when we arrived in Germany and have settled in our new home in Heilbronn in August 2008, we thought to arrange for my German language school right away. as soon as i have my visa stamped in my passport, i was asked to attend German Integration Course. i cannot explain to you what this course is until i am in my first day in class next week, September 25th.
it is a compulsory 600 hours course to attend for all foreigners who just moved to live in Germany. this course goes for 6 months and there will be an exam at the end of this course. i dread the word "EXAM", and it is CONDUCTED FULLY IN GERMAN LANGUAGE!
by the way, it didn't happen in the last 5(?) years, i take it is a new German regulation applied for all foreigners. i will take it positively and like the English idiom says “When in Rome do as the Romans do”, may it be a blessing in disguise. this is the book i was told to buy, it is called Schritte 1 (Step 1).
browsing through each page, i am sentence to a full German language, i was gobsmacked...! yup, that was why the school told me to get a dictionary (not in the picture) to help me to sort out the meaning in German-English. sounds like this is going to be brain-war, hope not, i will survive!
anyhow, i was anxious to understand the German grammar before my class even begins, and how to use the ‘gender’ to refer to a noun enough to drive me crazy! so there i go, going back to the book store and i bought Das Grundschul-wörterbuch (basic school dictionary). i hope it will help me, wholly...
being such a desperate housewife struggle to learn German, i also found a pocket size book “Deutsch-Englishce Ausgabe” a word by word German-English and i bought it of course, LOL... it is so handy that i carried it in my handbag all the time. so handy i could study it on a bus or while waiting for my bus :)))
but my problem is the pronunciation. the spelling is not like how it is pronounced in English. so, i started to make note how some German words should sounds like. my husband corrected me the sound of 'der' as i spelt it "dear" and he said it sounds like "dair"
now you get what i mean being a novice to a new language?
and I WILL SURVIVE :))
and I WILL SURVIVE :))
My earlier blog linked to my school: Volkshochschule Heilbronn
NinaOA©
17 comments:
Oh my gosh... I could never live in Germany now cos I know my "otak" is already rusty and there's no way I can memorize all those strange words/language. Those past few days sitting for my job training pun susah to remember what the trainers have been teaching... and of course, after each class we always have to sit for our test... so far I've done good. But there are still more classes to attend to next week... four days on "Banking Policies & Procedures"... I was told this is a little "head scratching" one. Anyways, you are smart lady Nina, I'm sure you can do it. Good luck my dear XOXO.
Nina - it´s only in the beginning that it all sounds foreign to you ... I had that problem in the beginning too but you´ll get used to it ... words will be repeated over and over that it gets drum to your head automatically ...lol ..
Don´t worry about the der, die or das thing - I still have my problems with it even now ...hehehe ...
I hope you´ll have lots of fun in your class like I did before (macam ayam sama itik cakap sometimes tu ... sign language will come in handy too ...lol ..)
Alles Gute! my dear ... and don´t you worry lah ...
Enjoy the weekend!
Hugs, Flores
hi, hi Dora, your brain have done you so well, thumbs up :)) i can never work in a bank bcos i will never get to understand banking policies and its procedure. nanti nahas saya hehehe. Takut ahh. i wish you much success on your job training, Dora.
Thank you for dropping by here, too and errrr... i can try to be smart and i hope it works, abracadabra, poooooh heheee... :))) xoxoxo
Flores! hi, hi... so-so nice to see you coming by and many thanks for leaving words of advice. i have a story to share....
This morning i was on a bus to go home. A young black mother and her daughter, perhaps 6yo sat next to me and her mom, in front of me. This sweet little girl break the ice and greeted "hi" and asked something in German i don't understand. I told her and her mom, i don't understand German yet but only English. Mom smiled and explained to her daughter and the girl said 'bischen' showing her sign language with her cute little fingers, her mom translated back to me, "a little bit of german? i smile and said "yes". Funny enough, they both arrived in Germany 5 months ago and i didn't ask from where. She is an evening student to the school i am going to next week and she is in her 3rd module. i wished i could talk more with both of them, but the bus has reached their home. This girl so friendly asked one last question, "where is your house" straight in English. i said "not here but 3 more stops" and they have to leave. Isn't that sweet and mom said the class was OK. Doesn't sound so bad now....
You're so right Flores, sign language do help and the word 'bischen' will stick with me bcos of the conversation with this little girl. Blessed their hearts, i hope to bump into them again.
Have a wonderful weekend to you, too Flores. Viele Danke und auf wiedersehen :))) Nina
Hi Nina! How are you coping with your German lessons? Julia said that she too at times get confused how to use the ‘gender’ to refer to a noun. She has a German-Dutch and a Dutch-German dictionaries at home. Well, good luck in your lessons. Auf wiedersehen :)
Hi Nina,
Was just wondering how your 1st lesson went yesterday, sorry i have been MIA a bit these last couple of weeks....it must be the weather making me so lazy, LOL....need to blame something right.....now you take it easy ok and hope you are enjoying your class.....tschusss...
