Incoherent Scribblings

The First Day of School

So, I am sure you are dying to know how my first day of language school went.

Well, aside from the fact that I had to get up at ugly-thirty this morning (Thanks for the expression Cathy!) and my teacher has a moustache (which wouldn’t be a big deal if my teacher weren’t a woman) it was much like the first day of school anywhere. The first half of class was full of “getting-to-know-you” chit chat, we started our first lesson, we got some homework, and then the morning was over.

So far I have four other classmates and they all seem pleasant. It is always good to have nice people as your classmates but I am afraid they might not make for very interesting blog material. (Though there is one guy that sure had a lot of energy for it being so early on a Monday morning…) My teacher seems competent and is friendly enough that after half and hour or so I barely noticed her moustache anymore.

As I said, in the second half of the class we dove right in and did some work: reading comprehension to be precise and today’s subject was one that is near and dear to my heart. It is a topic that I have written about at length (though not auf Deutsch) and that topic was… DENGLISH! Yep, on my first day of German class we talked about English (although we did talk about it in German)… go figure.

I found our discussion of Denglish to be quite intriguing because I have (obviously) always looked at Denglish from the point of view of a native English speaker. However, since the other students in my class are not native English speakers, they can easily identify with issues surrounding the integration of Anglicisms into German.

Most recognize that English terminology has a place in business and media worldwide because of its status as an international language. For many young people the English language is a symbol of being stylish and cool. However, that isn’t all. Some see the penetration of English into their languages as corrupting their speech, culture and way of life.

I think that all of these attitudes are worth recognizing, but whether the permeation of English into other languages is a good thing or not is, in my opinion, not really the issue. If one has studied the evolution of languages one knows that it is natural for the leading language of the day to influence other languages.

So anyway, how do I feel about English words in German? Honestly I have mixed feelings. When it is used correctly it makes me feel a little closer to home. But when it is used incorrectly or differently it drives me crazy… Like I don’t have enough to learn trying to figure out German and now I am supposed to learn Denglish too?!

However, whether used properly or improperly, here in Germany I always take (D)English with a grain of salt and a grin on my face.

Now, if I could just say that in German…