Shooting in English

Vor Kurzem hat jemand in einer Facebook-Gruppe für Falkner eine Frage gepostet:

„Gäbe es zufällig Falkner aus Bayern, deren Tiere man für ein Shooting buchen könnte?“

Ich bin Amerikanerin und meine Muttersprache ist Englisch. „Shooting“ ist ein englisches Wort und bedeutet „Schießerei“. Also, nein, ich bin mir sicher, dass keine Falkner – egal wo – würden zulassen, dass ihre Greifvögel und Eulen für eine Schießerei gebucht werden.

Wenn ich meinen Eltern eine E-Mail mit dem Betreff „Shooting at a falconry center“ schreiben würde, würden sie schockiert weiterlesen, um zu schauen wie viele Menschen und Tiere erschossen wurden. Es passiert immer wieder in den USA. Ok, eher in Schulen und Gebetshäusern als in Falknereien, aber du verstehst, was ich meine.

Das könnte ein Fotoshooting sein.

Ich weiß, viele Deutsche denken, "Shooting" ist eine Kurzform von "Fotoshooting". So steht es sogar auf dict.cc. Aber das ist leider nicht so. Und weil Amis (besonders wir aus dem Mittelwesten) so ungeheuer höflich und nett sind, werden wir euch niemals korrigieren. Wir werden kurz mit großen Augen schauen, versuchen das Kopfkino schnell umzustellen, oder, wie immer wenn wir etwas nicht verstehen - lächeln und nicken.

Wir hören "Shooting" und unser Kopfkino fängt hier an.

Aber jetzt sage ich es, meine liebe deutsche LeserInnen…bitte hör auf, „Shooting“ zu sagen und zu schreiben. Es ist „photo shooting“ oder „Fotoshooting“. Ganz ehrlich.

Stell dir vor, wir Amerikaner fangen an, das deutsche Wort „Schießerei“ zu benutzen, weil Fremdwörter cool sind:

• „Are there any dog owners out there who book their pets for a Schießerei? I need some practice!”
  
• “There was a Schießerei before my friend’s wedding last weekend. It was so nice!”
  
• „When we arrived at Ludwigsburg Castle for our tour, there was Schießerei going on!”
  
• “I’m available for Schießereien! Click here for my prices.”

Das könnte ein Fotoshooting sein,
aber kein Shooting!

Ich gebe zu, wir verwenden verschiedene Versionen von "to shoot" auch im Bereich Fotografie und Filme:

• "How many pictures did you shoot today?"  (Fotos machen)
• "Oh, that's a good shot!"*
• "I got a lucky shot of a falcon the other day."   (Foto)
• "How long did the shoot take yesterday?"    (Foto- oder Filmentermin)

*Das kann beides bedeuten: Du hast ein tolles Foto gemacht, oder du hast [mit einem Gewehr] gut geschossen. Aber für die zweite Bedeutung (gut geschossen), würden wir das eher im Präteritum ausdrücken: "That was a good shot."

Aber schau mal. Diese zwei Sätze bedeuten überhaupt nicht das Gleiche!

• “No one was injured during the shooting yesterday.”   (Amoklauf/Schießerei)
  
• "No one was injured during the shoot yesterday.”  (Film/Fotographie)

"Shooting" bedeutet für einen Amerikaner nur eines: eine Schießerei oder ein Amoklauf.

Oder als Verb: In this photo I am shooting at a target.

Es gibt weitere englische Wörter, die Amerikaner anders verstehen, als die Deutschen sie verwenden. 

Beispiele (und zum Schluss ein deutsches Wort, das die Amerikaner falsch verwenden):

• Handy (für Amis ist das ein adjektiv und bedeutet "griffbereit")
• Public Viewing (vor einer Beerdigung, wenn der Sarg offen liegt, damit man dem Verstorbenen seine letzte Ehre erweisen kann)
• Backside (Po;  für "Rückseite" braucht man ein Leerzeichen - "back side")
• Body bag  (Leichensack)
• Football  (amerikanischer Fußball, NFL)
• Foosball, "Fußball"  (Tischkicker)

P.S. Ich begrüße Korrekturen, wenn ich etwas falsch formuliere. Schick mir eine E-Mail (link oben)!

Reverence for Life

Not long after I moved to Germany during a visit in Wisconsin I was introduced to Dr. Hans-Udo Jüttner, who has since become a friend. He was on the brink of a project for which he needed some assistance, namely transcribing the nearly 400-page hand-written Tagebuch (diary) he wrote in 1962-1963 while working with Dr. Albert Schweitzer in his hospital in Lambarene, Gabon, Africa. He'd written this Tagebuch mainly in German, with occasional English and some French, French being the official language of the country. Gabon was occupied by France in 1885, became a French territory in 1910, and gained its independence in 1960, just two years before Udo arrived there.

Udo needed his Tagebuch in electronic form because he wanted to see about getting parts of it published. 

