Language Bloopers....

Claudia helped me with the meanings
of words while Ronja doodled all
over my notes.

While my language is coming along great, there can't be success without mistakes.  Blooper Time!

About 5 minutes before Bio class, I walked up to a group of guys I recently befriended, and said 'Hey Freundinnen!', which in Englsich, translates to 'Hey Freinds'.  Everyone from my class in the hall started laughing.  Knowing that I probably made another language mistake, I asked for clarification. It turns out that I called them the female form of 'friends'.  I keep forgetting the different forms since they all sound the same.

For those of you who don't speak Detusch, it goes like this:

Male Friend: Freund
Female Friend: Freundin
Male Friends Plural: Freunde
Female Friends Plural: Freundinnen
Mixed Gender Group: Freunde 

This kind of stuff happens to me quite a lot!

Onto the next one:

*Sitting in Geshickte*
Me: Ich liebe dich
friend1: hahahahahaha
*she looks over and starts laughing*
Me: Was?!?!
friend1: Du sagt "Ich liebe dich"
Me: ... Ja.
friend: Nein... du sagt "Ich liebe dich" like to your boyfriend.
Me: Hahahahah
friend: Es ist "ich dich hab liebe" like to a friend.
Me: ahhhhh
friend2: Sarah, ich dich hab liebe auch :)


There are multiple ways to say I love you.

One more:

Claudia: awww..... du bist krank?
Me: Ja, mein Kopf ist tot
Claudia: Dein Kopf ist TOT?
Me: Ahhh.... Ja, ein bischen
Claudia: OH, ein Kopfschmerzen!
Me: Ja!

Basically, she asked if I was sick, and I told her 'my head is dead'


Sorry Guys, these conversations happened in German, and I am not going to try and translate them because much humor is lost when I translate directly.

When I try to translate things, my friends think it is 'cute' how the words sound all funny.  Especially when I mix of past and present tense.  Apparently I asked the other day 'I wanted to know what is in the cafeteria today?' instead of 'what is in the cafeteria today?'.  As usual, everyone started laughing.  Instead of it being the 'Sarah your sooo stupid' kind of laughing, it is the kind of 'That was funny, now here is how you say it correctly' kind of laughing.  I don't think I will ever experience real German Gymnasium, because my school and class are so different from the norm.

Alas... even though learning through trial and error is one of the best ways to learn, it still doesn't tell me everything.  That is why I have to attend a University class for my German.  The homework is pretty challenging, so I usually get help with it from Max, Jan, or Simon during Politik class, or one of my free periods.  Everyone is so patient, even when I make the stupidest language mistakes.

I think I have finally reached a conversational level!  I can usually tell people in German what is on my mind.  Although I am nowhere near fluent, I don't make as many mistakes anymore!  And even when I do make mistakes, the meaning of what I said is usually quite clear. 


The Language is COMING!  I have many more mistakes to make, but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!


Until next time


Tschüss!