Learning German.

A different way to learn German

My husband Bob did not speak a lot of German, when we moved here last year. Well he did now and again throw in the odd word, but on the whole he was a beginner. Somehow it was my mistake, as I could have spoken to him in German all along. It is a funny thing, speaking to a loved one and what language we use.

For example, my mum is fluent in both German and English, yet for me to speak English with her is so strange to me, that I can't do it. How we started off to converse with someone, determines the way we continue, at least for me. ( I would love to get some feedback, if the same applies to you. )

In Germany and Austria, there are a lot of different dialects of the same language. Some dialects are difficult to decipher and in the country side they are more broad. Music to the ears, but extremely hard to learn. My feeling was that Bob should learn a neutral German, so that he can in a way be understood by all and vice verca.

One of the best means is to watch a lot of TV. My personal favorite is the crime series Tatort, which we can see almost daily. By now Bob also likes it, and Sunday night he actually
'shhooshed ' me, when I asked him something during the movie, as he was so into the story ! There are also a lot of breakfast TV shows and cunningly I chose the one with a lot of pretty looking women, and thus have hooked Bob on watching it daily. Yet another source of learning. In fact he often tells me what Karen ( his favourite presenter on Sat 1 Breakfast TV ) was saying, doing and wearing...

Bob is a very reserved guy and in meeting people, silence is always golden to him, which sometimes gets interpreted into ' he doesn't speak the language '.
Yet like most of us who are shy, let him get comfortable or have a beer or two, and Bob will start conversing in such good grammatically correct German, that he leaves them speechless !

I know it has been extremely hard for Bob to go to a new country and learn its language, but I am so proud of how far he has come, and with such aplomb.
What a guy...My Guy !

Biggi

Look at how animated he his...