I speak German!

– Guten Morgen!

– Wie heißn Sie? Woher komme sie?

– Ich heiß Adam. Ich komme aus den USA.

– Wie ist Ihr Name?

– Mein Name ist Lederer.

– Entschuldigung, wie ist Ihr Name?

– Lederer, Herr Lederer.

German class is going well, as you might be able to tell from the above. Three days in and I can already speak a basic conversation-in a bar this set of speaking abilities will last me, oh- 15 seconds-but that’s better than where I was a week ago!

One of the things we learned on the first day of class is the alphabet. In case you were wondering, it is: “A B C D E F G H I J K wunderbar L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z das ist nett.” Obviously it’s not pronounced that way-I have little phonetic notes attached to my handwritten alphabet which would probably drive a professional linguist nuts, but it works for me. Right now the only letter I am not really sure how to pronounce is V. I keep messing it up. I’ve caught myself saying the alphabet the way a little kid would… but I have to be quiet when I do it on the train, lest my neighbors think I am nuts.

(A funny note, there is a song that goes with the above alphabet, incorporating the wunderbar and das ist nett, but that no body at the office is willing to claim to know. I think a conspiracy is afoot!)

There are a few students in the class. I would tell you the number-we seem to have had 9 on the first day, then 6 yesterday, and we might have gained two more today, giving us a total of 8. I expect further drop-outs before I am willing to give a final number.

The lessons so far, I think, are trying to get us comfortable by letting us talk about where we are from, so it is, in fact an impromptu geography lesson. I know where everybody in the class is from: Algeria, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and the USA. I would be the sole member of the class from the USA. Our instructor is from the Ukraine. The textbook, on the other hand uses some of the more obscure locations in the world: Bratislava to name one. How many people even know where that is? Had I not visited it, I wouldn’t have had a clue. Or Pusan? (I only know that one because I know a professor from there.) What about Bursa? Even Porto Alegre can throw one off. I think Tallinn is actually in Estonia, which, in German is Estland, which sounds suspiciously like Iceland.

On a happy note, the lessons appear, I think, to continue next week, even though the calendar says it is the time of our fall vacation. I wish I’d known–I am supposed to go to Prague next Thursday. Hmmmmmm….