It's awful undermining to the intellect, German is; you want to take it in small doses, or first you know your brains all run together, and you feel them flapping around in your head same as so much drawn butter.
- Mark Twain, A Tramp Abroad
- Mark Twain, A Tramp Abroad
I've come to the realization that I may have hit the wall in regards to my German language abilities. I've been going to class five days a week nearly nonstop since mid-July. There simply is no more room left in my brain for anything new at this moment. For the past two weeks, my attention span in class has completely disappeared. Each day this week has been a bit of a struggle to get up early and get ready for class. In one class last week, for no apparent reason, the teacher announced we'd go one hour later. It was like watching the clock run backwards. And I'm paying for this!
I'm tired of coming up with dumb little memory tricks for remembering how to spell certain words or their definitions. At this point, I don't really care why the verb goes in this position or that. I'm putting it wherever I damn well please for the time being. While I'm lightyears ahead of where I thought I'd be with the language, I'm flat out pooped. Needless to say, I am really looking forward to our trip to the States for Thanksgiving. When we return I have the option of jumping back into the class I am currently with, although I'll have missed two weeks. Instead, I might take another two weeks off and join the class that is currently behind us by one month.
Those of you following along who might be taking German lessons (or have tried in vain), here's some reading I'd recommend. One of my previous teachers made mention of this. I didn't bother to look it up until recently. Apparently Mark Twain once spent time in Germany trying to learn the language. He got so fed up with it, he took his anger out by writing this appendix in A Tramp Abroad. If you're in the midst of studying the language, I recommend saving this until you're near your breaking point:
http://www.crossmyt.com/hc/
Hey, at least I know I'm in good company.
It's tough.. but you will find the place where it gets easier (I usually find that red wine helps a lot).. Now my german friends don't even consider struggling with their limited english anymore. Mind you, I still listen to some political debates and think they are speaking chinese!
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