Things have been going well for me here in Deutschland. The language is coming along with plenty of mistakes and miscomunication, but everyday there is improvement. I started a German course at a local community college and I am dicovering the truth behind Aristotle's beliefe that ''the more you know, the more you know you don't know''. Not only is German grammar patternless and imcomprehensive, but it makes absolutly no sense. With 16 ways to say ''The'' and masculine, feminene, and neutur nouns, German is quite complicated. Not to mention having to wait until an entire sentence is said before knowing what someone is talking about - this is because the verb often comes at the end of the sentence. I saw a quote once that read, '' Life is too short to learn German''. I forget now who the man was who wrote that, but I'm possive that his thoughts we shared by the majority of foreigners and scholars tackling the German tongue. I still find the language lovely, and I am happy that I decided to learn it.
Here is a perfect example. If you continue surfing this guys site you will see what I encountered while on my exchange. He isn't making fun of Germans (unless of course you are a German and you take offece easily), he just points out the quirks in Germany from an American's perpective. He is an American who has lived in Germany for 10 years, so he knows his stuff. My German friend actually told me about him. Maye to really get the humor you have to experience both cultures. However, It's still a good read.
Enjoy!!
http://nothingforungood.com/2008/05/12/dont-learn-german/
He also has an equally humorous blog about quirks in America from an American's perpective.
http://www.andgoodis.com/
p.s. Fun Fact: The German word for ''Placenta'' is ''Mutterkuchen''. ''Mutterkuchen'', directly translated back into English is ''Mother Cake''. :)
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