Nicole M Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 My son is taking a German class at the community college. He's the youngest there, by far. ("It's all old people, Mom.") Well, apparently yesterday, the class was asked why they were taking the class. One of the "old people" said that he had lived in Germany for 20 years, and while he could get by, he didn't really know the hows and whys or feel really comfortable in casual conversation. And, "after all, when you're sitting in a pub with all your friends and they're talking in German, you need to know the language in case they start talking about you." Good thinkin', man! I wonder if this means he's planning to return? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle in MO Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 Is the teacher a native speaker? (Not that if he/she is not a native speaker that that person would be a bad teacher!) When I was in school, German was taught at both our junior high school and senior high school. The two languages taught were German and Spanish. Now, the high school in our area has phased-out its part-time French program and it's teaching only Spanish. Not that Spanish is a bad language, mind you, but I really hate to see these other languages phased out. I wish all high schools taught the "big three": French, German, and Spanish, in addition to Latin! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Bay Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 My son is taking a German class at the community college. He's the youngest there, by far. ("It's all old people, Mom.") Well, apparently yesterday, the class was asked why they were taking the class. One of the "old people" said that he had lived in Germany for 20 years, and while he could get by, he didn't really know the hows and whys or feel really comfortable in casual conversation. And, "after all, when you're sitting in a pub with all your friends and they're talking in German, you need to know the language in case they start talking about you." Good thinkin', man! I wonder if this means he's planning to return? Of course, if you learn High German (the "lingua franca" in Germany, and you're ina bar and everyone starts talking the local dialect, you still might be lost;). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted October 14, 2008 Share Posted October 14, 2008 ...is that then they ANSWER you in German. German which is spoken much faster than you can probably translate it into English. CONVERSATIONAL German. OTOH, most Germans speak pretty good English. I'm just sayin'... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicole M Posted October 15, 2008 Author Share Posted October 15, 2008 Good points, Carol & Karin. My thinking, too, is that if you're at a pub, it would be hard to understand what the heck they were saying, no matter which language they were speaking, depending on how much you've had to drink. Then, too, if they, the native speakers, were drunk enough, they wouldn't remember the conversation anyway. And, in my limited pub experience, it's generally so loud, you end up just smiling and nodding a lot. So really, while it's admirable that the fellow wants to learn, I'm just not buying the pub thing, you know? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicole M Posted October 15, 2008 Author Share Posted October 15, 2008 Is the teacher a native speaker? (Not that if he/she is not a native speaker that that person would be a bad teacher!) When I was in school, German was taught at both our junior high school and senior high school. The two languages taught were German and Spanish. Now, the high school in our area has phased-out its part-time French program and it's teaching only Spanish. Not that Spanish is a bad language, mind you, but I really hate to see these other languages phased out. I wish all high schools taught the "big three": French, German, and Spanish, in addition to Latin! Yes, she is a native speaker. She's a really wonderful woman. She majored in French and was a French teacher in Germany, before she married her American husband. So she actually teaches both French and German at our CC. I have a vague recollection that her mother is a native French speaker, but I could be wrong about that. Languages are getting phased out of our schools, too, along with art and music. Very sad. The major bummer about the class is the text book, which was $130, as I mentioned in another thread. No audio guide, either, which, for us serious audio learners in this house, is a sad thing. Even the teacher said the book was "just okay." Hopefully the next edition will not be released before we can sell! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathmom Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 What book is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicole M Posted October 15, 2008 Author Share Posted October 15, 2008 What book is it? Kontakte: A Communicative Approach. I think it was the 8th edition. We could have gotten it cheaper on line, but he was on the waitlist, so we didn't want to order it before we knew for sure he was in the class. (I have no idea why the font went all wacky there. I can't get it to be the same as down here. Go figure.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathmom Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 Oh, it really bugs me when fonts go wacky!!!! I haven't seen Kontakte. I have seen some of them because I have taught German. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newlifemom Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 Boy that title sounds familiar. I took German in college a long time ago. So I can't remember exactly, but I think it was the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Katia Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 When I was in school, German was taught at both our junior high school and senior high school. The two languages taught were German and Spanish. Now, the high school in our area has phased-out its part-time French program and it's teaching only Spanish. Not that Spanish is a bad language, mind you, but I really hate to see these other languages phased out. I wish all high schools taught the "big three": French, German, and Spanish, in addition to Latin! I see this here as well. When we moved here 9 years ago, the high school offered French and Spanish for 2 years and German for 4 years. Now they only offer Spanish. Both French and German have been dropped. At the local community college we have the same thing: only Spanish is offered. This is nice if you wish to learn Spanish, but I have a dd that is totally into French and two dc that are totally into Japanese. It is very frustrating when nothing but Spanish is offered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riverfront Headmistress Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 My Finnish exchange student is taking AP German while here in the states. Back in Finland, she has had German classes for 9 years. She often comes home and jokes about the American accent while speaking German and that the American students don't pronounce correctly, nor do they have a wide German vocabulary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakblossoms Posted October 15, 2008 Share Posted October 15, 2008 I used that book in my classes and there was some audio online. The LEO dictionary helps with some individual words, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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