“SpangDeutschLish”
Rose’s next door neighbors are from Austria. I’ve been teaching her a few German phrases so she can communicate with them better. They speak English rather well, but she wants to make an effort to learn some of their language. I’ve been trying to teach the kids some German, too.
After four (or was it five) years of German, I chose not to take German as my foreign language credit at Milligan. After trying (and failing) to master Greek in undergrad, I eventually settled on Spanish. Initially, I could only come up with German words when I was trying to speak in Spanish class. That wasn’t a very good thing. During my first oral exam, she asked me (in Spanish) if I knew where the bathroom was. All I could think of was an answer in German.
The best way I can describe what I had to do was train myself to think of Spanish instead of German. That way, any time I heard a foreign language, I could respond in Spanish (since that was the language I’d hear in Spanish class…as would be expected). Whatever switch that had to be flipped in my mind was eventually triggered. I stopped thinking of German phrases and Spanish became my ‘default’ foreign language.
I was never very good at Spanish, but I guess I learned more than I thought. When I tried to have a conversation with Rose’s Austrian neighbors today, all I could come up with was in Spanish. I understood what they were saying to each other, but I just couldn’t think of anything to say to them in German.
Stupid language barrier.
Latest posts by Matt Todd (see all)
- Katy Mann talks about writing a book - April 30, 2024
- My PopCon conversation with Carl Doninger - April 25, 2024
- What would your liftoff song(s) be? - April 12, 2024
I’ve had a similar problem with French.
Stupid foreign languages. Why can’t they just be like everyone else and speak English?
8-D
Learning Spanish
That’s a tough barrier to overcome. At least you gave it your best.
Anyways, the reason I’m reaching out is to see if you’d like to receive a free copy of a Maya & Miguel Cinco de Maya DVD. I’m working on a marketing project with Scholastic to raise awareness about cultural diversity, language learning and even supporting a soccer tournament http://pbskids.org/mayaandmiguel/english/stunts/kickit/index.html by connecting with parents like you that are publishing great content.
If you’d like to receive the DVD, just email me at mark@boldmouth.com with your address and I’ll have it shipped out to you. If you do choose to get the Maya & Miguel DVD and decide to blog about, please make it clear how you received the DVD. Our goal is to be open and honest with everyone we reach.