One of the coolest things about living in another country is making friends in a new language. Instead of associating a person with a name or a place, you now associate a language. Its incredibly weird. However, the problem with being a native American English speaker is that every one wants to speak to you in English instead of German. Thankfully, most of the people in my dormitory realize that I want to learn German, so they speak to me auf Deutsch instead of English. The last few weeks, I have been so obsessed with thesis writing that I have completely avoided all conversations with my housemates (and writing my blog, sorry). One of my housemates thought that I was avoiding the common area because I was afraid to speak auf Deutsch (part of the reason) Today, when he saw me in the kitchen he said, "I want to speak English with you. I want to practice my American English." I smiled and said, "Ja, wir können Englisch sprechen." He then said, "My English is bad so you do not want to speak English with me." I replied auf Deutsch "Nein, dein Englisch ist perfekt!" He this switched back to German and we continued to chat for another hour or so auf Deutsch.
The point of this conversation is this, no matter what the housemate said, I could only reply to him in German. To speak English to a housemate would be incredibly weird and disconcerting, even when I know that a housemate speaks perfect English (two of my housemates studied in America as high school students). It shocks me to the core to hear housemates use English sentences or phrases. I feel strangely out of place when the conversation switches away from German, even when I don't have a clue what is being said auf Deutsch.
I suppose this is a normal feeling for people immersed in a foreign culture, but its a pretty cool experience for me. When I recognize people on the street, I have to think about which language to use to greet them. I really really love this experience and will be sad to lose it in 5 weeks.
Showing posts with label language. Show all posts
Showing posts with label language. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Ich denke dass ich veruckt bin! (I think that I am crazy)
Eventually I will document the rest of my travels in March (which include planes, trains, and automobiles) but today I just want to document a very interesting thing that has started happening to me.
For some very strange reason, over the last two months, a larger percentage of my thoughts have been German instead of English. This is very strange considering that I still don't know a lot of German vocabulary and my German comprehension means I still don't comprehend a lot of things around me. Part of this transition was intentional, as I forced myself to think of a German phrase every time I thought of an English phrase. For example, I would think 'my head hurts' but I would quickly follow that thought with 'Mein Kopf schmerzt'. Its only natural that as I have surrounded myself with German speakers, that the German phrase comes to my mind more quickly than the English phrase.
I really want to learn how to think in a different langauge. I called a minor victory in church on Easter Sunday when I realized that I understood about 50% of the words that the pastor spoke. Over Christmas, I only understood about 20-30%. However, now that the Deutsche Gedanken process has begun, I find myself trying to stop it from occurring! An example: I asked the group secretary (in German) why the German professors advertised their classes. Typically, my research group would then reply in English, but on that particular day, the secretary decided to reply in German. I listened to the words she spoke and understood everthing she said. Then, I realized she was speaking German, and my comprehension immeadiately disappeared. I couldn't understand anything she said after that, it was like my mind shut off the German portion.
What scares me more is how much I don't think about thinking in German. I guess that's a good thing since I should be thinking in the language of my host country, but it really freaks me out at times. I am still shocked when I clearly understand the questions that my labmates ask me. I am even more shocked (maybe they are too) when I respond auf Deutsch.
However, there is a down side to my Deutsche Gedanken, I struggle even more to find the correct English words. Today I wrote an email (to Americans) where instead of writing 'I am interested in dinner', I wrote 'I am interesting for dinner', which made my potential dinner companions think I was the main course. ;-) Considering that I am writing my PhD thesis in English instead of German, grammar and word mix-ups are a true cause for concern.
Has any one else experienced this problem before?
For some very strange reason, over the last two months, a larger percentage of my thoughts have been German instead of English. This is very strange considering that I still don't know a lot of German vocabulary and my German comprehension means I still don't comprehend a lot of things around me. Part of this transition was intentional, as I forced myself to think of a German phrase every time I thought of an English phrase. For example, I would think 'my head hurts' but I would quickly follow that thought with 'Mein Kopf schmerzt'. Its only natural that as I have surrounded myself with German speakers, that the German phrase comes to my mind more quickly than the English phrase.
I really want to learn how to think in a different langauge. I called a minor victory in church on Easter Sunday when I realized that I understood about 50% of the words that the pastor spoke. Over Christmas, I only understood about 20-30%. However, now that the Deutsche Gedanken process has begun, I find myself trying to stop it from occurring! An example: I asked the group secretary (in German) why the German professors advertised their classes. Typically, my research group would then reply in English, but on that particular day, the secretary decided to reply in German. I listened to the words she spoke and understood everthing she said. Then, I realized she was speaking German, and my comprehension immeadiately disappeared. I couldn't understand anything she said after that, it was like my mind shut off the German portion.
