I thought that learning German would be difficult. And it is. But not in the way I expected. You really need to surround yourself with the language in order to learn it. You'd think that wouldn't be a problem -- living in Austria and all -- but it would be quite easy to go through the entire day without listening to a bit of German outside of class.
Don't get me wrong. I hear a lot of German. The announcement on the u-bahn with all the connections at the upcoming stop. The warning that the doors are about to close. Kids playing at the playground we walk past every day. People everywhere on cell phones. But all of that is just white noise. It plays in the background and is easy to ignore.
So Brian and I are trying to be more intentional about listening to the German language. Brian found a nice radio station that has a lot of talk. We generally turn it on while we're working on our German homework or surfing the internet. And I got a library card and have started checking out children's books. I try to read aloud when Brian is out of the house.
And I've just discovered another fun way to listen to German -- watch Scrubs in German. The Haskews recently bought one of the seasons that Brian and I own in English. So I'm quite familiar with all of the episodes. The Haskews loaned me their DVDs and I've really enjoyed watching the show in German.
And it seems to be helping. Brian says that listening to the radio has helped him understand more in class. And I've felt a little more confident speaking to the cashier at the supermarket.
Plus, it's kind of fun learning some of my favorite lines from Scrubs in German.
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