Yesterday, my favorite student, the one who I have three times per week kept saying "childs" instead of "children," and all I could think is, "I have failed you."
I have been teaching for over 5 months, living here for over 6, and sometimes I feel like I am not improving my language acquisition or the language acquisition of others. I feel like things are a bit stagnant and I wonder if I have officially left my honeymoon period with Germany. Sure, football (big game Wednesday!) still keeps the flame burning, but maybe Germany and I need to work harder on our relationship. Maybe the problem is summer, or the fact that the charm of living in an apartment without an oven has worn off.
I've been trying to liven up my lesson plans, making my own Taboo cards (try to get people to say "Titanic" without using "ship," 'iceberg," "accident," "Leo," or "movie") and using provocative National Geographic photos (young Asian women with guns! Snow Leopards!) to work on description and vocab, but I'm afraid it's a losing battle. My students still say "become" when they mean "get" and "meaning" when the mean "opinion."* And my own German is poop. I've reached a plateau where I can understand 80% more than what I can speak and I can never remember the verb I need in a conversation.
But for all the bloggy complaints there are some major improvements in my life. Namely, we got a coffee maker, and I've resumed a regimen of arm-pumping fitness walking with my friend Courtney. Today we walked by what was clearly a "males only" section on the banks of the Main river. I saw a 65 year-old man in a red thong bikini bottom. He was lying about on his stomach, waving his feet in the air like a little coquette. It was my daily high.
I am EAGERLY awaiting Season 2 of "Mad Men." OH MY GOD PEGGY!!!!
* These are what we call "false friends" in the language world. In German, the verb to get/receive is bekommen, so when Germans often say "become" when they mean "get." Same goes for the German word meinung, which means "opinion" but sounds like "meaning." Tricky business.
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3 comments:
some others:
"aktuell" : current
"actual" : wirklich
"fabrik" : factory
"fabric" : Stoff
"chef" : boss
"chef" : Koch
and, while not a false cognate, one that really gets me steamin':
IT GIVES
("Es gibt...")
Most people call them false friends, but I prefer, "scheinfreundliche Feinde." It just looks more intimidating.
I used to make the "bekommen" and "get" mistake all the time... It's nice to know that the Deutschers aren't immune.
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