Another Note
Dear Constant Readers,
I wanted to post last night, but the internet crashed and didn't come back up again until sometime today. But better late than never, as it is said to be.
The theme for this week is mainly language woes, which I've written about before. I don't mean to rehash everything, and I'll try not to, but this is something that's important to me. After I came home from Mexico on July 13, 2003 I believe, I was learning German. Literally. By July 14th, 2003 I was already at work memorizing German definite articles. (To fellow German language learners, I've come to the conclusion that if German was eradicated of its gender, it would not be so tough to master: its the reason of the Geschlecht that makes Deutsch so wily. Any bites?) That was around three years ago when I began teaching myself German. I need to learn this language. I have to! I need it to pass my classes for one thing, but that's beside the point. I owe it to myself to learn this language. Once I dedicated myself to the fact that I'd learn German all-go or none at all three years ago, I had to make certain sacrifices. In a way, it was a lot like a "marriage" of sorts, and since I believe languages to be alive in their unique way, with their own spirits and personalities (metaphorically speaking) perhaps it was like "marrying" someone. I had to make sacrifices with time, which I haven't always been to faithful about. I had to really make sacrifices with books I read, and this is perhaps one of the Top Three Reasons to Learn German for myself: I love to read, but since embarking on this linguistic endeavor, which I do not for a second regret, my list of books to read has grown like a mushroom cloud. Reading books for fun now is like a gulp of fresh air. I barely have time to do either while I'm studying during the year, so over Christmas Break and summer I'm usually buried in a book somewhere. Thank God I've mostly lost my taste for TV and computer-games (nothing against them, I'll be a lifelong Age of Empires fan, but I'd rather spend my time elsewhere now).
The side effect, somewhat unexpected, is that now I have the same hunger now for reading grammar books that I used to have exclusively for novels. Today while a friend of mine was sitting in one of the walled-off quiet rooms to study, I picked up a book of Japanese grammar and started splunking through it for an hour or so just as eagerly as if I had been reading an anthology of short stories. But it is two different things, and I sometimes I really miss my novels. A future re-arrangement of time might be order.
The other night I heard that a student here at Cusanushaus thought the Americans this year were especially bad in how much English they were speaking. I agree, do I ever agree. And I'm guilty of it, too. But I don't know what to do about it. I'm trying to expand my social circle here so that I'm not always around English, and also just to meet more people, but when I'm with them, I cannot speak German. Frankly it would probably be a bit of a faux pas because it just wouldn't gel.
I was looking forward to my German language instruction course, hoping it would alleviate some of these woes, but it has not. I'm thinking of trying to advance out of it to the next level up, to see if it's more of a challenge. It's still early to see what we'll be doing, but judging by the slow, loud way the professor talks to us, I don't imagine it's going to help me advance much. Pride aside, I didn't spend three years worth of energy for this. Frankly, a language ought to be learned in much less than three years, if you use the right method. But what's the right method? Everyone learns differently, so I'm still experimenting with it. I think I learn best by reading though. Reading grammatical examples, namely. Retaining them is another story.
The best way to learn is being with natives. The fact I spent all this time teaching myself and flying halfway around the world to learn this language shows to myself at least that I'm serious about learning it. Yet coming here has also reminded me how difficult it is to learn a language sometimes. There were times (I won't say "days" because that implies I think they lasted only for a day and then left, for a while) when I felt that if it hadn't been for living in the country itself, there was no way in hell I'd have learned Spanish. I just would have been so frustrated I would have said "No wife is worth this!" and thrown all my language stuff into the Nautla that flowed through my host city. I think, though, some of those frustrations are founded upon more than just a language, but on many factors that involve interacting with people, but there comes a point when you say something that you would have bet your set in hell on was correct and understandable, and they look at you like most people would look at a Pollock painting: "What in Bob's holy name is he trying to say??" The thing about learning, though, is that it doesn't all come with smooth ease...it sometimes comes in chunks. And some of them are painful chunks. But you have to take the good with the bad, and eventually you'll master it, if you persevere, if your heart's in it. I think that for the biggies in life, even academic ones where the class genius is tried in fire, so to speak, the largest part of learning is driven by the heart, not the intellect. If your heart is into something, that is what fuels you. Even if you have a mind as keen as a whip, if you have no desire, you're in someone else's way.
What else to say? I missed another traveling chance. Most of the regular group went down to Saarbruecken, on the French border, and asked me to come. I wanted to, but had plans with someone else, and wasn't sure when she'd contact me. But she fell ill, so I ended up not going anywhere at all. That night, though, once everyone got back, we all went to see "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America to Make Kazhikstan Great blah blah something or the other" something like that. I'm not sure if it's out in America yet, but I'd give it a freshness rating of....hmm....I guess 65-70%. I might have given it higher had I been able to see it in English and not German. The satire on American culture is quite good, although it only focuses on a slice of Americana (and judging by the treatment of that slice, perhaps it's better Borat didn't get his mitts on the rest of it).
Anyway, it seems I've run out of things to say, so I'll stop here. It's already getting late, and I still have some other messages to respond to before it gets later.
To all those who read this, may it find you well!
