work.
But I now have a rust-covered older-than-I-am bicycle to ride around on. Luckily, the citizens of Köln are not only patient language teachers, but patient drivers. I haven't hurt myself too badly yet because I am very good at finding objects to gracefully break my fall (like thorn bushes. ouch). Having a bicycle has allowed me to ride local health food store and buy wonderful things like tofu, soy burgers, organic carrots, and organic curry paste. And I get to interact with friendly health food store shop clerks who point out that there's blood dripping down my arm. If only I knew how to say 'I bicycled into a thorn bush' in German.
posted by Em at 5:50 PM
3 Comments:
"Ich bin in eine Dornenhecke gefahren/geradelt. Oops"
just for future reference!
Danke,
Ich hoffe dass ich den Satz nie wieder brauchen werden. Aber, ich werde wahrscheinlich.
The mother fell into rose bushes, the daughter falls into thorn bushes. Generation after generation of cycling wizards!
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