What scares me more is how much I don't think about thinking in German. I guess that's a good thing since I should be thinking in the language of my host country, but it really freaks me out at times. I am still shocked when I clearly understand the questions that my labmates ask me. I am even more shocked (maybe they are too) when I respond auf Deutsch.
However, there is a down side to my Deutsche Gedanken, I struggle even more to find the correct English words. Today I wrote an email (to Americans) where instead of writing 'I am interested in dinner', I wrote 'I am interesting for dinner', which made my potential dinner companions think I was the main course. ;-) Considering that I am writing my PhD thesis in English instead of German, grammar and word mix-ups are a true cause for concern.
Has any one else experienced this problem before?
Thursday, September 25, 2008
be afraid or be wrong
Or...don't be afraid to be wrong. I've noticed that I have two choices while studying here in Germany, I can speak in German and probably say something wrong, or I can be afraid of making a mistake. My mood fluctuates between the two. Sometimes I spend 10 minutes trying to come up with the grammatically correct sentence only to see the person walk away before I can use it. Other times I just blurt out a sentence that makes the German speakers go "huh?". When I think about what I just tried to say, even I go "huh?" I am afraid because I don't want to be labeled an idiot, but if I don't speak, I could possibly be labeled as rude.
This week is the first week that I've been completely surrounded by Germans. The last 6 weeks I've had the ability to fall back into American English with other Fulbrighters. At this conference, the official language is English (ironic considering that the conference is a meeting of German speaking countries) but most people slip back to German during breaks and lunches. Sometimes I understand the German but most of the time I understand about 25% of what they say (similar to my understanding of all the current theoretical talks). If you've ever been to a conference with me, you know that I love to use breaks to network. I smile and make sure that I talk to all the interesting speakers that I meet (which leads to very exciting opportunities). At this conference, I'm often too intimidated by the German (and quantum chemistry) language of the speakers to say anything more than hello.
German, like scientific research, requires that you make a lot of mistakes before things turn out right.
After two days of this behavior I'm sick and tired of it. Why am I so afraid to look like a fool? For my research, its in my best interest to ask as many questions as possible, even if they are extremely simple. Its so much better to look like a fool now when I'm just learning the subject than look like a fool when I try to give my defense. For German speaking, I'm the only person who thinks that I should be fluent in German quantum chemical terms.The language of science is English, so I've had to remind myself that its okay to speak English with other scientists. I also can not expect myself to speak perfect German (or Quantum) after just short study. So I have to overcome my natural shyness (yes, believe it or not, I am naturally shy) and start making mistakes. So today, I stopped forcing myself to talk only in German and embraced my natural desire to network. So far, nothing amazing has happened other than I don't feel as stressed out, but I'll keep you updated if anyone gives me a Nobel prize. :-)
This week is the first week that I've been completely surrounded by Germans. The last 6 weeks I've had the ability to fall back into American English with other Fulbrighters. At this conference, the official language is English (ironic considering that the conference is a meeting of German speaking countries) but most people slip back to German during breaks and lunches. Sometimes I understand the German but most of the time I understand about 25% of what they say (similar to my understanding of all the current theoretical talks). If you've ever been to a conference with me, you know that I love to use breaks to network. I smile and make sure that I talk to all the interesting speakers that I meet (which leads to very exciting opportunities). At this conference, I'm often too intimidated by the German (and quantum chemistry) language of the speakers to say anything more than hello.
German, like scientific research, requires that you make a lot of mistakes before things turn out right.
After two days of this behavior I'm sick and tired of it. Why am I so afraid to look like a fool? For my research, its in my best interest to ask as many questions as possible, even if they are extremely simple. Its so much better to look like a fool now when I'm just learning the subject than look like a fool when I try to give my defense. For German speaking, I'm the only person who thinks that I should be fluent in German quantum chemical terms.The language of science is English, so I've had to remind myself that its okay to speak English with other scientists. I also can not expect myself to speak perfect German (or Quantum) after just short study. So I have to overcome my natural shyness (yes, believe it or not, I am naturally shy) and start making mistakes. So today, I stopped forcing myself to talk only in German and embraced my natural desire to network. So far, nothing amazing has happened other than I don't feel as stressed out, but I'll keep you updated if anyone gives me a Nobel prize. :-)
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