I miss German

I miss German

I must admit that I haven't done a Rosetta Stone lesson or looked at any German since well before our trip to Vienna.  UNTIL TODAY!  Phew.  I've been putting it off and the longer I do so, the harder it is to start again.  What's the German word for procrastinate? Zogern (it is actually supposed to be an o with an umlaut, but I don't have a German keyboard, so I can't type it correctly, which totally bums me out).  But today I jumped back in.  Didn't do too badly, either.

I miss hearing German spoken just walking down the street.  Not that I had any idea what people were saying for the most part, what with the speed of the talk and the vocabulary that far exceeded my font of knowledge.  Rosetta Stone is good for me.  I know.  But it has nothing on being in the thick of it.

And perhaps it sounds strange, but lately I have very much been missing what it felt like to be in a completely different place, among different people, a different culture, hearing a different language, having no idea what is going to happen, what is coming around the corner, and how I may fare in any upcoming interaction.  The feeling I had when visiting Vienna.  It was overwhelming, but exhilarating.

Feeling homesick for a place that isn't (yet) home?  I delved into my photos from our trip today because I was missing it.  It made me feel good to look at them....

Seeing these stirred feelings inside and put a smile on my face, kicked my butt into gear to start a big fat To Do List and got me to finally put the funny headset back on to learn more Deutsch.

Thing is, I'm excited to live in Vienna and I'm longing to be there.  I'm not quite as excited about doing the work that is required to get us there.  Or, at least I haven't been in the past few weeks.  Feelings of motivation are beginning to stir again, though.  Watch out!

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Translate This

Translate This

I love Google Chrome.

I haven't always loved Google Chrome.  I've been a devoted Firefox user for years and I will admit to using Internet Explorer, but only on the job because many of my work-related reports don't function properly in Firefox.

I've never imagined myself professing my love for a browser.  Or a technology.  Or anything computer-related, really.  It's always there and it helps me get through my day, but my emotions don't get particularly piqued by technologies or gizmos or gadgets (well, except maybe my iPhone).

Until now.  Google Chrome.  I'm not a huge fan of the homepage layout with my most visited sites, although it has grown on me.  It runs a little slow sometimes and there are quirks here and there because I've been using a beta and then a developer's version.  So, why put up with this?  Why the love? For one very simple reason.  When I pull up a webpage in another language, I get a prompt at the top, "This page is in (language).  Would you like to translate?"  

How cool is that!  Not only does that mean that I can visit blogs written in other languages for my reading pleasure, it also has super practical benefits.  For example, a few weeks ago we were trying to research gyms in Vienna prior to our visit.  Aha, here's a page for Top Gym.  Shucks, I can't read it.  Look to the top of the screen and there it is "This page is in German.  Do you want to translate?"  Uh, yes please!  Presto, chango, in the blink of an eye.  Comprehension.

I will admit that the translation is a bit off here and there, but it's good enough to follow.  It is no substitute for learning German, I do realize that and,  no, no, no, that is not the intention, I swear (can I say that any more emphatically?) but I have a feeling this nifty little bit of technology is going to make more than a little bit of difference in the upcoming months of planning.

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Speaking of speaking...

Speaking of speaking...

The big question now is - will we be able to communicate our desire for a day pass, a guest pass, a temporary membership?  I gather that we'll be able to navigate the city well enough in broken German phrases and English as tourists.  But what about when we venture into the "real world," those activities that are more suited to residents than visitors?  Like going to a gym and conversing with someone about the amenities, the membership rates, if it is possible to get a visitor's pass.  How do you say Visitor's Pass in German?  I wonder if the iTranslate app on my iPhone knows that one.

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The Friday Five (Freitag funf)

The Friday Five (Freitag funf)

This week's Five.... 

1) Vienna Visit in May ~ plane tickets purchased and apartment rental secured.  We used the service VRBO to find the rental and so far it has been an easy and pleasant experience (thanks, MJ, for the recommendation).  The apartment is on on Max Winter Platz in District 2.

2) Sorted through books ~ Prior to our move  six months ago, I weeded my book collection (librarian-speak for getting rid of unwanted books) so it was rather difficult to take another pass.  I keep books.  I re-read books.  I have some books that have sentimental value. Some that I just plain love and with which I can and will never part.  All this said, I was able to reduce my collection a bit.  I am also consoled by the thought that a friend of ours is willing and able to store boxes of books for us for an indefinite period, so I don't have to weed aggressively.  I have also been advised to keep a good collection; that I may long for the comfort of favorite books in English once I'm living in another country, surrounded by another language.

3) The Closet.  I also took a first pass at my weeding my wardrobe.  This is a very challenging task for me, although I will brag that I have been very good at keeping my clothing collection current for the past few years.  Current does not equal small, unfortunately.  Thing is...I have a lot of clothes, but I really do wear them. I swear. This is a big one for me.  There will be oh so much more on this topic to come, I can assure you.

