I'm very pleased that I finished reading Krabat by Otfried Preußler this summer. Taking it slowly, one part per month, helped me get through and feel that I'd made a real step in German fluency. Here follows my summary of the third part in German and English, and some final thoughts in English. Nach Michals … Continue reading Krabat: The Third Year
My Summer in Other Languages project for 2022 is now over. I didn't do much, basically just reading one book in French ... but every little bit helps. I'd really like to get back to working on German now. I've actually been quite surprised and pleased that my conversational skills seem to have improved quite … Continue reading A poem in translation: The Rockface by Conrad Ferdinand Meyer
I'm a bit late in asking this, but wanted to check whether anybody else succeeded in reading one or more books in another language (or in translation) over the summer. If so, what was your experience? I had ambitious plans, but in actuality I only completed two books, one in French and one in German. … Continue reading Summer in Other Languages: How did you do?
If you've ever tried to learn German, you know that it has some peculiar features. Some of these don't bother me that much, like piled-up consonant clusters, umlauts, and irregular verbs, but others make me want to tear my hairs out. Here are five of the things that I could definitely do without, auf Deutsch. … Continue reading Five things that bug me about German
Is it possible to learn two languages at once? I don't know what the research says, but it would seem to me that probably one at a time would be more effective. However, living as I do between the French and German parts of Switzerland, I don't have much choice. I have to speak French … Continue reading Doublespeak
