Lost With The Horse

I believe that to really learn about a new city is to let yourself lose and be found again. If you let your fear controlling you, you will not gain the most of what the city can offer. So I chose not to be feared down by my own anxiety and instead to embrace the unknown. I started my day to look out for the Botschaft of Malaysia (ie-Embassy of Malaysia) by foot. I looked on the Google map before I start my journey, and it told me that by foot it will take me over an hour. Well, that is brilliant I thought as I could have my healthy walk of the day as well as getting my mission to visit the embassy. I didn’t have the Google map with me, I just basically memorized the rough direction towards the Botschaft. And so my journey began. Half way walking, at the Reichstag building, my route was put on halt. Strasse Des 17 Juni was blocked. I learned later it was blocked in order to make way for the preparation of the 3 day event of the Reunification Day a.k.a Tag der Deutschen Einheit. So, where do I go?. I realized that this is when the unknown feeling hits you. And when it hits you, you just used your instinct. And my gut feeling brought me through a magnificent view, yet through another side of Berlin. It is a metropolitan, giant city, hidden in its center, a 210 hectares inner-city park. It is with a capital H- HUGEE! The area has a lot of footpaths, lakes with small islands, gardens, tall trees, shrubs, and sculptures.   The sculptures really give you the taste of the 19th century, thanks to Herr William for coming up with such a wondrous idea (you can read further on Frederich William and his hunting adventure on Google). I could recall once in a while, whilst enjoying these sculptures, walking, filtering in the breeze and following the trails of the dried leaves, that I could hear the sirens from the guards of the Emperor, and some raucous yet elegant steps of their well-kept horses coming pass me.  It is beautiful to be lost with The Horse. What a fantasy dream land. In case you are wondering about my real mission, yes I got to the Botschaft von Malaysia after 2 hours walking through the park. Big Smile

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Hope in the Humanity: The Reunification Day

This week another interesting thing is happening in downtown Berlin. It is the Reunification Day between The East and the West Berlin or the local would call it ‘Tag der Deutschen Einheit’. Every time I am reminded of this day it gives me hope. Hope for the better day in the future- A hope of getting Unity back into Human, a hope for the Humanity. But on this very day when the road of  Straße Des 17 Juni is being blocked to celebrate this very event, I had being brought into the insights of the reunification’s politics. Although in a larger perspective this event is celebrated by having funfairs, food booths, music performances and many more family activities that tie people together harmoniously, but the microcosmic of its nature is still unsettling. There are a lot of boundaries that are still set in front of us. How do we look beyond these boundaries? Can we really practice unity or is this idea is just beyond our capability as human?02

Kulturprogramm im November

Liebe Teilnehmer,

am 11. November werden wir gemeinsam die Highlights des Naturkundemuseums erforschen.
Unter anderem werden wir uns mit „Tristan“ befassen, dem am besten erhaltenen Skelett eines Tyrannosaurus Rex weltweit.
Mit seiner imposanten Größe von 13m stellt er im Museum schon eine „kleine“ Berühmtheit dar.
Wir werden uns auch die „Biologische Wand der Vielfalt“ genauer ansehen, sowie viele andere interessante Sammlungen und Fundstücke.
Falls ihr euch anmelden wollt, kommt einfach in unser Büro!

Euer DeutschAkademie Team

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Endless Opportunity – That is what Berlin is all About

Hello, I am Putri from Kuala Lumpur Malaysia. I just moved here last week to the infamous city of Berlin and I surely like it very much. I am married to a German, and we stayed in Malaysia for a couple of years before decided to move to his home country. Although he comes from Frankfurt, he has fallen in love with Berlin, and I have to say, I am beginning to falling in love with the city too! Back in Kuala Lumpur I was a lecturer from a Film Department, but now that I followed my husband here, the job options are endless. And that is what I love about this city-the fact that it could offer me with many options. It is not just about the job opportunity that are endless, in fact just about everything this city has to offer-the way the city is built, the road system, the architecture that surrounds the city… it is in its ‘everything in its city’ that envelops the whole concept of ‘endless’. For example, as I was walking home today from Alexanderplatz, which is at this point one of the main locations that I am familiar with due to the fact that that is where  the Deutsch Akademie is, I noticed that again, that I was taking yet a different route. There are various roads and alleys that I could take to come back home from Alexanderplatz. And everytime I walk, I could enjoy different sights, smell different air and see many different people and things. Endless! Cheers to more fun memories!

