I've been getting quite a few questions lately about how I'm going with my new language and whether I'm fluent yet (HAH!), so I thought I'd do a post on it! A note to all those people: I think it is basically impossible to learn a language fluently in essentially two and a half months - especially without having any great amount of previous teaching.
For an exchange student, once you settle down into the general routine of life as it will be for the next however long - your new family, house, culture - the next big thing to actually LEARN is the language. I think considering all the ups and downs (particularly the downs) that I've been through the last few months, I'm doing quite a reasonable job. I'm no where NEAR fluent (like, really no where), but I'm starting to get to the point where I don't have to resort to English in heaps of situations, or ask everyone what on earth they're talking about. Of course, it still happens but I'm starting to feel like it's actually getting better. I've had a few brief very happy points this week though! On Tuesday my host Mum came upstairs and we had a decent conversation about how school was, the fact that the buses are stupid and I should just catch a later one to school, and that I needed to pick up Carl on Friday. Sure - it wasn't perfect German and I undoubtedly chose some of the wrong words - but speaking another language is essentially about communication (as a friend or two and my Mum have reminded me...) and that's what I'm doing. It's a nice feeling being able to sit at the dinner table and actually understand a little bit about what's going on.
Have a laugh.
We've all been there. Those amusing moments where you might be thinking of a particular word, then accidently let it slip out, even if you're talking about something completely different. Maybe you've just said a word that SOUNDS similar to the one you were thinking of - but has a completely different meaning... Well. To put it simply, this is SO much more likely to happen while you're learning another language. I just think it's hilarious though and often the people you're talking with will too! For example some time last week I was sitting at the dinner table with Carl, and we were naming absolutely anything that came into our heads. I ended up saying 'kuhschrank' instead of 'kühlschrank' - which translates to 'cow cupboard' instead of 'fridge' so it was no wonder Carl was laughing so much! It was pretty funny! Then there was the time where I had to explain that where Canberra is and that it's the capital city of Australia (this was a few weeks ago). I had heard the word before and was just grappling for anything I could remember, but ended up saying the word for 'wedding' (Hochzeit) instead of 'capital city' (Hauptstadt). Wonderful!
So speaking is hard. It's probably the hardest part (at least in German). For me I find that writing is pretty good, because German is written phonetically and so it's usually pretty easy to guess the correct spelling of a word (or to look things up in the dictionary!) But speaking is a whole new level of difficulty. It's amazing how much you can understand, but then to only respond with short answers gets really frustrating really quickly. There are so many emotions and feelings and opinions running through your head, which you simply just can't express. It can be as simple as going to the gelatissimo and wanting to order your ice-cream in a cup instead of a cone (I've learnt that now!). Then there are dialects. Don't get me started! I've grown up with my Mama, Oma and Opa speaking 'Hochdeutsch' (which is like the Queen's English), although never actually learnt any myself. With my ear accustomed to this, I then moved to Austria. The Viennese dialect is very, VERY different from anything spoken in Germany, and is either horribly grating or wonderfully lyrical - depending on whom you ask and/or where they're from! The family I live with are from Northeast Germany, and so have a reasonably 'clean' dialect, which is always nice to come home to, but I've also started to get used to the Viennese dialect. I couldn't say which I prefer - I love both. I think the way the Austrians talk is more fun though!
To put another step into my learning process, in Salzburg the dialect was very different again. I found the dialect a lot 'stronger' and that they swing their words a lot more - I suppose kind of like the Scottish equivalent to English! It took at least 2 weeks there before I could understand even the most BASIC words on a regular basis. However hopefully this means I'll become more accustomed to understanding a wider variety of dialects. It's funny, because even the Austrians don't understand each other from one side of the country to the next! It will definitely be interesting to see what kind of German I end up speaking!
Ouch. Well That Hurts.
Three words: new neural pathways. It's proven that when you're younger (I'm talking around 5 years of age) it's a lot easier to learn a new language. Because I can't explain it in better words, here's a quote (yay!):
"Another reason it gets harder to learn a language as we get older is something called “neural commitment.” The idea here is that when our brain is first exposed to language, learning occurs by strengthening and weakening connections between neurons. With years of using our first language (or languages), these connections become more hard-wired and therefore harder to change later when learning a new language. Learning new languages essentially competes for some of those same neural pathways, and it’s hard to re-wire the pathways."
That's sourced from here. So basically, my brain is changing. Learning a new language is painful - literally and metaphorically. Being submersed in a new language day-in and day-out is a very difficult thing to deal with. There's no real escape and you just have to learn to cope. I am surrounded by so many new words a day, and it's impossible to remember them all. I feel stupid a lot of the time. I get headaches. I'm really tired. My brain is just simply working overtime. But the thing is, each new word I learn is one more I DON'T have to learn at another point. I'm picking up new words each day and remembering them. And that's a pretty good feeling!
Verstehst du?
One last point. Do you understand? No. But never mind. I swear I'm asked this question about 20 million times a day. People ask so many times if you understand, that you kind of get to the point where even if you have NO idea what they're talking about, you'll just say yes. Because even if someone tries to explain whatever they're talking about, it may very well just go in one ear and out the other. Something I learnt very quickly was, that at this stage I'll NEVER understand everything that someone says, so there's things you just have to let go. Understanding the main topic of conversation is the most important thing, and it just builds from there.
So that's my first post on language. I'm sure there'll be more some time, because I've always got more to talk about!
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