For those of you who might not be aware, I took 4 years of German back in High School. I was also planning on minoring in German in college, but was unable to fit in the required classes along with my engineering courses. Although the German spoken in Switzerland is very different than high German, it has been a goal of mine to brush off those German skills with the hope of being fluent by the time we get back to the US. During early summer, I learned of a set of German courses offered by the City of Zürich that are specifically for women. The classes are accompanied with a spot for your child in the Kinderkrippe (day care). Because I had taken German in the past, I had to be assessed for my current level. Needless to say, I was nervous. However, my assessor thought I was probably at a decent level and put me in the 2nd of 3 courses. Unfortunately, that was back in September. We waited for about 2 months for them to have a spot open up in the Kinderkrippe.
I started in mid-November. My classes are twice a week for 2.5 hours. I drop Brady off at the Kinderkrippe that is specially manned for the "Deutsch für Frauen" attendees and then walk to the class a few minutes away. So far, so good. My grammar is still pretty much intact (or is quickly coming back to me) from high school. I can still write pretty well, but my vocabulary and speaking ability are sorely lacking. But I'm having fun with the classes and getting back into the swing of things. At least it's making me feel more confident about speaking German when I go shopping, etc.
The only downside has been that Brady is suffering from a major bout of separation anxiety. However, his crying is starting to subside a bit, and I've been told that he plays happily oncer I'm out of site. I think he's been "acting" just a bit! :)
It's interesting taking a class that isn't for credit. The homework is optional, the tests are optional. It's weird. But, I'm still a nerd at heart...I do it all. I figure if I want to be fluent...it's going to take some work. Even with homework being optional, I did have to give a 10-minute presentation during class last week. That was a bit nerve-wracking, but I survived. It's also been interesting to hear German spoke by non-German or non-English native speakers. When I learned German in high school, all my peers were native English speakers. My classmates are now Japanese, Portuguese, Brazilian, Sri Lankian, and Tunisian. And I don't think in thepast, that I ever had a class completely conducted in German. That's all that's spoken in my class...and even my book (where grammar is explained) is all in German. It definitely has made for some interesting times! My goal for the new year is to get involved with some German speaking groups outside of class to help my speaking skills.
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