I am coming to the end of my Language Course in Stuttgart, Germany. This time next week I will be (probably sleeping) in a Frankfurt (Main) hotel/hostel like a regular tourist. I have really, really enjoyed my time here in Stuttgart and may even look at the possibility of going on a proper exchange in Germany for a semester although I'm not sure how plausible that would be regarding my degree.
I have really enjoyed it here, somehow I feel both like a complete stranger in this city and but also very much a part of it too. A stranger because although I understand some of the language when I'm out and about and talking to native speakers (a lot more I hope than your average English speaking tourist) I still don't understand quite enough to think that I am truly properly able to function using only German. Looking at signs and advertisements and instructions I understand enough to get by not to a enough to consider myself proficient. At the same time I feel a part of the city because I know how to use the U-bahn and the S-Bahn and are more than just touristy familiar with stations and places. I am living in an apartment building filled with Germans, with a host family that only speak German at the dinner table and only speak German to me (although I may be guilty of speaking a little English to them *sometimes*). I go to school every day at a German university and I have teachers that only speak to me in German.
If I spent a whole semester here I could see myself reaching fluency in the language and perhaps feeling more a part of this place and language. I would be lying it if I said I wasn't looking forward to landing in London Heathrow airport where I will once again by fluent in the native language of the country. I now have a whole new level of respect for people who have to learn any language as a second language especially as adults.
I would really like to write another part to the entry but then I feel it would be too long and I'll probably just end up going on a tangent so I think I'll just make this part one.
1 comment:
I'm sorry for not commenting til now! I only just saw your blog posts - they haven't been showing up in my dashboard.
Sounds like you've been having a great time in Germany. I would definitely recommend a longer stay on exchange if you can manage it, I'm really glad I'm only 1/4 the way through so far. You get more time to settle in, really get to know the place, and cement friendships. And of course, in your case, there's the whole becoming fluent in German thing.
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