Through my years of teaching in Wisconsin I had come across many unique styles of handwriting, which I sometimes had to decipher in order to grade homework and tests. I expected the English and German would be no problem, but I do not know a word of French! Udo gave me a copy of the first pages of his Tagebuch, and on the way home in the airplane, I had a look. 

What an honor and a privilege to be trusted with this man's personal diary of a time and place I knew very little about. It did not take me long to decide I would like very much to be part of this project. 

I'd heard of Dr. Schweitzer of course, but I did not know much about him. During the next several months while I transcribed the Tagebuch, I also ordered and read some biographies about Dr. Schweitzer and explored the hospital's website. Schweitzer certainly led a fascinating life but was also a controversial figure in some respects, which didn't surprise me by this time.

Statue of Dr. Albert Schweitzer
in Gunsbach, France

I finished my part of the project in March of 2014, and I was giddy with excitement to hear from Udo in mid-July 2021 that his book has recently been published! After picking it up at our local bookshop, I opened and started reading it while walking back to my car, not being able to wait until I got home. It is available directly from the German publisher, at this point only in German. 

Udo's Tagebuch is a personal look behind the scenes of the work done in Schweitzer's hospital in Lambarene, not only the medical work of the hospital and the leprosy village, but especially the Alltag (everyday life) in a jungle setting. There was, among the responsibilities, the manual work of building and improving the structures, managing the various animals living in the complex, treating the patients and providing for them and their families' food. He also tells of the constant stream of visitors from all over the world arriving daily in the hospital, alone or in large groups - reporters, globetrotters, Nobel Prize winners, tourists, and famous as well as lesser-known donors and admirers. They were all welcome to share the daily meals with Schweitzer and his staff on the banks of the Ogowe river in Lambarene.

The medical care patients received was provided free-of-charge, but those and their family members who were able were required to help out with various tasks and chores around the complex. Udo was in charge of working with and managing these groups of workers for his first three months in Lambarene.

Udo also includes a letter he wrote to his former teacher at the Albert-Schweitzer-Gymnasium in Marl-Hüls, in which he describes life in general at the hospital and the organization and schedule of work days. This wasn't in the original diary I transcribed, and I poured over this like every other part that was new to me: the foreword, the final thoughts, the notes, the photos and captions.

What makes a Tagebuch most enjoyable are the personal observations and thoughts of the writer. Udo shares his joys and satisfaction of projects well done, frustrations, questions, hopes, and feelings about Dr. Schweitzer, who was a role model for Udo, though not infallible. He also explains how he came to spend those 16 months in Lambarene and how reading Schweitzer's biography when he was a teenager inspired him to pursue a medical career.

Udo has long been an active hobby-photographer, and the photos in the book were taken by or of him. Dr. Schweitzer did not like to pose for photos, so those of him tend to be candid shots, which I find wonderfully authentic. It was especially nice for me to see photographs of my friend back when he was the age my son is now!

Udo und ich in Esslingen

I feel truly fortunate to have been introduced to Udo and invited to participate in this transcription project! He did need to edit and cut parts because the original would have been too long for most readers (the final version is 172 pages), and I think I'm glad I wasn't involved in that part because I would have had a hard time cutting anything! 

One example of this involves birthdays. Dr. Schweitzer made the birthdays of his co-workers special by celebrating them at the evening meal with a speech, songs, gifts, togetherness and Gemütlichkeit. While transcribing, each time I came to the point where Udo said it was someone's birthday, I found myself thinking, "Oh good! What is he going to say this time?!" But these birthday celebrations weren't important for the purpose of Udo's book, and therefore it's understandable that he and his editor decided to cut most of them. The reader still gets a taste of how birthdays were celebrated in Lambarene when Udo briefly describes his own birthday on...well, read the Tagebuch and find out for yourself! 😊

I was truly sorry when I came to the end of his Tagebuch and wished there were a sequel. There is, of course, just not in published diary form. After his 16 months in Lambarene, Udo returned to Germany but then spent five years at the Mayo Clinic in the U.S. for his medical training in radiology, met his dear wife Joan, and after a brief return to Germany decided to pursue his medical career in the U.S. His extensive travel adventures include climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro for his 60th birthday, trekking to the Mt. Everest base camp when he turned 70, and returning to Nepal for his 80th birthday to the Rukmani Secondary School he helped found and continues to support in a remote Himalayan village. My dad (74 at the time) joined him on this trip, which also included a trek in the Himalayas in the direction of Gokyo-Ri.

Udo and Dad (Nepal, 2016)

I think when most of us come into the autumn years of our life, we want to look back to a life well lived. It's not the hours spent at work that come back to us for reflection, but the adventures we pursued, the people we encountered who made a lasting impression on us, the lives we hope we impacted, and the good we did. Albert Schweitzer's lifelong philosophy was "Ehrfurcht vor dem Leben" (reverence for life), and to me that encourages us to live our best life and do what we can to make this a better world despite our imperfections. I hope Udo knows the depth of the impression he has made on me, how much I have learned from him and from reading about his adventures and his time in Lambarene, and that I am glad to call him my friend.

