Tag: course


Deutschkurs

The month of May is going to be really busy. German class has started again, but this time it’s intensive. The worst part is getting up early. Every night I have Spätzli to tend to, and by the time I get to bed, it’s nearly 1am. It’s a real struggle to not have dark puffy eyes every morning. Why couldn’t they have afternoon intensive classes as well? I would pounce on those in a heartbeat.

Raccoon busy studying. I need a name for this guy. :)

I ended up taking a Perlsacktier friend to class with me one day. His name is Herzig, the Swiss word for “cute” and “hearty”! He is a raccoon with purple stripes.

Affoltern

The entire week since class started, Michael was away at a conference in Paris. I was so lonely, and I must say that I hardly looked after myself when it came to meals. I was so relieved when he returned. We had a fun time out on Saturday. The above photo was taken at our bus stop in Affoltern. The tree is so beautiful with its pink flowers. So many other trees had red leaves; they reminded me of autumn.

Hubert has found a new friend!

I took another Perlsacktier out with us, this one called Hubert, the spotted goat. We found a new large white Furby plush at Manor. It’s surprising how much cheaper some toys are at Manor (department store) compared to Franz Carl Weber (specialist toy store). I couldn’t resist.

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Finally, we had a short break sitting on a bench and watching people go by. Later that day, we watched Iron Man at Kitag (cinema). Yes, we love action movies. They are worth the money spent, if only for their loud sounds and visual effects.

Now to study for Monday’s German test. Argh!

I’ve finally allowed myself to accept the Swiss-style of ‘high’ German. It means no “ß” in the alphabet, and the inclusion of certain words like “Velo” for bicycle, “Grüezi” for greetings. My school of choice is the Migros Klubschule in my old area of Oerlikon. It’s just a short bus ride away from Affoltern. I won’t lie, I picked this school because we cannot afford the more expensive and prestigious one in the city centre, but it still had good reviews and the location is ideal.

As it turns out, the Klubschule isn’t that bad. I started off with an interview and a short multiple choice placement test, and I qualified for the second part out of three for the A1 level. I still wanted to start at the very beginning, just to get my bearings and ease into the new bi-weekly schedule that I would have to endure for the next 6 months. It’s a good thing too, because I have forgotten a lot of the articles for even the most basic vocabulary.

My new books These are the books I will be using. I already have the German German version. This is the Swiss version. The main difference is the exclusion of the “ß” from words, replaced by “ss”, and the images are now of Swiss locations and brands. Other than these changes, the class is very much standard German, including pronunciations.

Quite accurate!

First exercise in class: Make a poster with things that you like. We were given some material to cut up. I was lucky to find the two most amazing pictures (to me) to cut out and paste. I love gardens, plants, and collecting toys. I do like cheese too, but I only used that picture because I thought two wouldn’t be enough. Everyone asked me about the toys, whether I made toys. My grammar and vocabulary being so elementary, I could not write down that collected toys.

The class is rather big, about 14 people, but things still move along nicely. My teacher is very good at explaining things and is very friendly. Almost everyone in the class can already speak English. Communicating with others is easier with a fall-back language, though this isn’t really ideal for practising German, is it? 😀