Hi Kristin and Hi Joann.
Thanks you ladies for asking how my course has been. I thought it was going to be a disaster because every single student in the class (16 of us) can already speak some German and can ask questions and i felt so kaput!
but today i am much better because they were all very supportive. Our teacher doesn't speak English, can you believe that? but that doesn't faze me because i have "survived" the toughest moving from the States to Germany, and the language shouldn't put me down, so I am trying my mighty best, even if i failed doesn't mean i'm down and out, right...? Oh yeah... nah... kasi self motivation sini bah hehee..
Joann, you take good care of yourself and i hope you feel better soon and blog again :)) My blog i'm afraid i have to slow down because i have to concentrate with my language school. Perhaps only update at the weekend....
Kristin, i wish Julia success with her Dutch language and yes, the gender is very confusing but, she will do better than me :))))
Bis bald and thanks for leaving your comments and visits :)))
Hahahaha, Nina, all the German lesson must be making you very confused now. Julia is taking up German language too and she is having problems with the gender. Maybe I never make myself clear enough earlier on. LOL. Nowadays, she practises her German and French with friends by posting short messages in that
2 languages at each other site. Maybe you should do that too later. It is easier to learn to speak foreign language but when comes to writing, rather difficult. Oklah must continue to do my ironing. The weather is making me very lazy now
Kristin, the pronunciation is killing me and at home i try to practise to say the words better. i feel like a robot that need to get shut up sometime hahaa... Sounds like a good idea what Julia is doing with her friends.
aiyaaa.. you reminds me of ironing, i have mine on hold since last weekend and i won't be able to iron my laundry until end of this week bcos my time now is already filled for my study. Tomoro we have short test to see how much we understood - yes! just 2 days in class and there is trial test awaiting... go ahead saja lah....
tick tock tick tock it's almost 10pm and it's my bedtime :)))) i have my alarm to wake me up at 6:45am *yawn* Gute Natch Kristin :)) Bis bald.
Hey Nina... how is it going girl? Hope all is well with you...XOXOXO
hi Dora, so far so good and i can't wait to see my assignment test papers. I can say i did good but the real result is in the teacher's eyes... oh mak datuk... i hope i did good. Today i have 3 pages of homework to do and i have 2 pages of books to read. Cannot iron today and no blogging to update yet... oh sedih but thatsokay, weekend ada.
Thanks for coming by Dora and i hope all is well with you and your banking course too.
Greetings to all my sincere bloggers who comes here to check whats new. Not much :)))
Oi Amoi sudah started German lesson right? LOL..so how was it? Not so bad right? hehehe...take it easy okay..already make some friends in your class? Rajin2lah ulang kaji after class..you can do it. You try lah your german with Michael at home haha..
So, alles gute, viel spass und viel viel lernen.
Schöne grusse von mir!
Luth, so far so good. I have to adjust my tongue - the pronunciation is rather exhausting! yes, i have made friends in my class as well as one from the evening i met on the bus bcos of her charming friendly young daughter, she maybe 6 or younger. We're going to meet up, yay!
Homework everyday but thatsokay with me :)))) thanks for dropping by Luth. I must "chase" with your German, ghahahaa...
Hey Nina... glad to know that you're doing good in your German language class. And you've made friends, wow good for you. Well, keep us updated ok... but do not speak to me in German cos if you do so, I will speak to you in Kadazan...hahaha. Just kidding Nina, just kidding...LOL.
Guten Tag Dora = Good day, Dora :))
I am so pleased to have made some friends in the class. In fact, all my 16-classmates are very friendly despite the language barrier amongst us.
Heute ist Fritag "Today is Friday" and it's the end of Week 1 and our teacher have covered 3 sections in such a short period of time. Kind of exhausting to catch up every word though. We have many weekends homework given by Frau Commer (Ms Commer) but thatsokay - more homework doesnt means it's good or bad, but time on computer and blogging is cutting down boohoooo.... and i also have many of my own home work on my pending laundry and ironing to do, duh!
Teach me some simple Kadazan words will you, hahaa... nah, eager to know pulak :))))
Wishing you and David a Happy Weekend, Dora.
To all my shy sincere bloggers who are reading me behind their screens, I wish you to wish me the wish I wished you :)))) Happy Weekend and have a safe one. To those in the Autumn season, wishing your homeland with many sunny Autumn ahead of you :)) It's sunny with 13 degrees celsius out here, woohooo :)))
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(") Nina
Hi Nina, thanks for your note you left me. I'm back. LOL
You're going back to school, girl. That's so nice. Wish you good luck eh. Coz, I dread the word exam too. lol.. I'll see you later. :)
hey Jenn, my pleasure and thank you for dropping by. Yup, back to school which not many people like me favour to go when it is not your favourite interest :))) You take care kio.
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