Udo in Nepal (2016)

Hawk or Buzzard?

This is as much a language post as a bit about certain birds of prey. And as language goes, part of it concerns “two countries separated by a common language.”

In the Facebook group “Scotland from the Roadside” members frequently post photos of birds of prey – Kestrels (Turmfalken), sparrowhawks (Sperber), golden eagles and white-tailed eagles (Steinadler und Seeadler), red kites (Rotmilane) and common buzzards (Mäusebussarde). Inevitably when a Scot posts a photo of a buzzard, the discussion begins.

Common buzzard (Buteo buteo)
Credit: Andrew Fuller
Website

Scot: Buzzard on a post/in flight/sat in a tree.

Amer: That’s not a buzzard, it’s a hawk.

Scot: It’s a common buzzard.

Amer: I know what a buzzard looks like, and that beautiful bird is not a buzzard.

Scot: No really, it’s a buzzard. Buteo buteo.

Amer: Huh?

Harris hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus)
Germans also call this a Wüstenbussard ("dessert buzzard")

In one discussion I’ll never forget, the American insisted he had spent his whole life around birds of prey, and the buzzard in the photo was definitely a hawk. In the end he looked it up and realized the truth of what I’m about to tell you, and ended with, “I surrender. Would you like my sword, Sir?”

That is the best capitulation I have ever read. Chapeau, my fellow American!

So who’s right??

It could be argued that they both are, but not equally so. The common buzzard is indeed a buzzard. Why do Americans get confused by this every time? Because Americans call vultures “buzzards.” For clarity, we need to look at the classifications of the birds in Latin.

This not a buzzard, it's a vulture.
Photo credit: M

Buteo = buzzard

Parabuteo = sort of a buzzard

Accipiter = hawk

Cathartes = vulture

Common buzzard = Buteo buteo = Mäusebussard (not native in the Americas)

Harris hawk = Parabuteo Unicinctus = Wüstenbussard (native only in the Americas, popular in European falconry)

Red-tailed hawk = Buteo jamaicensis = Rotschwanzbussard (most common "hawk" in the Americas)

Cooper’s hawk = Accipiter cooperil = Rundschwanzsperber ("round-tailed sparrowhawk")

"Turkey buzzard" = Cathartes aura = Truthahngeier

 

But don’t get distracted by the English names or the American common usage. We Americans call vultures buzzards, though they are not. Try it – google “turkey buzzard,” the one most Americans have heard of. Wikipedia will correct you and take you to the “turkey vulture” page. They are not buzzards, they are vultures.

Hawks and buzzards (in the European understanding) are both members of the Accipitridae family of raptors, which in German is "Habichtartige" (hawk-like). The genus is where they split into buzzards (Buteo) and hawks (Accipiter). The vultures native to the Americas - New World vultures, such as the turkey vulture - already split from other raptors at the classification level of order. They are raptors, but they are not buzzards, regardless of what they are commonly called.

(Kingdom - Phylum - Class - Order - Family - Genus - Species)

Frankly, the buteo buteo are beautiful birds regardless of what people call them. But since this comes up nearly every time an American hears or sees a European call this bird a "buzzard," I thought I'd throw some light onto this confusion.

By now each time I see on the Scotland group that a Scot has posted a photo of a beautiful common buzzard, I mention it to M, who, like Douglas Adams’ pot of petunias, says, “Oh no, not again.” 😊

Some of the other birds mentioned above:

Kestrel (falco tinnunculus; Turmfalke)

Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus; Sperber) in our neighbor's tree

White-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla; Seeadler), Isle of Mull

Red kite (Milvus milvus; Rotmilan)

Back to the wildlife photography I've seen in the Scotland Facebook group, do check out Andrew Fuller's portfolio of photos from the Outer Hebrides and elsewhere! Truly breathtaking.

Changing Language, Part 2

Language changes. This is nothing new. If you doubt me, have a go at reading Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales in the original Middle English from the late 14^th Century. Even texts written in the early years of European colonization of the Americas pose a challenge for native speakers of American English.

One change that is going on in German focuses on being inclusive of the LGBTQIA+ community. It’s not as simple as it once was (and my students would argue that it is not and never was simple), with two biological genders, the linguistic neutral, and the corresponding pronouns (he/er, she/sie, it/es). Until recently a person had only two options in German: “I am a male pilot” or “I am a female pilot,” because there was no gender-neutral word for “pilot.” That leaves out the people who do not identify as male or female. This change is less problematic in English, where most of our labels for people have no gender: cousin, pilot, swimmer, teacher, and so on. In German, however, those labels all have two forms, depending on whether the person is male or female: die Cousine/der Cousin, die Pilotin/der Pilot, die Schwimmerin/ der Schwimmer, die Lehrerin/der Lehrer. Female titles typically end with the suffix -in, and the suffix -er usually indicates a male.

