Posts tagged "german":
End of my first German course
It’s been a while since I wanted to document my experience in my German course. Now, having completed the first month, there couldn’t be a better time to do so.
Initially, I approached the course with some dissatisfaction. The pace felt too slow, and I was critical of my teacher’s methods. Boredom and impatience set in as I waited for others to catch up.
But then I began interacting with my classmates, and I had the chance to hear a different world.
One of the first people I met was a talkative Ukrainian woman. When she is not satisfied with something, she interrupts and shouts. She knows a lot about healthcare, and she told me this and that about refugee polices. I admire her enviable energy.
When I first walked in the classroom, I noticed a young man who already spoke rapid German. I asked him how he did it and he said since he started learning German four months ago, he only spoke German. He is smart and also speaks English, Turkish and Afghanistan. His experience reminds me a lot of the book “The New Odyssey”, and I am curious about more of his stories. He is only 19 years old, I believe a bright future awaits him.
The man sitting next to me has a political asylum visa. He was a political journalist not welcomed by the government. He said so he lived at the borderline for many years before he came here. He is no longer young and it was his second time to take the same course. He has a beautiful handwriting.
Another young man I know a bit comes from Latin America, he often dozes off in the class due to his Uber delivery job. I also met a young lady from Turkey, she is so charming with a wonderful personality. There are also two resilient mothers who undertake childcare with their studies.
In the last week I finally got to know my teacher a bit. He told us he worked 220 hours a month at the moment so that he can pay his expense for he and his girlfriend, and he used to work even more. He said he had different trainings in different countries, and now he finally got a new passport. He shared with us different information that help foreigners maintain a basic life here.
In the end, I still think the course is too easy for me, who has spent twenty years staying in schools. But I wish I had talked more with everyone about their lives. So many people come here, and each finds their own way to stay and live. Life is always hard but also incredible, and I wish I don’t ever forget it.
My German course
1. Was ist passiert
Ich habe seit diesem Montag einen intensiven Deutschkurs gemacht. Die Kurs fangt von 8:30 Uhr bis 11:45 Uhr jeden Tag an. Weil von mein Wohnung bis zu die Schule ich fast einen Stunden brauche, muss ich vor 7 aufstehen und zur Bushaltstelle runnen. Nach dem Kurs fahre ich mit dem Bus zur Buro und arbeite ich bis zum Abendessen. Danach komme ich nach Haus zuruck und mache ein paar Haushalt. Ich gehe circa 11 Uhr ins Bett.
2. Ich kann kein gutes Englisch schreiben
Wenn ich hier diesen Satzen schreibe, merke ich, dass ich komplexe Satze auf Englisch nicht mehr schreiben kann.
This is interesting, I am still in the starting phase, I cannot speak fluently at all and I have grammar mistakes everywhere. However, now when I try to type something in english, the german translation pops up in my mind first. If I don’t know the german, I have a problem writing it down in english. As a result, my written english falls back to almost the same level as german.
3. Ich kann nicht mich vorstellen
All my classmates come from diverse backgrounds. At least 5 are Ukriainian, and at least 2 from some countries that I have never heard before. English is no longer a universal language, but with my broken german I can barely chat.
Even with english, I have struggled a lot introducing myself. In the past decade, I never had this issue since everyone around me shared the similar experience. I can easily position myself; which education I had, which university I went, what work I am doing, what issue I have, etc. But this coordinate system works no more in this class. I am only confusing others if I mention I am a PhD student. So you are a student, they ask, why would they pay a student?
Once I asked classmate what she does on weekend. She paused, and said: because you are working, so the weekend is different for you, but I don’t work, so there is no difference for me. And before this I have never thought of such a bias in my question.
More and more often recently, I realize how limited my perspective is. I did not know what the life with a social worker is like. I did not know that Afghan can often speak Turkish. I did not know what my lecturer thinks when he works as a security guard at night. I have been too much caught up in my own world, such that I am unable to ask a meaningful question of people I don’t understand. I want to know more about the difference of this world, but I don’t know how.