Ich lerne Deutsch

So we've been in Austria a little more than two months now and I'm happy to report a noticeable improvement in my German (or Cheeehrman, as they pronounce it in English). I can understand more than I can say, but my conversational skills are also improving. How have I been learning, you may be asking yourself? Well, let me tell you.

Method #1: Weekly Deutschkurs at the Volkshochschule in Amstetten

Every Wednesday evening, I ride the train 20 minutes to Amstetten where I take a German class for foreigners. It's organized through what could be the equivalent of an Adult/Community Ed course in the US. There are only four of us in the class, and we're quite a diverse group. First we have Raja (I have no idea how to spell her name). I think she's from Serbia but has been living in Austria for several years. She speaks fluently but took the course to improve her grammar. She's about 35 and has a 5 year old son. Then we have Gabul (I have no idea how to spell his name). Gabul is from Hungary. He's probably in his mid-20's. That's about all I know about him. Last but not least we have Nabathu (I really have no idea how to spell his name). Nabathu's in his 20's and from what I can tell, he's from Thailand, but I have no idea why he's in Austria. I think he's living with a family here, but his German is far from stellar. He's a mystery I'll try to solve before the course ends.

To add to the mix, our instructor is from Romania. Her name is Christina. She also speaks English but fortunately she doesn't use it too much with me in class. Her German is a little bit difficult to understand at times because she speaks softly, but my ear has improved greatly over the weeks. Needless to say, we're an interesting group with varying levels of German. The course has been helpful, but I won't jump to sign up for it again.

Method #2: Coffee with Elsa

I've been really lucky to find my own personal tutor (aside from Michael, of course). Elsa and Josef live in Wieselburg, they're in their 50's (ok, Josef just turned 60) and have been so welcoming to us. We've adopted them as our Austrian parents and have lunch with them several times per week. Josef is also a teacher at Michael's school and Elsa is a teacher in Amstetten. She just had major back surgery though so she isn't teaching this year and has plenty of time to teach me German and for me to teach her English. It usually seems like we end up speaking more German than English, but that's ok. It's been really helpful for me to force myself to speak more German. Sometimes we do grammar exercises and other times we just talk. Knowing I will be meeting with her keeps me accountable and motivates me to keep learning German. Hopefully one day I will be able to hold normal conversations auf Deutsch.

Method #3: On my own

This is self explanatory. I use books, the internet, Rosetta Stone, Michael, etc. As mentioned in Method #2, meeting with Elsa and Josef keeps me accountable and is one of the reasons for Method #3.

So that's the story. Hopefully by May I'll be fluent.