In English we’ve handled changes like this, though on a smaller scale. Instead of “waitress” we should say “server.” Instead of “stewardess” we should say “flight attendant.” “Parent” and “spouse” have long been used instead of “mother or father” and “husband or wife.” This type of change is not difficult for native speakers, or at least it shouldn’t be.

In German nowadays there are several options to officially address people and be inclusive of the LGBTQIA+ community as well as cisgender men and women, none of which are perfect. There’s the Genderstern (Lehrer*innen), the Gendergap (Lehrer_innen), the Binnen-I (LehrerInnen), the Genderdoppelpunkt (Lehrer:innen) and other options fully explored in this pamphlet, which also explains the pros and cons of each approach.

Another method is to find gender-neutral words or phrases for labels and occupations. Instead of using “Studenten” for college students, people have started to use “Studierende,” which translates to “studiers” or “people who are studying.” A teacher, instead of “Lehrer” can be called a “Lehrperson” or “Lehrkraft.” The plural form is “Lehrende.” I received an invitation to an online course the other day from Baden-Württemberg’s Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, and the target group is “Lehrende and Kursleitende” (persons who teach and leaders of courses).

Some of these newish terms are no problem for language learners. “Lehrperson” is perhaps a bit cumbersome, but combining “lehr[en]” (to teach) with “Person” is no big deal. Both “Lehrperson” and “Lehrkraft” are feminine based on the final part of the compound word, so neither is really gender-neutral. The word “Person” certainly is, but since German requires an article for every noun which then does clearly indicate a gender, I don’t necessarily understand what is gained.

In case I need to say this again, the concept of inclusion and not linguistically ostracizing a group of people is good! I am looking at this from the point-of-view of my students, who are already struggling to learn German. I do my best to make the language as painless as possible for them. 

One of the issues in teaching occupations and titles that adhere to the more inclusive language (faire Sprache) is the sequence in which German learners learn the language, following the books used in the A1 – B1 course. Traditionally, in order for a student to be able to answer the question “What is your job?” with “I am a pilot,” the student must learn:

• Verb conjugation of "to be"  (Ich bin)   [level A1.1, chapter 1]
• The occupation title (Pilot)   [level A1.2, chapter 9]

By chapter 9, which is approximately 105 hours or 5 weeks into the Integrationskurse taught here in Germany, the student can easily say, “Ich bin Pilot” (I am [a] pilot.) Since these are adults, they usually already know their occupation title by the time class starts, so most can already say this in week one.

 

In this Genderwörterbuch (gender dictionary) the title “flugzeugführende Belegschaft“ is suggested for “Pilot,” which translates to “airplane-guiding personnel.” In order to understand and produce this job title, the student would have to nearly finish the 600-hour course. Why?

1. Starting at level A1 students learn about  compound nouns and work on developing their vocabulary. Flugzeug is an A1 word, führen is expected in level B1. I don't know which level Belegschaft is, but I don't recall ever coming across it until today and I've been learning German since 1983.
   
   
2. Adjective endings, the bane of existence for most learners of German because these involve gender and case, are taught in level A2.2, in chapters 9, 10, and 12.
   
   
3. In order to construct "führende," the student needs to learn about participles [verb+d+adjective ending], which are taught in B1.2, chapter 38 (if the chapters for the 6 books of the entire course were numbered 1-42),

      

This same problem applies to the gender-neutral term for a person who is learning German: Deutschlernende. Deutsch and lernen are both A1-level words. But to understand the ending (-de), which looks much simpler than it is, the student needs to understand participles and adjective endings (levels A2.2 and B1.2). Well, for heaven’s sake just teach them in the first weeks to add -de to infinitive verbs to create titles! Ok, so "kochen" means "to cook," therefore "Kochende" would be cooks or chefs, right? But "kochend/e" is already a word, which means "boiling." And what is a notice to all “Fahrende”? One uses “fahren” (to drive) for driving a car, train, bus, etc. but also when one travels with a car, bus, train, etc. So is a "Fahrende" the driver of the bus or a passenger? Who needs to pay attention to that notice?  My point here is that if you think the issue is easy to solve, I promise you it is not.

Each of the options suggested by faire Sprache creates a difficulty for a group of people. Most companies seem to be using the Genderstern (Lehrer*innen) because the Stern includes all gender identities. But it’s problematic for visually impaired people, because the electronic devices that read texts aloud tend to ignore the symbol and the person hears simply “Lehrerinnen” or “female teachers,” which is not inclusive. For people (at least for native speakers) who are blind, the better option is using gender-neutral terms such as “Lehrende” (people who teach). But then non-native speakers may be at a disadvantage because of the complicated phrasing (flugzeugführende Belegschaft). In the 56-page pamphlet I referenced above, non-native speakers were only mentioned once as an aside – so they were mostly ignored as a group who will struggle with this issue.

