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Obviously, living in Germany, I speak German. A lot. Actually, for me, English has become almost an entirely non-verbal language. I "speak" English in my English class, but only when I am called on or my teacher talks to me. All my friends just speak to each other in German, so that's what I do too. And when I do speak, I have to speak rather slowly so that other people can understand me. (I didn't pick up on that one until relatively late) On top of it all, the two are starting to slur together and one time my English teacher was having a conversation with me (in English) and I randomly slipped into German and didn't realize it at all or even remember which language we had started in.
But for the most part, I do think to myself in English, which disappoints me a bit. It may be because I write a lot in English and that I just think to much to myself. Either way, it hasn't been getting in the way of learning German, which does become a problem for some people. I'm a bit of an exception in terms of this program because I had some foreknowledge of the language, quite a bit actually. The teachers at Schloss Wittgenstein said that our class was the most advanced advanced class in memory. The details I'm working out are coming slowly.
My geography teacher noted after one of the breaks, that I am becoming more and more confident in my German every week. It is true, I find myself using words and phrases that I don't remember consciously learning. But I still have a long way to go. There will be moments when I am half way through a thought and lose complete grasp of the language and not know what to say next.
I also mix up my articles a lot. In a very typical English speaking way, too. I refer to everything as "die" (pronounced "dee") which is feminine and sounds a lot like "the," but when I am using pronouns for inanimate objects, I use "es" which is the neuter pronoun (i.e. "it"). I am getting better, I'm getting used to saying "I put him down over there" in reference to a coat, although usually it's a she and not a he. Trés compliqué, oder?
So for now, I'm just working on it and reading Harry Potter. So far I'm on the second one, when I finish them all I might move on to something more substantial.
Hey Michael,
ReplyDeleteI'm Dylan. I'm actually applying for the CBYX scholarship this year. I saw how you said that you take English class in Germany. Do your credits transfer back to your American HS? I'm just wondering because next year i'll be a junior and everyone is saying that you must do online classes to get your credits before you go. So how did you get your credits for school when you went?
Hey!
ReplyDeleteThat's great! I really recommend the program and I'm super happy that the blog came up for your search. I honestly don't know about the credits, I am taking a gap year, so I already graduated and credits are whatever to me. However, my English class is analysing speechs and we're reading The Raisin in the Sun at the moment which my actual American 11th grade English class read, so I'm sure you could get credit out of it. A lot of the kids on my program are doing all sorts of things for credit. It depends on the school, county, and state requirements where you're from. Just talk to the school your leaving "behind" and the CBYX coordinating organization, like CIEE. Good luck!