4) After a 2-3 week hiatus, I just completed another German lesson on the Rosetta Stone.  I'm a little overwhelmed at the moment, mostly with possessive pronouns and still a little lost on learning/knowing the gender of nouns (it's important to know that to get the correct form of the pronoun).  Learning the language will require much more time and attention that I've been giving it as of late.  Must work on this.

5) I'm trying to do what I can to get An American Girl out there and to establish a broad, interesting and interested audience, share with others and have a forum for writing and learning.  This week, I spent time in the blogosphere, looking for other blogs, commenting, linking, making connections.  I've also been thinking about my content and approach and how to not only write the blips and blurts of what I'm doing, but widening my scope, making it more relevant for others.  Give people a reason to want to read beyond just wanting to check up on my progress.  As I figure it out, I thank everyone who is already here for reading and hope that if you like An American Girl, that you'll share it with others and spread the word.

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Deutsch lernen durch Filme

Deutsch lernen durch Filme

I just finished watching the German film, Bella Martha (Mostly Martha), which was remade in America several years later as No Reservations, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones and Aaron Eckhart.  I think it's the most German I've ever heard in one sitting and the only time I've ever really heard German spoken in an everyday-regular-life setting.  Well, except in the one other German film I've seen,  Run, Lola, Run, but I'm not sure you could consider Run, Lola, Run to be a movie about everyday-regular-life.  At least it's not my kind of everyday-regular-life (thank goodness!).

But back to Bella Martha.  Now that it is over, I have to say that I am both excited and terrified.

Excited because I feel as though I understood a lot more than I thought I would.

Terrified because I realize just how much this comprehension was aided by subtitles and by a very conscious effort to slow down the dialogue in my head and replay it.  When I did this, I could hear all the words I understood, pick out the other words from the subtitles, and get a sense of the structure of the whole.  Usually.  I wasn't so slow that I had to pause the movie with the remote to do this, but I certainly didn't do it with every line in the film.  

People speaking in everyday conversation, everyday tones, and with everyday speed is quite different than the very deliberately-spoken lessons I've had thus far!  Will I ever be able to comprehend at the same speed at which people are talking!?!? Will I ever be able to speak German quickly, smoothly, without hesitation?!?!?

I did come away from the movie with another good feeling.....about pronunciation.  Sometimes, Rosetta Stone (RS for short, from now on) beats me up, demanding very, very specific pronunciation.  Heck, there have been times I just can't get past the RS pronunciation master with my "Guten Tag" and I have to say it over and over and over again!  Other times, I get through an entire lesson pronouncing everything just the way RS wants it, and I don't always get the difference, so it's a little frustrating.  After watching the movie and hearing the different pronunciations and ways people spoke, I really do think that people will understand what it is I'm saying, if only I can remember the right words and put them together in the right way at the right moment!  Oh yes, and then there will be the additional issue of the Viennese dialect, but I'll worry about that later.

All in all, a good exercise.  More German films, bitte!

P.S.  Ich mochte den Film (I liked the movie).  And I enjoyed the original far more than the Hollywood remake.

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Ich heisse Caroline. Wie heisst du?

Ich heisse Caroline. Wie heisst du?

First lesson in Beginning German at the Piedmont Adult School this week. My name is Caroline. What is your name? But I already knew that.

Kiefer and I attended the first of 10 weekly German classes on Wednesday. I like the instructor and there are six students in the class. It's going to be pretty rudimentary for me, covering things I already know (alphabet, numbers, basic phrases) and I was, at first, a little disappointed. But I've figured out what the major lesson will be for me. To be in the moment. To have to listen to an actual person asking me a question I can't predict in a language I don't know and formulate a response for that real, live person, right then. And to do this with different people - different voices, different inflections, different questions.

I studied Latin and French in high school, but don't recall being put on the spot. Perhaps I've blocked it out. Classes were larger and the work focused on reading and writing, reciting already translated answers rather than having to think on my feet. I earned good grades, but nothing stuck.

My tendency is to continue in this way. I'm good at hunkering down with a text book and barreling through conjugations and declensions. I excel at listening to language lessons and talking back to the computer to practice pronunciation. All of that can be done very nicely in my head, in my home, in my comfort zone.

I've said "Ich heisse Caroline" many times to myself and I've asked the computer its name about as often. I felt completely different saying the phrase and asking the question in class.

But, to get the alphabet and numbers down in 10 weeks isn't fast enough for me, for us, so we're using a different approach - class, Rosetta Stone, and we're hoping to find someone to do a weekly German-only-dinner with us. Holy @!#$#, that seems scary.

Too much? Too many approaches at once? I have no idea, but I suppose we'll see where we are in 10 weeks.

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Things I did today...

Things I did today...

• started An American Girl Moves to Vienna blog

• downloaded the Rosetta Stone German program on my computer

The very beginning beginnings, but not bad. Still have to figure out the whole pet transport thing. Among other things. Among a million other things.

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