http://www.summersdale.com/images/Italian-Without-Words-300.jpgOn Saturday I bought this "Teach Yourself German" deluxe set that contains 2 CDs and a workbook. All for the princely sum of 50 bucks.
I learnt German for 5 years when I was in high school and like most things that aren't compulsory, let it fall to the wayside as I buzzed through uni in a blaze of fun times, travel and study. But then one day as I lay back in my chair at work, I overheard my boss lamenting the embarrassment that comes with being an Aussie- linguistically speaking, that is. Aussie's excel at lots of things- sports, music, meat pies, Harbour Bridges, barbies, beaches and marsupials... but learning lots of languages doesn't really seem to be one of them.
Sure, you learn French in year 3, and beginners Indonesian in year 7, but it's not like the Europeans where English is compulsory from the time they can walk and French, German and Spanish are taken on as they progress through their schooling. Unless you're brought up in a household where English isn't the native tongue, most of us go through life thinking English is enough... which it is- most of the time.
But there's more to be said about the fact that knowing another language takes you out of your comfort zone, arms you with a whole new set of words and makes you feel like you're equipping yourself to engage with the world. Which is a pretty nice feeling at the end of the day.
That doesn't mean to say I'm the exemplary student. This morning I plugged my mp3 player in and settled into my seat all comfy-like. I was a little apprehensive- listening in German had never been my forte. I put the volume up really high and steeled myself for some rapid dialogue.
It was pretty rapid, that's for sure. And I was only on the chapter that goes through how you say "Hi, how are you? My name is Brigitte Herzberg". All the straining and listening spent my brain power and within 10 minutes the lull of the German dialogue sent me drifting off to sleep.
Whoops. So much for furthering my linguistic education.
Amazingly though, it was the best sleep I've had on a train ride to date, and as I woke up almost on cue to get off at my stop, I sent a little wish to whoever's listening in the universe that my brain, in its sleepy subconscious state picked up on a few vital words and phrases to help me on my Foreign Language Learning Crusade.
I learnt German for 5 years when I was in high school and like most things that aren't compulsory, let it fall to the wayside as I buzzed through uni in a blaze of fun times, travel and study. But then one day as I lay back in my chair at work, I overheard my boss lamenting the embarrassment that comes with being an Aussie- linguistically speaking, that is. Aussie's excel at lots of things- sports, music, meat pies, Harbour Bridges, barbies, beaches and marsupials... but learning lots of languages doesn't really seem to be one of them.
Sure, you learn French in year 3, and beginners Indonesian in year 7, but it's not like the Europeans where English is compulsory from the time they can walk and French, German and Spanish are taken on as they progress through their schooling. Unless you're brought up in a household where English isn't the native tongue, most of us go through life thinking English is enough... which it is- most of the time.
But there's more to be said about the fact that knowing another language takes you out of your comfort zone, arms you with a whole new set of words and makes you feel like you're equipping yourself to engage with the world. Which is a pretty nice feeling at the end of the day.
That doesn't mean to say I'm the exemplary student. This morning I plugged my mp3 player in and settled into my seat all comfy-like. I was a little apprehensive- listening in German had never been my forte. I put the volume up really high and steeled myself for some rapid dialogue.
It was pretty rapid, that's for sure. And I was only on the chapter that goes through how you say "Hi, how are you? My name is Brigitte Herzberg". All the straining and listening spent my brain power and within 10 minutes the lull of the German dialogue sent me drifting off to sleep.
Whoops. So much for furthering my linguistic education.
Amazingly though, it was the best sleep I've had on a train ride to date, and as I woke up almost on cue to get off at my stop, I sent a little wish to whoever's listening in the universe that my brain, in its sleepy subconscious state picked up on a few vital words and phrases to help me on my Foreign Language Learning Crusade.
1 comment:
this is why i wish i had realized how beneficial it would be to know more than one language as i was growing up... now when i travel the world i feel like an idiot because i am like the only person who only speaks english. grr.
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