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A2.1. クラスを終えて:クラスメイトに心よりの感謝。— Finishing A2.1. class; I thank everybody in my class.

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語学を学ぶ上で避けては通れないのが「会話」ですが、なかなか慣れない言語で話すと言うことはストレスフルで難しいもの。でも、私達のクラスはとっても仲が良く、皆がよく喋るクラスでいつも活気がありました。

When we learn new language, the hardest part of it is actually using it in daily conversation, and using new language is somehow stressful and just simply difficult. However I was fortuned to be in a highly motivated class, everybody got encouraged to speak up and nobody hesitated to make mistakes.

私達のクラスでは本当に誰もが積極的に発言していたので、相乗効果でドンドン会話が進む、という素敵な雰囲気がありました。間違いを恐れずに話しているクラスメイトに触発されて、私もたどたどしく話しだしたのを覚えています。

When one person start talking, usually other person follows and start talking like, “In my case~”. “In my country~” Thanks to such classmate, I gradually started talking more in the class, and just felt comfortable doing so.

英語だって平気で織り交ぜますし、先生に「〜はドイツ語で何と言いますか?」とか「〜はどんな意味ですか?」とドンドン質問して会話を拡げて行きました。

Sometimes we even use English words to fill the blank, and we often ask question to our teacher. “How can we say this in German?” “What does that mean?”

とても良いクラスに入れたと思います。最後の授業後は皆でビールを飲みに行ったのは良い思い出ですね。一ヶ月一緒に過ごしたクラスメイトに感謝しています。そして今日が私の最後のブログ記事になります。今日までお付き合い頂き有り難うございました。

I really think that we had an amazing class, and after our last class, everybody went for a beer! I thank everybody in my class for everything. Lastly, today would be my last article for the month. Thank you so much for reading. Vielen Dank!

 

 

A2.1. クラスを終えて:ドイツ語で映画を楽しめるようになりました。―Finishing A2.1. class; Now I enjoy more watching movies in German.

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一ヶ月A2.1.クラスでドイツ語の基礎を勉強してきて思うことと言えば、最近ドイツ語で映画を楽しみだしてきたな、という点でしょうか。時間がある限り毎週5本ぐらいは映画を観ています。

Having studied German in A2.1. class for a month, now I feel that I can enjoy more watching movies in German. I try to watch movies as much as I can, about 5 movies in a week. 

私は同じ映画を同じ日に2回続けてみます。まずはドイツ語と英語字幕で映画を観てストーリーを把握、次はドイツ語字幕に切り替えてもう一度見てみる。

When I watch movie, I watch it twice. First, in German but with English subtitle, so that I can understand the story. Then I’ll switch to German subtitle, and watch it again.

まだまだ分からない部分は多いですが、「慣れない言語で映画を観続けるのが辛い」という感覚は薄まり、いまでは「気づいたらそのままドイツ語で見終わっていたなー。」という感覚が生まれ、少し嬉しく思うことが増えました。

I still don’t understand all of the conversation, but at least I don’t feel uncomfortable. These days I get more into the movie itself and somehow movie ends while my head get used to thinking things in German.

言語学習は、ふと気づいた時に上達を実感する、とっても地道な作業だなーと改めて思いました。まだまだ先は長いですが、数ヶ月後にはもっとドイツ語への抵抗が薄まっていることだろうと思います。

In this kind of moment, I feel that learning new language is surely making a baby steps and being patience. I don’t expect to be fluent over a night, but I hope that I’ll be more confortable using German in a few months.

1. Stammtisch im November

Liebe Teilnehmer,

am Donnerstag, den 03. November ist es wieder soweit!
Kommt mit euren Freunden und Familien zum Stammtisch ins Hofbräu. Auch diesesmal gibt es ein kniffliges Rätsel und tolle Gewinne.
Wir freuen uns auf euch!

