What better way to celebrate Independence Day than… blogging in German!
That’s right folks, it’s Language Week 2005 and the premise is simple: To blog in a language you don’t normally blog in for one week. (Thanks to Mausi and In Actual Fact for making me aware of this.)
For me, I think the biggest challenge of blogging in German is the fact that, even after all this time, I still don’t think in German. I am a bit embarrassed to admit it, but I still translate everything!
When I speak to people in German I still think about what I want to say in English first and then figure out how to say it in German. When I watch TV, I silently translate everything that is said into English. Same when I read.
The structure of German grammar is quite different than in English. When I hear or read, grammar isn’t a problem because it’s already there. By now I recognize grammatical forms in speech and/or print, so they very seldom trip me up anymore.
Technically, when I speak I should also follow these rules of grammar. A few grammatical rules have started coming to me more easily when I speak, but I know that I still make lots of mistakes. However, since people can (usually) understand me I don’t dwell on my mistakes. Sure, people who speak to me will know that I am a foreigner, but that doesn’t bother me because that is what I am.
Writing, on the other hand, is different. Suddenly those grammatical rules are essential and translating my thoughts directly from English doesn’t work so well anymore. Of course, since I don’t practice writing in German it doesn’t come to me very easily either.
However, in the spirit of Language Week I will try. After all, practice makes perfect and besides, now that I have Wordpress I can always password protect my bad German writing if I am too embarrassed to share it!
Anyway, here goes: (English translation will follow)
Ich habe gedacht, dass ich möchte manchmal auf Deutsch hier schreiben. Zusammen sprechen mein Mann und ich immer Englisch, aber ich spreche Deutsch fast jeden Tag und ich denke, dass ich Deutsch sehr gut verstehe. Aber ich lese und schreibe nicht viel auf Deutsch.
Ich habe ein oder zwei Mal auf Deutsch hier geschrieben, aber als A. es gelesen hat, hat er alle meinen Fehler bemerket. Ja, ich möchte über meinen Fehler wissen, aber mein blog ist nicht Hausaufgabe und ich will nicht diesen Fehler korrigieren!
Aber ich werde auf Deutsch diese Woche schreiben, weil es “Sprache Woche” ist und wenn Sie meinen Fehler bemerken, probieren Sie auf Englisch für eine Woche zu schreiben und sehen Sie wie gut Sie tun! 
Translation: I have thought sometimes that I would like to write here in German. My husband and I always speak English together, but I speak German almost everyday and I think that I understand German very well. But I don’t read or write much in German.
I have written in German here a couple of times, but when A. read it, he pointed out all my errors. Yes, I want to know where I make mistakes, but my blog isn’t homework and I don’t want to correct them!
But this week I will write in German because it is “Language Week” and if you notice my errors, try to write in English for a week and see how you do!