German companies and publications are faced today with deciding how to handle this change. Ignore it? Adopt one of the more-inclusive methods of gendering? Mix them up and use several different ones? In one journal for Deutschlernende I subscribe to, I noticed they use the gender-neutral term in the plural when there is a fitting one (Lernende), and where there isn't they go new-traditional (Bewerberinnen und Bewerber = female and male applicants). They also used the old traditional, which is the plural form that looks the same as the male form (Arbeitgeber = employers) - all three forms within the same article. 

The German language is in the process of a Sprachwandel – a language change. It’s not an abrupt change, like the Great Spelling Reform of 1996, when teachers had to stop teaching daß in favor of dass, words with three identical consonants in a row became a reality (Schifffahrt) and whether words were written as two or one became more standardized (formerly radfahren/Auto fahren are now both Rad fahren/Auto fahren). 

It will be interesting to see how we are speaking 20 years from now. 

Changing Language, Part 1

Changing Language, Part 1

I’ve been teaching German for 22 years (since 1999), and although I have also taught English (American Literature in the US, informal conversational English in Germany), I far prefer teaching German. One of the things I love about living in Germany is that I am challenged by the language every single day: Listening, speaking, reading, writing, lately crossword puzzles… Although M and I speak mainly English peppered with German words at home, and although I sometimes get quite frustrated when I don’t understand something, I truly do prefer German because it’s a delicious challenge.

I have taught German I-IV in Wisconsin (that is first year to fourth year high school German) and levels A1 through B1 in Germany. Ultimately those equate to the same grammatical topics and levels, but in Germany I’ve been teaching adults, so therefore some of the vocabulary topics have a different focus, such as parenting, day-to-day life in Germany, dealing with government agencies, etc.

Anyone who has started learning German knows it is a challenging language, especially compared to English. Just as one example, where English has one definite article (the), German has 16, and some of those are the same word but have different functions. For example “der” could be any of these: Masculine nominative, feminine dative, feminine genitive or plural genitive. I realize I have already lost my American readers, in part because cases (nominative, dative, etc.) don’t play much of a role* and very few words in English are assigned a gender.

*Case in point, do you know confidently whether you need “I” or “me” in a sentence involving a second personal pronoun? ("This letter is for ____ and ____.")

 

In German every noun is assigned a gender, and although there are some hard-and-fast rules, for learners of German the assigned gender seems absolutely random. Sometimes it is. Read Mark Twain’s The Awful German Language for a more amusing essay than I could write on the topic. A spoon is masculine (der Löffel), a fork is feminine (die Gabel), and a knife is neutral (das Messer). Just for fun let me say here that when a spoon is accusative it is den Löffel, when the spoon is dative it’s dem Löffel, and when it’s genitive it’s des Löffels. Yes, every single one of those examples means “the spoon” (in genitive it’s “of the spoon”).

The gender of a noun depends on the word, not the thing. For instance, that thing I lie on while napping reading is both die Couch and das Sofa. Same thing, two different words, two different genders/articles. Some items have a different gender depending on region and dialect. Butter is feminine (die Butter), but in some regions I’ve heard people use masculine (der Butter). Lastly, sometimes the same word is used for two different things and has two different genders. “Der See” is the lake, “die See” is the sea. Die Paprika is the pepper vegetable and der Paprika is the dried red spice. Oh, and if you want to be specific and say paprika powder, then it’s neutral: Das Paprikapulver.

die Paprika    der Paprika    das Paprikapulver

Ok, that’s my basic intro to the confusing nature of gender in the German language. Here's an earlier one. If you are learning German, do not despair. Some of it will click if you stick with it long enough and really want to learn it, but also we foreigners will never be able to learn all the genders of all the nouns in German and keep up with the new words being added every year. The good news is that when you’re just speaking casually as a non-native speaker, screwing up the gender of a word is just not a big deal.

The creators of the German language did, at least, do us one favor and made job titles and names for people pretty logical and easy. Females are feminine (die Mutter, die Tante) and males are masculine (der Vater, der Onkel).* A male pilot is der Pilot, and a female pilot is die Pilotin. The female version of the job title often has a slightly different form (der Arzt/die Ärztin), and my students haven’t had much trouble learning those.

But the German language is changing in an effort to be more inclusive and to move with our changing society and embrace the trans community and gender fluidity. The concept is good, though it poses a significant challenge to learners of German (Deutschlernende). More on that in the next post.

*Yes, das Mädchen (the girl) is genderless or neutral, but that’s because all words ending with the suffix “-chen,” meaning “small,” take the neutral.

das Pferd and das Mädchen - both genderless or neutral
Never mind that the horse, Cyrano, is male and my daughter is female.

Benefits of Learning German

The answer to the question "Why should I learn German?" may seem obvious when the person asking is living in a German-speaking country. Apparently it isn't, though, judging by the number of people from various countries who post questions on expat-Germany forums asking, "Can I find a job in Germany that pays a good salary if I don't speak German?"

