This past week has seemed crazy stressful for Joern as it seems as though his teachers will be throwing every single test and quiz they have at the class in the coming weeks. Lucky for me, I'm the exchange student that doesn't speak German and that no one expects anything from. So I don't really HAVE to do anything but stay awake in class. I guess that it's a great feeling to not have to work my butt off for a couple of months, but I also feel kind of guilty that I can't take most of the class tests because 1) they would be IMPOSSIBLE to understand and 2) even if everything were in English, I still would be completely behind because I haven't been with Joern's class for the past year. Don't get me wrong, I hope to get to a place where I can do better than a 5- (what I got on my most recent Spanish test, equal to a D-), but for now all I can do is try to binge learn as much of the language as possible.
I've tried to convince myself that it's okay to be flailing like a drowning goldfish (goldfish drown when they're exposed to air, right? or would it be suffocating then? anyways) by trying my best to improve my speaking, vocabulary, hearing, grammar and whatnot else by reading and watching TV. I've been reading Greg's Tagebuch (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) and I've actually been understanding most of it, which I'm pretty proud of. It's not like I'm up to Harry Potter level (though I hope to be) quite yet, but I would strongly recommend books like Greg's Tagebuch to anyone trying to learn a language as the pictures can help clear up any words you may not know without having to whip out the dictionary.
As well as chomping on some books, I've also discovered Netflix
I've never had Netflix before (no, I'm not an alien), and now that I started my free trial, I'm not so sure about how easy it will be to let it go on 1 June when it's over. But nonetheless, it's for the good of learning, right?
I'm not quite sure if it's better to watch with subtitles or without, but I like watching with so that I can understand more than just the basic plot and compare what I hear with what I'm reading in real time. I think that I heard from somewhere that Swedish kids can speak fluent English by the time they're six because they grow up reading subtitles. So at that pace, I better move in here, cause it's gonna be another five and a half years. Kidding, but I'm hoping that I'm making the right decision with the whole with or without thing. As always, please leave a comment if you have any advice for me on this. And as always, remember that Kommentar Veroeffentlichen means publish comment.
Trapped under the clouds
Every so often, the sky will give us a break from it's relentless torment of rain and gloom. This week, the day we got to see the sun was Saturday. It's getting pretty tiring that the weather won't let up for more than a day at a time, but hey, at least we get a day every once in awhile. As Joern and I like to say, "Die boese Wettermaenner sollten fuer uns besser wetter schicken." (Those evil weathermen should schedule better weather for us).
The weather aside, I've been holding in there and getting excited about yet another upcoming trip, but this time to Berlin. And no, I'm not getting sick of always travelling, it's more of a dream that I'm getting to actually live out. Even though we went to Berlin two years ago, I'm still super excited about this trip because it looks like we might be doing an escape room or something fun and of the sort. And even though I've already seen all the big stuff, it can 1) never hurt to see it all again and 2) always teach you something new because this time, hopefully you'll be paying better attention.
Today's Monday and when we got to school, we were not only soaked to the bone, but we also came to the realization that all of our classes had been cancelled for the day. Even though was it a once-in-a-lifetime coincidence, we still had to bike all the way back up the hill in the refreshing morning downpour. Hooray. Luckily, the rain had let up and I would say that overall, I had a net loss of wetness by the time I got home. Today, I spent the day sitting inside watching Netflix and pretty much doing nothing, but all in the name of learning, right?
Today is Monday, the Eighth of May in the Year of Our Lord MMXVII
Nat
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