Outing to ResidenceOur last day was wonderful! As a class we visited the Munich Residence! It is lovely! I would recommend it to anyone living here, especially if you like visiting castles or palaces!  We then visited a cafe and chatted in German of course, over coffee and cake. All my previous classes have done the same type of thing on our last class day! Once we went out for dinner, once we visited a cafe and another time we went to Museum Brandhorst! The last day is always a favorite as we actually comunicate and use our german the whole time!

I cannot believe my fourth German course in Munich is over tomorrow!  I have learned so much in the past four months but still have a long way to go, however when I listen to the television or radio I know I have picked up a lot!  The fourth course did definitely bring a lot of new information to the table but I feel like as of now, we have covered most everything that is super important and from this point we will mostly practice speaking and really have a good chance to focus on tenses and using grammar correctly. This past week we have focused on writing one sentence many different ways, merely so that all of our sentences are not the same and to help us expand our vocabulary. I wish any of you starting out luck!

Pluskurs:I am taking the Friday, Pluskurs this month and I really enjoy it.  There are only 2 other people in my class and though one is in the course higher than myself, it still works out really well.  Our teacher, Emilly, is very nice and because she has a slightly different teaching approach than my current teacher, Hans, she can sometimes explain questions I have, in a manner which is easier for me to understand!  Having a second person’s perspectives is really helpful.  With the help of Hans and Emilly, I hope to soon be fluent…haha!  But seriously, I do recommend this course to those of you who are struggling or for those of you who need practice speaking, as much of our time in the Pluskurs is spent talking!  Having the opportunity to speak with others is great because even though I am living with a German, we most often speak in English when at home.

After a nice weekend, I am back at class!  But first, I spent time walking through Munich getting excited for all the Christmas Markets which open next weekend!  Many of the Christmas stalls are up and the big tree has been placed in the Marienplatz!  I can’t believe Christmas is already here!  I also spent time with Martin and his Mother and was able to put my German in use!  I am so excited for the day that I can carry on a whole conversation in complete Deutsch!!!As for German homework, we have had mostly reading assignments this course.  I think we are to the point that, reading is the best way to learn, however the problem is that some of the text our book chooses is so weird.   We read about the problem of televisions in a household last night!  This is fine, but one problem is that we are running into a lot of phrases which don’t mean what they literally translate too.   This is frustrating and I also feel like much of the vocabulary is way over my head, but at the same time, if it was too easy, you wouldn’t learn!  So onward I must go!

This week we have been learning lots.  We began with wo + prepositions.  This is tricky but with time I sure hope this gets easier.  We have also been introduced to GENATIV and the Nominativ Deklination!  Ahhh!  It all seems so simple yet I am so confused!!!Seriously, for me trying to learn Deutsch is one of the hardest things I have ever done!  It is kicking my butt, and sometimes I finish a class and think I am doomed but I tell you, YOU CAN DO IT!  Just stick with it!  I have talked with other classmates and they often feel the same way, which surprises me because when I am in the moment, I always feel that they understand so much more than me!  In reality, we all have our strong points.  This is an intensive course so we are all going to be overwhelmed, at some moments more than others, but you are not alone.  And though it sucks that we are all confused, it’s kind of nice knowing that others are too!  :)  A great suggestion is to try and form a study group with a few other people in your class!  You can quiz each other or even just review what you discussed in class.  Sometimes another perspective makes all the difference in the world.

My professor, Hans, is wonderful! This is my third course with him and he is tip top!  He has much teaching experience and really wants everyone to understand and learn Deutsch. He will do whatever he can to expain a concept and if it is a noun he will whip out his marker and draw a picture on the board. He is quite the artist!  He makes it fun and is incredibly funny when he does his Bavarian accent impression.  We often do group work or work as a class out of the workbook.  He keeps us speaking a lot and frequently at the beginning of class he asks us to tell what we did at the weekend or the night before.  We are encouraged to ask questions and it is actually the most helpful when you do.  He is not scary and though I know it can be embarrasing to ask questions, the classes are small enough that after a day or two everybody knows everybody, so there is no need to be embarrased.    Most of the time I find it quite nice when someone asks something, because it gives me a chance to look back in my notes and combine those with the new information that is being said.  Sometimes it really helps to clarify a topic, I thought I understood but maybe didn’t fully.  I find that sometimes people ask questions that I had been thinking in my head but was too afraid to ask.  All around, the courses I have taken at Deutsch Akademie have been great, especially with Hans!

Many of us learning at DeutschAkademie, are planning to stay in Munich for a while.  I always think it is important for one to learn about the place they are living in.  Try some of the various museums! There are so many to choose from and try taking one of the free Munich City Walking Tours. They are super informative! Also, check out some of the various sites such as castles and palaces! If possible, also try to visit other nearby cities. For the first few months I was living in Deutschland I tried to see as much as I could…I visited Hamburg, Berlin, Dresden, Leipzig and Nurnberg. Each were equally charming but my vote still goes to Munich! It is located so close to the Alps yet, is a lively exciting city! There are many delicious restraunts and bars!  Plus, there are always concerts or festivals going on in or around the city! Munich offers something for everyone!

At the weekend I took the train to Garmisch Partenkirchen!  It is a beautiful little city, well actually two which were combined in 1935, and I completely recommend anyone visiting them!  While there, my friends and I visited the Partnachklamm which is so cool!  If you aren’t sure what that is, it is a natural gorge which is just stunning!  It was a chilly but very clear day which made the hour and a half train ride go by very quickly!  It is one of my favorite train rides because it is just so pretty.  Once in Garmisch Partenkirchen, there is loads to do, including a visit to Eibsee, the Partnachklamm, or just a casual stroll through the two towns!  Plus, there are many great local bakeries and restaurants there.  And as it is in the Alps, the mountains are already snow capped and picture perfect!  The typical Bavarian architechture and all the paintings on the buildings are gorgeous.  It really is a very quaint place!  If you go in the dead of winter, the Partnachklamm freezes over and is a spectacular site to see.  It is located near the ski jump which is very neat too.  Check out some pictures on Google!  And as for Eibsee, it is one of the prettiest places in the world!  In winter it glistens with snow and in summer it shines a radiant blue!     

Though we are still learning new things everyday, things this course have really slowed down. That is not to say that we still don’t learn tons of new vocabulary and other minor minor concepts, but I feel that most of the major topics have at least been covered even if I still have a long way to go before I can properly use them. I have along way to go before I master Akkusativ, Dativ and Genitiv, but I can already see that it is getting better with time.Today’s class was really fun.  In small groups, we wrote stories about a series of photos in our book and then read them aloud.  It was a wonderful exercise in many ways.  We had to use vocabulary combined with our writing skills and then had to listen while the other groups were sharing their stories of the same situation.   It was creative and very enjoyable!

We have continued working on Genitiv the last few days.  We also began learning the prepositions which are always Genitiv.  They are: wegen, trotz, innerhalb, ausserhalb, and waehrend.  When one sees any of these words they then know that Genitiv must be used.  It goes the same for Akkusativ and Dativ as we learned in the previous course.  There can also sometimes be certain verbs which always signal that Akkusativ, Dativ or Genitiv will be used.  We have yet to learn any for Genitiv, but as with much of what we learn, I am sure in time we will discover the same is true with Genitiv.