The Foreign Language Factor

Each Thursday evening, I trek to the Galleria Barnes & Noble cafe to exercise my brain.  Gathered around several tables and a white sign that says, “Stammtisch German Conversation Group,” a group of people of varying ages converse in German about the latest news of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, new movies in theaters, German movies, travel in Europe and elsewhere, activities that each of us would like to share, and some very big subjects regarding immigration, justice, the arts, novels, among other things.  We discuss politics, German, American, Austrian, Swiss and the European Union.   We discuss economics, religion, children and food.  And we tell jokes.  All in German (or as much as possible in German!). 

Each of us has a unique background in learning German, just as we do in English.  When a new person joins us, it’s one of the first questions: how did you learn German?  Some have native German (or Austrian or Swiss) spouses; some have lived for an extended time in one of the German-speaking countries, whether for business purposes or as students, some have studied the language in college and want to refresh it in anticipation of taking a trip to Germany or Austria.  I studied German in college, spent my junior year studying music and German in Vienna, Austria, and I’ve lived in Vienna.  No matter what our background or experience with the language, no matter our fluency, we are each there to use our German, to improve it, to enjoy it. 

We have German-English, English-German dictionaries available, paper and pens.  There are beverages and food served in the cafe.  Sometimes, we have a slide show of places in Germany or other European country on someone’s laptop, the narration in German.  Once a couple showed up carrying a very old oil painting, a portrait of an ancestor.  They had seen that a German language group met there, and they asked us if we could decipher what was written on the back of the painting.  The inscription was in the old 19th century German script, difficult to read, but we had fun putting our heads together to figure out the letters and ultimately what had been written.  I expect that during the World Cup in South Africa, our conversations will also include Fussball.

A writer uses language to write stories.  For me, it’s primarily English.  When I decided to set my first novel in Vienna, I wanted to return to my German, refresh and improve it so that I could use it in the novel at times to illustrate the setting or character.  First, I took a German language class in a local community education program.  The teacher of that class told me about the German Conversation Group.  My first evening with them, I couldn’t say much but I understood most of what they said to me.  That was over three years ago.  Now I catch myself thinking in German at times.  I haven’t yet had a dream at night in German, but I used to when I lived in Vienna. 

Initially, I was concerned that the German might hinder my writing in English, but that hasn’t been the case.  Instead, the weekly German conversation connects me with the language and culture, forces me to learn new vocabulary, refresh my grammar and surprisingly helps my English.  Maybe it’s the contrast between the two languages, or maybe the similarities, or maybe it’s just working with a language and its parts of speech on a regular basis that helps.  Or maybe my command of English is indestructible! (smile)  More likely it’s because I cannot write German very well.

We have fun.  I’ve made friends in the group.  And if any of you out there know German and want to practice it in conversation, and you’re in the Twin Cities area, join us at the Barnes & Noble cafe in the Galleria Mall in Edina on Thursday evenings…..