The Lernen to Talk Show: Episode 2 – At the CDC!
August 8, 2011
Today’s episode finds me, in addition to struggling with eye contact convention, speaking with a real live German person! My substitute teacher today was kind enough to hold my hand through what I gather is a favorite subject of German conversation: the weather! I try to talk about running in the rain, swimming in the Bodensee, and doing laundry. I invite any German speaking commenters to correct my probable misunderstanding of my teacher’s description of there being a nice place to wash clothing by hand in the Rhine River.
Cinematography by Elisabeth Perry.
15 Comments
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Fourth Thing 
haha you understood perfectly! Although, she did mean in the past tense (frueher). I’m so impressed with your German, Mickey! Yo quiero aprender una otra lengua tambien!
your progress is amazing! not that i know what’s being said, but you’re already speaking with so much more confidence! this is fun!
Fabulous man…i don’t understand a bit of the language, but good too you making progress with your project. Take care.
Oh…and RC was me, Raghav.
I love her. She is so little and cute!
Oh man, who is gonna add subtitles for the people who can’t German? I wish this was in Spanish, Portugese or French, I’d at least have a chance.
Hi there! Sorry the subtitles weren’t there when you checked the video out… Since then I uploaded a new version with subtitles. Enjoy!
This series is exactly what I needed. I’ve been living in Germany for a little while and I’m struggling with my German. Somedays I feel that I will never be able to ‘master the language’, but you’re a real-life example that it’s possible! I’m super shy and I feel bad when I have to ask ‘Wie bitte?’ every 2 minutes, but I need to suck it up. Thanks for this, man, it’s a great idea.
Oh, and you should also hyperlink the images because a lot of people will click directly on the images instead of the text link.
I’m so happy to hear that Gisele! You just gotta get out there and be okay with making mistakes. Trust me, people will appreciate it. And thanks for the link tip… I’ve noticed that before actually. I’ll see what I can do.
When did you do this exchange program? I just looked into it and I definitely want to do something like this! I’m only a sophomore in college now, but I am wondering if it would be better to do after college, or take a gap year ? I’m also planning on studying abroad here for maybe 3 months at some point, but I definitely want a whole year experience.
I was in Germany from August 2011 to July 2012. It was a great year! Very very challenging in many ways, but overall worth while. I wouldn’t worry too much about planning when would be the ideal time to study abroad. These things tend to present themselves naturally at the most appropriate times. As a matter of fact, I was rejected from the program the first time I applied in 2007. It wasn’t until four years later that I was accepted with my re-application. But looking back, I definitely got more out of it because they rejected me the first time! Funny how life works. My suggestion would be just to always focus on staying positive and do your best to apply to lots of different opportunities. Not all of them will work out the way you might think you want them too, but in the end you’ll be glad with the outcome. Where are you thinking of studying abroad?
Amazing improvement from week1! you understood what she said amazingly!
Haha, more accurately would be, “You smiled and nodded as though you understood amazingly!” But thanks!
Hi, from 2015. We are a German 3 class in Laramie, Wyoming and enjoy watching your videos and learning what it’s like to learn a language in a year. Vielen Dank!
Hi! I’m so glad to hear it! Viel Glück an alle deine Schüler!!!
-Mickey