Such a person may be able to find a job here in a company or school where speaking only English works for that person, but what about all the time spent not-at-work?

Horb am Neckar

On the surface or basic level, anyone can come up with reasons for learning and speaking confidently the language of the country in which they live. Grocery shopping is easier, you can ask for help when you need it, you can follow signs in a department store to find what you need... But there are other benefits that reach to a deeper level, which one might not think about - especially before moving to that country.

These are areas in which I benefit - almost daily - from being able to speak and understand German. My inspiration for writing this post is #10. In case I've been too long-winded and dull, you can just skip to the end.

1. Driving - Fahren

If you've followed me for a while, you know I hate driving here, at least out of our community. However, when M and I go somewhere, he drives because he likes public transportation about as much as I like driving on the Autobahn and country roads. For those who drive here, being able to understand the Verkehrsfunk is helpful essential! You're on the A8 driving from Pforzheim to München, and you just heard there's an accident involving two semis and six cars just shy of Stuttgart, and the Autobahn is shut down. Get off the Autobahn and find another way! If you can't, then make damn sure you form a Rettungsgasse!

"Cool! No Stau!"
Think so, do ya? Wait for the Verkehrsfunk.
Bet there's one just around that bend.

The Verkehrsfunk will tell you how long the Stau is and often how much extra time you need to factor into your Fahrt (drive - giggle giggle). If you don't understand German, when the Verkehrsfunk busts into your favorite song you'll be left wondering what the hell is going on - both why some dude has interrupted your radio program, and why suddenly all the cars are slowing down, pulling way off to the sides of the road (left lane to the far left, everyone else to the right). Here's a hint - they are not clearing the way for you to get a free lane to Singen.

2. National News / Nachrichten

I can understand the news (most of it, anyway) from German sources, which expands my exposure to what's going on in the world. This is especially important for events that take place in Germany and Europe! I would not want to have to rely on English/American news to find out details about what is going on here.

3. Local News / Lokalnachrichten

I can read and understand the local (news)paper and online reports (Blaulicht), which are simply not available in English. If I want to know about events scheduled and happening in my small community - many of which are opportunities for meeting people! - I need to be able to read and understand German.

4. Information about Cities & Attractions

When I visit a town I haven't been to before, I want to be able to read about it to learn what I should see and do. Before I go to see a major attraction or a castle, I'd like some information about it beforehand so I know what is special about it. There is much more detailed information available about things and places to see in Germany in German. Compare the lengths of these two Wikipedia articles about the town of Esslingen - here's the English, and here's the German. Yah, yah, size doesn't matter. But information does.
This article about the Swabian Kehrwoche isn't even available in English!

Bamberg

5. Problems / Probleme

I can deal with most of my problems (appointment making or rescheduling, health insurance issues, shopping, returning a defective item...) myself without having to ask M for help. This is huge for someone who wants to be independent and not helpless!

I can also apply for a job, quit a job, and communicate with my colleagues.

6. Train Announcements / Ansagen

I can understand unexpected announcements on the train and not panic. For instance, on a trip to Esslingen once, the conductor announced that the track between Herrenberg and Böblingen was shut down because of "Personenschaden" (someone had thrown himself onto the tracks in front of an oncoming train), and she told everyone where to find the Ersatzbusse (replacement buses) that would transport us from Herrenberg to Böblingen via a detour.

I can also explain to other confused passengers when the conductor announces on the approach to Eutingen that the train we're on is going to split in two, and if anyone is on the wrong half of the train, there will be time to switch at the next stop - in case they didn't understand this sign:

The front half of this train is going to Rottweil.
The back half is going to Freudenstadt.

7. Vocabulary / Wortschatz

When I'm reading an English book and come to a new and unfamiliar word, I can often look up that word on my dict.cc app (the only app I actually use on my smartphone) to find the German translation, which usually makes the meaning clear. I do this not infrequently; just the other day I came across the word "apostasy," and the German translation (Glaubensabfall) cleared it up for me.

8. Cooking / Kochen

I can cook with German recipes, which means I always find the required ingredients. I learned early in my expat life that American recipes usually do not work in Germany. Everything tastes different, and some ingredients just can't be found here.

It was in this magazine that I found our now-favorite Lamb Stew recipe...

...and also this crazy-delicious venison meal.

I can also take part in Kochkurse (cooking classes) here!! M and I have enjoyed doing those together.

9. Helping Others / Anderen Helfen

I have had several opportunities to offer assistance to someone who was struggling and confused because they didn't speak German, and the person to whom they were appealing for help did not speak English (at least not confidently). Despite what you've heard, everyone here does not speak English. Many people do, and at typical tourist attractions employees are likely required to, but there are no guarantees. I do not generally approach or speak to people here who are speaking American English, but if someone clearly needs help, I'm happy to offer it. 

This is also how I came to know some very special people, whom I am honored to call my friends. In 2015-16, many refugees came to Germany being able to speak English, but no German. I got involved locally and have had some of the greatest teaching experiences of my life.

