I relate to your article on so many different levels, John! Your cultural experiences in Bavaria are amazing and make me somewhat envious because my experiences in Germany weren't nearly as colorful.
I grew up on a ranch in Montana, where I used to spend hours reading National Geographics and encyclopedias about other countries while imagining that I was living there. In middle school, I signed up for German--the only language offered in my small community of Three Forks. The last two years of high school, my twin sister and I drove 30 miles to a much larger school in Bozeman, mainly so she could have an excellent art teacher and I could have better language teachers. In Bozeman, I added French.
In university, I continued with German and French and studied French at McGill University in Montreal over the summer. In my junior year of college, I spent a year at Christian-Albrecht's University in Kiel, Germany. Soon after arriving in Kiel, I met a fellow Spanish student who had grown up in Germany (his parents were Gastarbeiter) but did not speak English. We were together for the entire year I was there, which did wonders for my German!
Back in the States, I decided to major in Linguistics in grad school because the more languages you know, the better. I also took accelerated Spanish courses and taught English as a second language in Mexico City during my two years of grad school. Then I joined Peace Corps and went to Kabul, Afghanistan, where I happily studied Dari (the Afghan dialect of Farsi). (You can read about my experiences in Kabul here: https://claricedankers.substack.com/t/afghanistan.)
I moved back to the US with my Dutch husband, whom I had met and married in Kabul, and then the language learning and speaking ended. For the next 40 years. It didn't begin again until I moved to Vienna at the age of 63.
Unfortunately, after all of that effort, I only have a smattering of French and Spanish left in my brain and about four phrases of Dari. I use German in Vienna, but never learned Austrian dialect, so it can be a bit challenging to communicate with my Austrian husband's family and friends. And I should learn Irish now that I am living in a Gaeltacht region of Ireland, but it isn't as easy as it used to be!
In any case, I totally agree with you that learning a language is a multi-faceted experience and that it cannot be learned in three weeks no matter what anyone says. On the other hand, it is a life-changing undertaking that I highly recommend--especially to anyone who is thinking about living abroad.
Your own story of language engagement is fascinating and quite rich, even exotic in places ! I look forward to reading about your Kabul experiences!
As for learning Irish, I'm not sure whether the effort would be repaid. I enrolled in an Irish class in Dublin as I had to always deliver my coupla focal whenever I spoke in public. The beginning Irish class was, however, populated by women who had had 12 years of school Irish and were taking the class to "brush up" and help their own kids with their Irish studies; I was left in the dust on day one. I have many other Irish language stories ... It was also the language of my great-grandparents, who lived in a rural townland in Donegal.
Not only do you make some very important points about the social, cultural and PHYSIOLOGICAL aspects of language learning (why is my mouth so tired after speaking French?), I felt like I got a glimpse into your language learning journey.
Really enjoyed reading this. I struggled with German too and it is one of my worst languages. Learning French from a Norwegian sounds like an interesting experiment.
Thanks Liza. I was very young when exposed to French, my grandmother was an Acadian French speaker. But German comes easier to me than French, in spite of all the time I’ve spent here (in France). Good thing to enjoy being a perpetual language learner.
Loved reading this! I agree that learning a language is such a complex journey that can’t possibly be “microwaved” in 3 weeks. And there really is nothing like bureaucratic documents and appointments for learning new words not found in language classes 😅
I relate to your article on so many different levels, John! Your cultural experiences in Bavaria are amazing and make me somewhat envious because my experiences in Germany weren't nearly as colorful.
I grew up on a ranch in Montana, where I used to spend hours reading National Geographics and encyclopedias about other countries while imagining that I was living there. In middle school, I signed up for German--the only language offered in my small community of Three Forks. The last two years of high school, my twin sister and I drove 30 miles to a much larger school in Bozeman, mainly so she could have an excellent art teacher and I could have better language teachers. In Bozeman, I added French.
In university, I continued with German and French and studied French at McGill University in Montreal over the summer. In my junior year of college, I spent a year at Christian-Albrecht's University in Kiel, Germany. Soon after arriving in Kiel, I met a fellow Spanish student who had grown up in Germany (his parents were Gastarbeiter) but did not speak English. We were together for the entire year I was there, which did wonders for my German!
Back in the States, I decided to major in Linguistics in grad school because the more languages you know, the better. I also took accelerated Spanish courses and taught English as a second language in Mexico City during my two years of grad school. Then I joined Peace Corps and went to Kabul, Afghanistan, where I happily studied Dari (the Afghan dialect of Farsi). (You can read about my experiences in Kabul here: https://claricedankers.substack.com/t/afghanistan.)
I moved back to the US with my Dutch husband, whom I had met and married in Kabul, and then the language learning and speaking ended. For the next 40 years. It didn't begin again until I moved to Vienna at the age of 63.
Unfortunately, after all of that effort, I only have a smattering of French and Spanish left in my brain and about four phrases of Dari. I use German in Vienna, but never learned Austrian dialect, so it can be a bit challenging to communicate with my Austrian husband's family and friends. And I should learn Irish now that I am living in a Gaeltacht region of Ireland, but it isn't as easy as it used to be!
In any case, I totally agree with you that learning a language is a multi-faceted experience and that it cannot be learned in three weeks no matter what anyone says. On the other hand, it is a life-changing undertaking that I highly recommend--especially to anyone who is thinking about living abroad.
Your own story of language engagement is fascinating and quite rich, even exotic in places ! I look forward to reading about your Kabul experiences!
As for learning Irish, I'm not sure whether the effort would be repaid. I enrolled in an Irish class in Dublin as I had to always deliver my coupla focal whenever I spoke in public. The beginning Irish class was, however, populated by women who had had 12 years of school Irish and were taking the class to "brush up" and help their own kids with their Irish studies; I was left in the dust on day one. I have many other Irish language stories ... It was also the language of my great-grandparents, who lived in a rural townland in Donegal.
Hi John! This was an absolutely amazing read.
Not only do you make some very important points about the social, cultural and PHYSIOLOGICAL aspects of language learning (why is my mouth so tired after speaking French?), I felt like I got a glimpse into your language learning journey.
Thanks so much for sharing.
Thanks for your kind comments, Christina. Language learning is an ongoing challenge!
Really enjoyed reading this. I struggled with German too and it is one of my worst languages. Learning French from a Norwegian sounds like an interesting experiment.
Thanks Liza. I was very young when exposed to French, my grandmother was an Acadian French speaker. But German comes easier to me than French, in spite of all the time I’ve spent here (in France). Good thing to enjoy being a perpetual language learner.
I’ve recently seen those ads too and as a longtime French learner who now lives in France, I’d like to add a « hogwash » to your « snake oil » 😂
There’s just no way to fluency but through alllll the efforts — and it’s so worth it! Love this piece, thanks!
La poudre de perlimpinpin !
Sans aucun doute 😂
Loved reading this! I agree that learning a language is such a complex journey that can’t possibly be “microwaved” in 3 weeks. And there really is nothing like bureaucratic documents and appointments for learning new words not found in language classes 😅
Thanks ! I appreciate your reading it, my first effort here, and I’m delighted you enjoyed it !