This fall I'm planning something a bit different. At my current level of antiquity tuition is free both at Tech College and at the University. With some restrictions of course. Consider it Bucky Badger's thank you for 33 years of paying taxes.
I've decided to go back to Uni this fall.
I'm keeping my ambitions manageable, the goal after all is not to get another degree, or to do this full time. Just to learn a few useful things.
So I'm going to take German classes.
Now I did take a year of German in high school, and either a semester or a year - can't recall which - in college. This plus some measure of aptitude from having Germanic, kraut infused DNA has given me what I consider "travel proficiency". By which I mean being able to ask basic questions, acquire food and drink, know in a general sense what is going on around me.
But I'd like to up the game a bit.
It would be nice to attain conversational level. I anticipate a few challenges of course. My hearing is not as great as it once was. Perhaps a side effect of that machining hobby. And most Germans have English skills that they are always willing to deploy when I struggle.
But still, one can always improve. I had to take a test evaluating my current level of proficiency. It was interesting....they confiscate your phone before parking you in a little testing alcove. Much of it was reading dense paragraphs and answering questions on them. One was about whales beaching themselves in the North Sea. Another was about a novel that eerily predicted a lot of details of the subsequent Titanic disaster. Nautical jargon is oddly comprehensible to me....
(Disturbing update. I scored well enough to warrant placement in German 201. Not sure I want to go that route. Should have thrown the test I suppose....)
On a side note, I think college has changed a lot since I was last a student in the 1970s. I may need a new posting category for this.....
3 comments:
I'll bet you can do it faster with language software. But it sounds like tuition is free and software costs money ...
You can always practice with Duolingo and it is free.
Gents
You are both correct. But it is more interesting to study a language "live" and it gets me out of the house. You will also find - 'specially lookin' at you Borepatch with that cannon on your shoulder - that one's hearing gets a bit less sharp later in life. That 5% you miss can be the difference between fluency and fumbling. Visual cues help a lot.
That having been said I have used language software in the past. Rocket Italian was fairly good.
Longer range if there might be further Belgian archaeology ahead a better foundation of German will make Dutch easier. Near identical structure, just smoosh all the sharp edges off the words and babble on....
TW
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