10. Books / Bücher

Being able to read and understand German has allowed me to read books that are only available in German! A new one arrived yesterday noon about photographing owls and birds of prey, and I read all 320 pages by this afternoon. The craziest thing is that I have struggled to understand and retain a few certain camera functions and settings - having read plenty of explanations and books in English - and finally with this book it's sinking in!

The book on the left is a new one about Falknerei (falconry), and also fascinating. 

This series is also a favorite of mine - "Secrets of Home." The writers explore 50 different lesser-known stories or secrets of a town, revealing very interesting details - and the books are not available in English! I first came across the one about Esslingen three years ago, then the one for Tübingen, and seem to keep adding to my collection. Without this book I would not know some fascinating details, which I now include in the tours I give.

Bonus Benefit

I can follow the conversation M and his English mother are having, even when they randomly and unconsciously switch back and forth between English and German!

What about the rest of you? 

What benefits have you seen from learning the language of the country in which you're living?

German and Swahili

Jambo! Habari gani?

When I went back to school in 1997 to obtain a minor to teach German (I already had my B.A. in English and my teaching license and had been teaching English part time for 2 years), one of the courses I needed to take was “Methods in Teaching Foreign Language.” My classmates were future teachers of Spanish, French, and German, and the professor wanted to demonstrate to us how it is possible to teach a language from day 1 using no English. Obviously she could not use any of our second languages because the point was to introduce a new language.

So she taught us Swahili.

She had spent some years in Kenya and was therefore comfortable with the basics, which was all she needed to demonstrate. In every German class I have ever taught, I used the method she taught us and reviewed with us nearly every day. Little did I know I would even have the opportunity to teach several groups of students some of those Swahili phrases I had learned in my methods class!

That class was my very first exposure to Swahili, but since then the language has come into my life again and again. If you go on the safari at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Florida, you'll be greeted in Swahili. A friend of mine in Esslingen spent some years in Kenya and learned Swahili, and when I discovered that I greeted him with, "Jambo!" My aunt and uncle spent some time in Kenya a number of years ago and came back with a CD of music in Swahili, which I still have. My dad and M's host father went on a Photo-Safari in Tanzania and Kenya and came back with great pictures and fascinating tales. 

The methods teacher taught us to count from 1 to 10 (which I can still do), how to say hello and introduce ourselves, and ask someone else’s name. She taught us more than that, but that’s what I’ve retained. And as I said, I have used her method in each beginning German class I've taught. The teacher uses lots of body language and gestures but speaks no English.

As an example, to teach the numbers, I start counting with my fingers: “moja-mbili-tatu-nne-tano!” Then I repeat. Then I gesture for the students to say the numbers with me and use their fingers, too. We count 1-5 and then 5-1, repeating often. Then I pass out cards with number words on them to five different students, write 1-2-3-4-5 on the board, and gesture for them to put the cards under the corresponding number. The student who feels unsure can wait for all the others to place their cards. Then we read the numbers while I point to each one – this helps the visual learners (like me!) who need to see a word written out in order to confidently pronounce it. I point to the numbers in a random order while they read them, then I remove the cards and point only to the numbers. I hold up various amounts of fingers while they call out the numbers. The next day I add “sita-saba-nane-tisa-kumi”!

“Jina langu ni Frau Hejl.  Jina lako ni nani?“ Through pointing to my name tag and gestures, I get them to understand what I’m asking, and they hesitatingly give their name. Then through repetition I get them to say the whole sentence: “Jina langu ni Julie!”

This is so much fun every time!

At what point did I actually have the chance to teach my students in Wisconsin some Swahili? First of all I taught American Literature and added Hemingway’s “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” to my curriculum. The story takes place in Kenya and is peppered with a few Swahili words – Bwana, Memsahib – so I started the days we read it by teaching them the numbers and phrases I’d learned. Then to my German level 3&4 class I added what is still my all-time favorite movie to the curriculum: Nirgendwo in Afrika (2001). Through that movie my students and I learned more Swahili words and phrases. They even had to take a vocabulary quiz in German & Swahili – no English at all!

What is the Swahili word for Brunnen? Kisima!  Feuer? Moja!  Kind? Toto!

And guess what? If you have seen “the Lion King” (and who hasn’t?), you also know some Swahili words!

Safari = Reise = journey

Rafiki = Freund = friend

Hakuna matata! = Keine Sorgen! = No worries!

What got me thinking enough about Swahili to write this post? This beautiful song. (You can thank me later.) I wrote recently that I obsess about songs on occasion, and I cannot stop listening to this one. There is so much heart and soul in African music! Here it is with just the lyrics. I’ve learned the chorus and will work on the rest of the song next.

