Ich spreche Deutsch
When we moved to Basel just over two years ago, one of my goals was to learn to speak German. Considering I wouldn't be working, I figured that taking German lessons would be at least one productive thing to do with my time. Let's be clear about this, you could easily get by living in Basel as an expat without ever taking German lessons. I know plenty of people who do. You can pick up a few key phrases in German and otherwise use English (or French, if you know it) most of the time. But for me, it was important to try to speak the language.
I did have some background in German before coming here. I grew up in a family with a strong German influence (my Grandparents having come to the US from Dresden in the 1920s) so even as a child I knew quite a few German foods, especially those related to food. Then in college a took a couple German classes to help prepare for my semester abroad in Vienna. I should mention, however, that I lived in a total isolated little island of Americans during this semester abroad, so I hardly ever used what little German I knew. Nonetheless, I'm sure that all of this background gave me a head start in my German lessons here in Basel.
I started semi-private German lessons in Basel in September 2004. For the first year, my friend Sabrina and I went to class two mornings a week. After that, we knocked it down to one morning a week because we were both starting to burn out on it. It may not have been the most structured class (we spent a lot of the time in conversation with the instructor rather than learning grammar), and it certainly hasn't been anything like the intensive courses that some of my expat friends have taken, but somehow I managed to learn German.
I'm so happy to say that I closed this chapter of my Basel life this week. Wednesday morning was our last German class. Making this break wasn't easy... I think Sabrina and I both had been wanting to do so for a while, but we've also become quite connected to our instructor and it was hard to just tell her we wanted to quit. Kind of like "breaking up" with your hair stylist! But now the baby's imminent arrival has given us a good excuse. Our instructor wondered if we'd like to continue in the fall and bring the baby along, but my answer was a quick and easy "Nein, danke", especially knowing we're moving back to the States next year. Our instructor seems very sad about us quitting and has always wanted us to continue until we pass some official certification, but I honestly have no desire to do so. And could someone please tell me what good knowing German will be to my life back in DC?!
I'm far from fluent, but I'm happy with how much I've learned. I could've studied more and worked harder at it, and I easily could be closer to fluent if I lived in a country that actually speaks Hochdeutsch rather than crazy Swiss German (no offense to any of my lovely Swiss friends). But for now, I'm proud of the fact that I can get by in stores and restaurants, have conversations with our neighbors and the lady at the local bakery, and, perhaps most importantly, I can tell if some telemarketer-type who calls on the phone is someone I don't want to talk to... in which case I can lie and say: "Ich spreche kein Deutsch".
I did have some background in German before coming here. I grew up in a family with a strong German influence (my Grandparents having come to the US from Dresden in the 1920s) so even as a child I knew quite a few German foods, especially those related to food. Then in college a took a couple German classes to help prepare for my semester abroad in Vienna. I should mention, however, that I lived in a total isolated little island of Americans during this semester abroad, so I hardly ever used what little German I knew. Nonetheless, I'm sure that all of this background gave me a head start in my German lessons here in Basel.
I started semi-private German lessons in Basel in September 2004. For the first year, my friend Sabrina and I went to class two mornings a week. After that, we knocked it down to one morning a week because we were both starting to burn out on it. It may not have been the most structured class (we spent a lot of the time in conversation with the instructor rather than learning grammar), and it certainly hasn't been anything like the intensive courses that some of my expat friends have taken, but somehow I managed to learn German.
I'm so happy to say that I closed this chapter of my Basel life this week. Wednesday morning was our last German class. Making this break wasn't easy... I think Sabrina and I both had been wanting to do so for a while, but we've also become quite connected to our instructor and it was hard to just tell her we wanted to quit. Kind of like "breaking up" with your hair stylist! But now the baby's imminent arrival has given us a good excuse. Our instructor wondered if we'd like to continue in the fall and bring the baby along, but my answer was a quick and easy "Nein, danke", especially knowing we're moving back to the States next year. Our instructor seems very sad about us quitting and has always wanted us to continue until we pass some official certification, but I honestly have no desire to do so. And could someone please tell me what good knowing German will be to my life back in DC?!
I'm far from fluent, but I'm happy with how much I've learned. I could've studied more and worked harder at it, and I easily could be closer to fluent if I lived in a country that actually speaks Hochdeutsch rather than crazy Swiss German (no offense to any of my lovely Swiss friends). But for now, I'm proud of the fact that I can get by in stores and restaurants, have conversations with our neighbors and the lady at the local bakery, and, perhaps most importantly, I can tell if some telemarketer-type who calls on the phone is someone I don't want to talk to... in which case I can lie and say: "Ich spreche kein Deutsch".
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