*written on June 9, 2022*
My flight landed in Frankfurt, Germany 11 days ago, on May 29. I was super tired after the overnight flight, but had to find my train to Cologne. Surprisingly, this went very smoothly and I made it to my host’s house without too much trouble. I am living in a residential area of Cologne called Nippes, which is absolutely beautiful. There are many cool old buildings, churches, parks, and roads. I am already really loving it here! My course began the day after I arrived, bright and early at 8:30 in the morning. The Carl Duisberg Institute is about a 25 minute walk from my house. Although I could take the bus or train, I have opted to walk to class everyday to get my steps in and enjoy the beautiful town and scenery. We started with a placement test and from there I was placed into the course I am taking.
My language learning has certainly been picking up since getting here. One of my first exposures to German when I arrived was with my host. She speaks to me only in German, which was very challenging at the beginning. She spoke fast and used vocabulary that I did not understand or recognize. However, I have already noticed that I am beginning to pick up more words and phrases. In addition, I have to speak to my host in German which has proven to be quite difficult at times. If I want to tell her a story about my day, I often find myself struggling to find the correct vocabulary word. This leads to describing things in a roundabout way. Another shock once I got here was the speed at which many of the people here talk. Going to restaurants and supermarkets has been an interesting experience, as the employees tend to talk very fast. I often have to ask them to repeat what they said, however I can already tell I am able to understand speech at a faster rate.
My class has been a major help with this. I have class for around 4 hours a day for 5 days a week. In class, we have discussions about topics such as the internet, sleep, science, and gender roles in society. It is really cool to learn new vocabulary every day. We also focus a lot on grammar, which is for me the most challenging part of language learning. After class we often have optional activities that I have enjoyed going to. These activities have so far included walking to the top of the Cologne Cathedral and playing ping pong and soccer in the park. I am able to use the vocabulary I learn in class to talk with my classmates as well as other students in the institute. There are students from all over the world (in fact, I have yet to meet another American), so German is sort of like our lingua franca. It has been very cool to meet new people and converse with them in German!
I have certainly noticed some differences in the cultural behaviors and word usage in people I meet. In fact, most of these differences I have noticed from my host mother. We have had a few conversations about specific words. For example, my host explained to me the difference between the words “günstig” and “billig”. She said that most people only use the word “billig” these days, which means “cheap”. However, she appreciates the difference between these words. “Günstig” has a more positive connotation, meaning that something is less expensive, yet still good quality. “Billig” means that something is, put plainly, cheaply made. I thought this was a really interesting insight. When I started to learn German nearly six years ago, I never learned the term “günstig” at all. Even if it might be considered outdated, I am very glad that I now know the difference between these terms.
Another term that I hear a lot is “genau”. The translation of this term is “exactly” or “precisely”. However, I have noticed that it is used a lot like “right” and “yeah” in English. I had certainly heard this word before I came here, but I was surprised by how much it was used in daily speech. Lastly, a word I heard a lot is the verb “gucken”, which means “to watch” or “to look”. This is not a word that I ever used much before coming to Germany, however, I hear it a lot here. The pronunciation is funny to me. Usually in German a word is pronounced exactly how it is written. However, this verb seems to usually be pronounced like “koo-ken”. It is actually quite a useful verb and I am glad that I now know it. I will certainly use these words, as I think using them will make me sound more like a native speaker. It is interesting to see how Germans actually converse with each other in comparison with what we learn in class. I am looking forward to learning even more in the weeks ahead!