Incidentally, I cannot recommend Nirgendwo in Afrika (Nowhere in Africa) enough. It is a brilliant film about family, war, prejudice, home, language, friendship, expatriates, sacrifice, love, and culture shock. It focuses on a Jewish family who flees Germany in the 1930s and settles in Kenya, where the mother/wife ironically has many prejudices against the Kenyan natives. It is an autobiographical story, told by the writer Stefanie Zweig. The scenery, the soundtrack, the actors...all superb. It surely earned its Oscar for best foreign film.

I'm a lover of film quotes, and here's a taste:

 "Es ist wunderschön. Aber hier können wir doch nicht leben." ~Jettel
   "It's lovely. But we can't live here."

 "Das ist 'was Anderes. Weiße Frauen sind hilflos. Schwarze Frauen nicht."  ~Owuor
   "That's different. White women are helpless. Black women aren't."

 "Ich kann mich gar nicht mehr an Deutschland erinnern." ~Regina
   "I can't even remember Germany anymore."


If I'm being honest, I wrote this blog post for the purpose of sharing the song "Baba Yetu" with you. Did you listen to it? Am I nutty for being captivated by it?

Book Review: The Awful English Grammar

"If I looked like Mr. Bean, I would cry myself to sleep every night."
"Too true."
"This is an example of the second conditional."
"It is?"
"Yes, it is. We use the second conditional when we're talking about a situation in the present that is plainly untrue or very unlikely."  

I have written before about how much I love bookshops and how important I think it is to shop locally rather than always using the convenience of Amazon. This week I took the bus to Nagold to have coffee with an English teacher friend of mine who had just returned from the US with students, and since I had an hour to kill before my bus back, I treated myself to a wee peek in the bookstore. I left the store with four new books and had finished one before the afternoon was over.

The Awful English Grammar/Die schreckliche englische Grammatik, by Jeremy Taylor, is a bilingual book with the English text on the left-hand pages and the German text on the right. I added the book to Goodreads, and you can read my description and review of it there. The book is a conversation between a British guy (Barry Buggins) who wants to teach English in Germany but realizes he doesn't know how to teach English despite being a native speaker, and a teacher trainer (Mr. Sully) who helps him prepare to teach.

I find this to be a brilliant book for anyone who teaches English to German speakers, a German speaker who wants to brush up on her English, and English-speaking expats living in German-speaking countries. Since Goodreads doesn't allow half-stars, I gave it four because of a few glitches I would consider mistakes: 2-3 typos, an incident of "There's a bunch of students...", and the translation of "No, really" as "Nicht unbedingt" (not really). Those are minor, but in a book about language, I'd rather there were no mistakes. And yes, I realize that is pedantic.

The conversations are mildly amusing at times, realistic in that they get off topic briefly now and then, and enlightening. The teacher's explanations are simple and easy to follow, and I like the way he leads Barry to his own understanding by asking "checking questions" and making mistakes Germans commonly make, getting Barry to correct him. Then they discuss why something is correct or incorrect.

The genius of this book is in its bilingualism. I have taught German to many Americans who are not experts in their native language. For a student of German reading this book, when he comes to a complicated construction ["If I had known how difficult English grammar was I wouldn't have taken this bloody course."], he can look on the right-hand page and find that sentence in German [Hätte ich gewusst, wie schwierig die englische Grammatik ist, dann hätte ich diesen verdammten Kurs niemals belegt."] That construction is called "third conditional," by the way, which is something a TEFL teacher (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) needs to know!

Yeah, I'm one of those who highlights and makes notes in my books.
M calls this "vandalizing," but please don't judge me. It's how I learn.

The grammar topics covered in the book are:

• verb tenses: forms of future, present and past
• conditionals, or the subjunctive mood
• prepositions (only a few because they'd require a whole book)
• countable vs. uncountable nouns
• mistakes commonly made in English by German speakers 

Lastly, the two characters use idioms throughout the book that are interpreted very well, which language learners can adopt. Idioms are fun! "You're pulling my leg!" Every native English speaker knows what that means, but a learner of English would picture the action literally. The German equivalent is (this was new to me) "Willst du mir einen Bären aufbinden?" An English speaker learning German would see that as "Do you want to untie a bear on me?" 

Both characters are British, so there are several moments where American readers will wonder. Here's one example where Barry corrects a "mistake" Mr. Sully makes:

  "Does [your sister] go to school on the weekend?"

  "You mean AT the weekend!"

Americans say "on the weekend" and Brits say "at the weekend."

If you are an English speaker learning German, a German speaker learning English, or a native English speaker considering teaching English to Germans, I encourage you to read this book. It doesn't take long - I read the English half in a few hours with interruptions - and it's a fun read for a linguaphile.

I even learned some things I didn't know before. For instance, English is one of the few languages with two forms of the present tense (p. 60). Can you name them or give examples? I also learned how to explain the subtle difference in meaning between "I work at McDonald's" and "I am working at McDonald's," which is something I'd never thought about before. 

"I think you'll find [German learners of English] are very smart people, and many new English teachers get eaten for breakfast by German students who know a lot more about English than their English teachers." ~Mr. Sully (p. 198)