Sincerely,
Tristan
I wanted to post last night, but the internet crashed and didn't come back up again until sometime today. But better late than never, as it is said to be.
The theme for this week is mainly language woes, which I've written about before. I don't mean to rehash everything, and I'll try not to, but this is something that's important to me. After I came home from Mexico on July 13, 2003 I believe, I was learning German. Literally. By July 14th, 2003 I was already at work memorizing German definite articles. (To fellow German language learners, I've come to the conclusion that if German was eradicated of its gender, it would not be so tough to master: its the reason of the Geschlecht that makes Deutsch so wily. Any bites?) That was around three years ago when I began teaching myself German. I need to learn this language. I have to! I need it to pass my classes for one thing, but that's beside the point. I owe it to myself to learn this language. Once I dedicated myself to the fact that I'd learn German all-go or none at all three years ago, I had to make certain sacrifices. In a way, it was a lot like a "marriage" of sorts, and since I believe languages to be alive in their unique way, with their own spirits and personalities (metaphorically speaking) perhaps it was like "marrying" someone. I had to make sacrifices with time, which I haven't always been to faithful about. I had to really make sacrifices with books I read, and this is perhaps one of the Top Three Reasons to Learn German for myself: I love to read, but since embarking on this linguistic endeavor, which I do not for a second regret, my list of books to read has grown like a mushroom cloud. Reading books for fun now is like a gulp of fresh air. I barely have time to do either while I'm studying during the year, so over Christmas Break and summer I'm usually buried in a book somewhere. Thank God I've mostly lost my taste for TV and computer-games (nothing against them, I'll be a lifelong Age of Empires fan, but I'd rather spend my time elsewhere now).
The side effect, somewhat unexpected, is that now I have the same hunger now for reading grammar books that I used to have exclusively for novels. Today while a friend of mine was sitting in one of the walled-off quiet rooms to study, I picked up a book of Japanese grammar and started splunking through it for an hour or so just as eagerly as if I had been reading an anthology of short stories. But it is two different things, and I sometimes I really miss my novels. A future re-arrangement of time might be order.
The other night I heard that a student here at Cusanushaus thought the Americans this year were especially bad in how much English they were speaking. I agree, do I ever agree. And I'm guilty of it, too. But I don't know what to do about it. I'm trying to expand my social circle here so that I'm not always around English, and also just to meet more people, but when I'm with them, I cannot speak German. Frankly it would probably be a bit of a faux pas because it just wouldn't gel.
I was looking forward to my German language instruction course, hoping it would alleviate some of these woes, but it has not. I'm thinking of trying to advance out of it to the next level up, to see if it's more of a challenge. It's still early to see what we'll be doing, but judging by the slow, loud way the professor talks to us, I don't imagine it's going to help me advance much. Pride aside, I didn't spend three years worth of energy for this. Frankly, a language ought to be learned in much less than three years, if you use the right method. But what's the right method? Everyone learns differently, so I'm still experimenting with it. I think I learn best by reading though. Reading grammatical examples, namely. Retaining them is another story.
The best way to learn is being with natives. The fact I spent all this time teaching myself and flying halfway around the world to learn this language shows to myself at least that I'm serious about learning it. Yet coming here has also reminded me how difficult it is to learn a language sometimes. There were times (I won't say "days" because that implies I think they lasted only for a day and then left, for a while) when I felt that if it hadn't been for living in the country itself, there was no way in hell I'd have learned Spanish. I just would have been so frustrated I would have said "No wife is worth this!" and thrown all my language stuff into the Nautla that flowed through my host city. I think, though, some of those frustrations are founded upon more than just a language, but on many factors that involve interacting with people, but there comes a point when you say something that you would have bet your set in hell on was correct and understandable, and they look at you like most people would look at a Pollock painting: "What in Bob's holy name is he trying to say??" The thing about learning, though, is that it doesn't all come with smooth ease...it sometimes comes in chunks. And some of them are painful chunks. But you have to take the good with the bad, and eventually you'll master it, if you persevere, if your heart's in it. I think that for the biggies in life, even academic ones where the class genius is tried in fire, so to speak, the largest part of learning is driven by the heart, not the intellect. If your heart is into something, that is what fuels you. Even if you have a mind as keen as a whip, if you have no desire, you're in someone else's way.
What else to say? I missed another traveling chance. Most of the regular group went down to Saarbruecken, on the French border, and asked me to come. I wanted to, but had plans with someone else, and wasn't sure when she'd contact me. But she fell ill, so I ended up not going anywhere at all. That night, though, once everyone got back, we all went to see "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America to Make Kazhikstan Great blah blah something or the other" something like that. I'm not sure if it's out in America yet, but I'd give it a freshness rating of....hmm....I guess 65-70%. I might have given it higher had I been able to see it in English and not German. The satire on American culture is quite good, although it only focuses on a slice of Americana (and judging by the treatment of that slice, perhaps it's better Borat didn't get his mitts on the rest of it).
Anyway, it seems I've run out of things to say, so I'll stop here. It's already getting late, and I still have some other messages to respond to before it gets later.
To all those who read this, may it find you well!
Sincerely,
Tristan
posted by Tristan | 2:09 PM
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