i have to say, the one thing i have found the hardest over these past weeks is not being able to speak german. everything is difficult. even simple things like buying food at the supermarket. and i'm finding it extremely hard not being able to chat to people or express myself verbally. i don't expect people to speak english here... of course i understand and appreciate that i am now living in a german speaking country. but, this is the situation i find myself in and it feels incredibly isolating.
the 9 other people on my german course seem a nice interesting bunch but we are from all over the globe (china, korea, japan, india, turkey, russia, hungary and of course england) and so we find ourselves not being able to communicate with each other that well. after all, we are attending a german beginners class so no one can speak german and few can speak more than a little english. and unfortunately i can't speak japanese, chinese, russian, hungarian etc. so it makes for interesting conversation!
i must admit, i am starting to feel a bit of a billy no mates! (although having said that, the sweet hungarian girl on my course has asked if i would like to do some sightseeing with her tomorrow after the course which is lovely).
in only 6 classes i have learnt sooooo much... but unfortunately my impatience is taking over at the moment. i just want to be able to speak german NOW! i need to be able to explain myself and say exactly what i mean... rather than just say a few random words and hope they get the idea. it feels like i've suddenly lost the ability to speak?!
anyway, enough of my complaining.... its all part of the adventure, right?! and i must stop procrastinating and get on with my homework otherwise i'm never going to get any better!
by the way, my course is in a building opposite the staatsoper (the opera house) and here is a little pic...
I have to tell you that I am very nervous about the language issue - moving to Vienna and being isolated by lack of communication skills. I have received the advice to take lessons at the University, which I fully intend to do. I would also like to learn as much as I can before we move, but it's hard.
ReplyDeleteWe have the Rosetta Stone program and I've done a bit of that (admittedly not in the last few weeks!). What is hard is learning, but not having anyone with whom to put it into practice.
It'll be interesting to see how we fare in a couple weeks on our trip!
The biggest problem when you learn german is, that in Austria we don't speak german, we speak austrian :) Some words are different and there is quite a dialect. For example: "haben wir" (we have) is often pronounced; "hamma". Still I am convinced that you will do just fine!!
ReplyDeleteI know just what you're talking about! I have often found myself wanting to say so much, but just not able to.. Anyways, I'm always ready for a coffee and some chitchat in English, if you get to a point where you want a break from the German. My email is dorteep@hotmail.com :)
ReplyDeleteaww, thanks dorte. thats really sweet of you. i might just take you up on that offer soon!
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