Living in a German world means I spend a lot of time translating text. Sometimes I can do it as I read along, other times I put that text into Google translate to give me a quick hint. And these days a lot of stuff is automatically translated, especially online. Sometimes the translations make sense. Other times… you get results like the ones below.
Continue readingLanguage
Missing the leaving call
Even at a point where I understand German fairly well, and can keep up (for the most part) in conversation, it still manages to catch me out.
This has happened multiple times… I’ll be sitting, for example, with a group of people at a friend’s place, in a conversation that’s been going on a while, predominantly in German. Perhaps my brain is full of German and I’ve started to tune out. Perhaps it’s late and I’m tired…
And suddenly everyone stands up.
And I’m left sitting, looking from right to left. Wondering… what on earth is happening?
Continue readingThe end of a German course
It started as a simple idea to keep me busy during maternity leave (not that I wasn‘t busy enough!), as well as earn a bit of money and improve my German. So… now that my German course is over, how are my German skills?
Continue readingYou know you’re in Austria and not Australia when… you say goodbye in many different ways
I’m not sure if it’s a German-language thing, or just an Austrian thing, but it seems that when you say goodbye to someone here, it’s not as simple and just saying “bye” and heading on your way.
Everyone I hear combines a few different words into a kind of muddled up sentence as they are leaving.
For example they might say: “Tschüss… Baba… Pfiati…” and add a “Ciao” on the end for good measure.
Continue readingUnderstanding a German-speaking toddler
Being home with Sammy for the first two years of his life, I just assumed that he would be more proficient in English than German, at least until he started daycare.
Turns out I was kind of wrong.
I guess it’s because it’s the local language, so although he tends to hear me speaking English most of the day, German is the thing that’s on in the background all the time. He also spends plenty of time with his grandparents, who obviously speak German to him, and I’m also in the habit of speaking German when they’re around so they understand me.
Continue readingGerman Lessons – part 2 – oh screw this!
I’ve already mentioned that as part of my maternity leave I am also studying German. And in the beginning, everything was going well. The course takes me through all levels from A1-C1, and since I’d previously completed up to B1, and lived here for ten years, I figured it would a simple matter of focusing on the two upper levels and breezing through. I would be a pro in a year, I thought stupidly, like all the other times I thought improving my German would be easy.
Continue readingGetting paid to study German? How can that be a thing?
In between raising a child I’ve taken on another challenge: learning German… again.
You see, there is a thing in Austria called Ausbildungskarenz. Which translates to something like training on leave. With the blessing of your company, you can take time off work to do some kind of further education. There are plenty of courses available, the caveat being that it has to be relevant to your line of work. For this you get the time off (can range from months up to a year) to study, as well as a bit of cash for doing it.
Continue readingIntroducing… Claudia Weiss
Learning a foreign language comes with many things… and one of the big things is correct pronunciation. If you haven’t grown up speaking German, it’s almost impossible to master all the nuances.
Continue readingThe art of the reaction
One night when we were out at dinner, as the waitress walked away from us after taking our order, she threw an offhand comment back over her shoulder. Nothing out of the ordinary. But when hubby asked me what she’d said because he hadn’t heard and I told him I had no idea, he was surprised… but you laughed?
Yes… because here’s another skill I’ve gained in living in another language: the ability to know (most of the time) what reaction is expected of me, even if I don’t understand the words. I guess we all do it unconsciously anyway – following the visual cues and tone of voice to know how to set your face and how to react.
Continue readingA new country, new doctors… so how nude should I be?
Going to the doctor in another country can be a challenge. Things are just done differently. In Austria, you have a general practitioner for the ‘standard’ things – your Hausarzt (House Doctor) – but as soon as there is a specialization such as skin doctor, children’s doctor or gynecologist, you have to see someone separately.
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an aussie in austria 