Euer DeutschAkademie Team

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日常の中にドイツ語を。-German grammar in your spare time.

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日本人的な考え方かも知れませんが、私は隙間時間を使って勉強したいタイプ。
Maybe this is because I’m Japanese, but I want to make use of my spare time.
歯を磨いている時間、お皿を洗っている時間、1分ぐらいボーッと過ごしてしまうのであれば、その時間に一単語覚えたいですね。
While I’m brushing my teeth, washing dishes, my head is just empty and doing that action. If I do that simple action for a min, then I’d like to remember one German word.
ドイツアカデミーでは上記の写真のように、重要な動詞の活用や前置詞の使い方を一覧にした表を無料で配布してくれています。これがとっても便利!
In DeutschAkademie, they provide some useful papers which we can study important German grammar rules and important verbs.
私の家ではバスルームに貼って、フラットメイトも一緒に勉強しています。
In my flat, we have it in our bathroom and my flat mate also study with it too!;))

あなたは何故ベルリンに?-Why did you choose to be here in Berlin?

昨日は多国籍なクラスメイトについて書きましたが、今日はクラスメイトの中でも仲良しの友人を紹介をしたいと思います。皆はそれぞれの目標を胸に、ベルリンで頑張っていますよ!

Yesterday, I’ve introduced my international classmates, and today I’ll introduce good friends of min and talk about why we came here in Berlin. Everybody has their goal and everyday we are making progress!

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オーストラリア出身のデイジー。
Here is Daisy, from Australia.
彼女はファッション関係の仕事に就きたいと思ってベルリンにやってきました。滞在3カ月にして履歴書を送りまくり、今月ついにインターンを勝ち取りました。クラスでは一番年下ですが、とっても落ち着いている優等生です。
She came here hoping to be a part of fashion industry. In past three months, she has sent so many CV and this month, finally she got an internship offer for one of the fashion company in Berlin. She is the youngest in the class, but always helps me to understand the confusing grammar structure.

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アルバニア出身のイブ。
IV from Albania.
彼は母国アルバニアにて医師免許を取得しています。ドイツにてさらに医学を学ぶためにベルリンにきました。学業のためにはc1レベルまでドイツ語を極めなければならないそう。。。クラスでも一番話すのは彼です。
He is a doctor and came here to study further more in medical field. He will do his PhD in Berlin, and to receive education in German, he need to have a C1 level language skill. I believe that he will make it soon, because he is the most talkative person in our class! He is our important mood maker and everybody loves having him in our class;))

私は言語を生かして映画関係の仕事に就きたいと思いベルリンに来ました。来月あたりからそろそろ就職活動を始めないといけないので、クラスメイトの皆からはいつも刺激を受けています。私も頑張らないと!
I came to Berlin, hoping to find a job which is related to film industry. Soon or later, I need to start job hunting here, which is a bit stressful. But my classmates always inspire me and I always green aura get by them. I’m glad to study with them.

多国籍なクラスメイトーInternational classmates, from all over the world!

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私のクラスは10人の生徒がいて、香港、スペイン、オーストラリアにアメリカなど多国籍なメンバーが集まっています。
In my class, there are 10 students and they are from all over the world, Hong Kong, Spain, Australia and U.S.A.

面白いのは、文法や名詞の性別について話すときに「僕の国の言葉では~」と違いを話してくれるところ。ドイツ語で女性になる「太陽」はスペイン語では男性、逆にドイツ語では男性になる「月」はスペイン語では女性になるそうだ。
Great part of having such diversity in the class is the difference between their languages and German. When we study grammar or new vocabulary, people would introduce their languages comparing with German. For example, « the Sun » is female in German when it’s male in Spanish. On the other hand, « the Moon » is male in German when It’s female in Spanish.

皆が一様に英語を話すので、ドイツ語で頭がいっぱいになった時は英語に切り替えてリッラクスしたコミュニケーションをとることもしばしば。金曜日の夜に一緒にベルリンのナイトライフを楽しんだりとすごく仲良く勉強しています。
We all speak fine English, therefore when we all got overwhelmed with speaking in German, we can easily switch to English and communicate. This is why we are all good friends and we even hang out on weekend as well .Practicing German over beers is fun!