This week seemed to really fly by for me. I'm finally starting to feel somewhat adjusted. I was able to spend time with different colleagues, and so I'm starting to build a small "Freundskreis". Unfortunately, I still haven't gotten paid, but I think I should finally get some money sometime next week *fingers crossed*.
People like to say, that a person knows s/he is fluent in a foreign language when s/he dreams in that language, but I have discovered a new personal indicator. The majority of the people here that I would call friends mainly speak to me in English. Although I know I should be practicing my German, and many times I'll tell people to talk to me in German, I find that I prefer speaking English with people I like. The reason for this, is I feel my personality is muted whenever I speak auf deutsch. I can tell my German has already improved in the short amount of time that I've been here, but I still don't feel like I can be myself in German. I generally would call myself a very talkative person, but in German I tend to mainly listen or give very short responses. It's not that I'm incapable of talking, it's just that sometimes I still get nervous about messing up. And when my nerves don't get in the way, I still end up speaking slower and processing slower, so by the time I come up with a good response in a conversation, the topic has already changed. I've also discovered that the idea that drinking improves your language skills is actually just an Old Wive's Tale. I find that I nearly forget all my German by the end of a party.
So, my personal goal is to finally be able to express my essence auf deutsch. Once I can be myself, perhaps I can charm one of these cute Germans :).
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