|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2010 11:25 am
Nice!
And yes, Österreich is indeed Austria.
I know a liiiittle bit of German (if I hadn't quit, I'd be medium level xD), so I can help you a bit if you need it.
Hint: It's pretty similar to English if you say it out loud. You just need to learn how to pronounce it the correct way.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 3:09 pm
The culture shock is 1000 times worse when you set foot in a non English- speaking country. Seeing street signs and the like in another language is very strange. Still, a surprisingly large number of people in Germany speak English, so even though your grasp of the language will probably be iffy when you get there, you'll come out just fine. smile
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 3:29 pm
Sunaya The culture shock is 1000 times worse when you set foot in a non English- speaking country. Seeing street signs and the like in another language is very strange. Still, a surprisingly large number of people in Germany speak English, so even though your grasp of the language will probably be iffy when you get there, you'll come out just fine. smile Yes I figured it would be a lot worse smile AND I'm staying there for a year instead of a semester which I dont know if that means I will get used to it and it will be better OR I will miss home more because I'll be away longer and it will be worse. I read in a book (not online so its more legit?) that almost all Germans at least understand English and most of them speak it. But I'm going to try really, really, really hard to limit my use of English while I'm there. I will learn a lot faster if I try to use German most of the time.
I am going home for Christmas though for 2ish weeks so its not a full 8 months.
HEY HEY GUYS. I changed my major to German ;D So now I'll be done with school REALLY soon after I get back, so yay! I'll only have 7 more classes to take and hopefully I can take a few in the summer.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 8:10 pm
From my friends' and sister's experience, Europeans don't really like it when you don't even make an effort to speak their language.
Like, a friend of my sister studied in France, and she'd speak in English to them, and after 2 months she learned French 'cuz they said they didn't know English.
Then when she spoke in French to them for the first time, within a week they would talk to her in English.
Same thing happened to a friend in Austria when she went on vacation there.
So, you should try to speak to Germans in German and if you're having too much trouble just speak English. xD
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2010 8:21 pm
Luna Amatista From my friends' and sister's experience, Europeans don't really like it when you don't even make an effort to speak their language.
Like, a friend of my sister studied in France, and she'd speak in English to them, and after 2 months she learned French 'cuz they said they didn't know English.
Then when she spoke in French to them for the first time, within a week they would talk to her in English.
Same thing happened to a friend in Austria when she went on vacation there.
So, you should try to speak to Germans in German and if you're having too much trouble just speak English. xD Yes thats another reason to try to speak German as much as possible xd I absolutely HATE when people in my country dont even try to speak English. Like when I was in Payless for 2 years I had a lot of the same customers the entire time who never once said a single word of English and after the first few months or so of them not even trying I wouldnt even talk to them if I could help it smile I would say "I dont kow." and walk away. I was so rude xd But when customers tried, even if they failed and just said things like "Ahhh ahh I'm sorry I dont know ahhhhh" and pointed at things I was more than happy to work with them and try to figure out what they wanted.
If you go to another country and dont even attempt to learn the language are you a douche. And I dont want the Germans to think I'm a douche xd And that is good motivation!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2010 3:33 am
I agree completely, I try my hardest while I'm on holiday. For example, in cuba I once tried to ask for some hot water to heat a bottle of milk for my infant cousin. Despite my knowledge of spanish, I ended up saying "Is it fine for me to give hot water to a baby?". The woman looked at me, laughed and said, in spanish (which I luckily understood), "I'll get you the water, but maybe you could speak in English when trying to say something like that." It was a sweatdrop moment. razz
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 3:43 pm
WHOA DUDES! I'm leaving for Germany tomorrow! In less than 24hrs my plane will be taking off! That's really really soon! And I've barely even started packing! I need to get on this!
My laptop is broken D: And its going to take another 2 weeks to fix which kind of freaks me out. I dont really want to be in a foreign country for 3ish weeks with no phone and no internet. Thats really cut off. But whatevs, back in the old days thats what people did all the time and they survived and so will I.
I'm REALLY not looking forward to homesickness and stuff. I've been trying to prepare myself for it this summer by letting myself feel freaked out. Normally when I start freaking out about leaving home I distract myself with something else, but this summer I stopped doing that and embraced the feelings. Supposedly thats supposed to make them easier to handle. So hopefully when I get to Germany I will be able to handle it better and homesickness will be less annoying.
I still dont speak German! I probably know more than I think I do though, but still its not a lot. Hopefully my roomates will know some English. I dont know if I'm rooming with Germans or other international students.
I'm going to be near Hamburg. My classes start on Monday, and I have an orientation in my city, Luneburg, Friday and Saturday. I get there at 7:30am Thursday. And then I have a tour of Hamburg the next weekend.
I dont really have anything to say now bc I'm not freaking out at the moment, but I'm also not crazy excited right now. Those feelings keep coming and going. But I'll miss you guys and talk to you in 3 weeks and I'm sure I'll have tons of stuff to update about then!
If you want a postcard from Germany, or any other place I visit while I'm there send me your address and I'll maybe send you one! biggrin <3
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
