Maneuvering Motivational Malaise in 2024

[MaggieMae]

Another year gone by, my first Super Challenge failed spectacularly, certificates earned, tears wept, success and failure, elation and frustration... That was my year in a nutshell.

"May you have an interesting life," indeed...

All things considered, though, the battle has been quite definitely been shifting uphill, instead of just battling to get there.

Not long after my last post in my other log (beginning of Dec), I was offered a regular teaching position in the Primary School that I've been teaching German as a Second Language at. I officially took over the class in February. Which is why I've been so silent, it's been a lot of work. There are two of us teaching the 3rd and 4th year class together. I'm responsible for English (of course), Music, Art, Geometry, German (reading comp and grammar to the native speakers), and German as a Second Language. Learning how to teach German to native speaking kids is WILD. I knew from English that it's extremely different from teaching it as a foreign language, and I have experience doing it both ways in English, but it's still so different in German.

I'm using this as an opportunity to prep for the next Super Challenge, though. I've got a German class on Friday mornings at 7:45, and neither I nor the kids want to be there that early, so I've started a Book Club for that lesson, and we all have to read. I told them that they get to pick it a new book for me every week, so of course the first one is THE FATTEST BOOK IN THE LIBRARY! Thankfully, that one had so many full page pictures that the 621 pages turned into 398. But still! And I'm very happy to report that I succeeded in that week.

Then they handed me the German translation of David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens... I didn't actually read that one... I find Dickens boring in English, much less in German with a seemingly horrible translation.

They gave me a fairly standard kid's book after that, and I'm making everyone pick a first year book tomorrow, so I'll get a tiny reprieve... But the goal is to average one kid's chapter book a week, which would go a long way on the Super Challenge, and my students would then hold me accountable. Now I just need to start an after school film club or something...

On the other hand, I feel like I'm making zero progress in Swedish. I just don't have the brain cells to dedicate to yet another mentally challenging task, despite mostly keeping up with my homework and classes. I was, however, able to watch the Advent Calendar, and understand a decent amount of it, so that's a success. I bet I'm conflating my experiences with the two languages, which I shouldn't do because they're being learned VERY differently. German was an immersive, high intensive speed run when I didn't have a job taking up my time. Swedish is for fun with class an hour a week, in a country where I can't easily practice it. There's zero comparing the two.

I'm getting a lot better at understanding Swiss German, too. I'm also getting bolder about throwing in a Swiss sentence once in a while, but it's got to be one of those things where the whole sentence is Swiss and correct, and pointedly separated from the High German I had been speaking, or else it sounds completely wrong to the native speakers. Though I did get complimented on my "dialect" last weekend at a ski lodge, playing cards with a random group of guys. I guess my "Swiss High German" works pretty well then, so that's another positive. Or they were just tipsy and trying to compliment the foreign girl that agreed to join them in a national past time. (Drinking beer and playing Jass. ) They even have a verb for it! Jassen. Ich jasse, du jasst, er jasst...

It's definitely been a wild ride, and I'm really looking forward to being able to slow down and just chill in my new languages. Perhaps I'll pick up Mandarin again...

[Iversen]

(...) I've started a Book Club for that lesson, and we all have to read. I told them that they get to pick it a new book for me every week, so of course the first one is THE FATTEST BOOK IN THE LIBRARY! Thankfully, that one had so many full page pictures that the 621 pages turned into 398. But still! And I'm very happy to report that I succeeded in that week.
Then they handed me the German translation of David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens... I didn't actually read that one... I find Dickens boring in English, much less in German with a seemingly horrible translation.
They gave me a fairly standard kid's book after that, (...)
Perhaps I'll pick up Mandarin again...

Congratulations - the kids put you on a test, and you passed it. Otherwise you would have had to read something even more thick and boring than Dickens the third week - like the whole Buddenbrook Saga by Thomas Mann or die Philosophie des Geistes by Hegel.

PS: can't you make those 398 pages count in your next super challenge?

[MaggieMae]

Congratulations - the kids put you on a test, and you passed it. Otherwise you would have had to read something even more thick and boring than Dickens the third week - like the whole Buddenbrook Saga by Thomas Mann or die Philosophie des Geistes by Hegel.

PS: can't you make those 398 pages count in your next super challenge?

They certainly did test me! Thankfully, I don't think they have many other classics in the library in general, as it's a Primary School Library with only about 600 books.

Am I allowed to count those pages now? I thought I had to wait until May...

[MaggieMae]

I've noticed that I've got a point in German where I'm comfortable enough in the language that I want to be able to express myself like I do in English, but I'm constantly frustrated because it's impossible.

What I mean by this is that English is such a picturesque language, full of metaphorical expressions, and German...well...isn't. Don't get me wrong, they have their own expressions and poetic language and stuff, but it's not anywhere near the same.

Take, for instance, the word slam. In English, the word is great for the action or sound of two things violently hitting one another. It's an extremely versatile word. When you wish to describe this in German, you have to know what two things are hitting each other, and on what context. So the Mack Truck slamming into the wall and the Kool Aid Man slamming into the wall will inevitably be two different verbs, since the truck is being driven, and the Kool Aid Man is on foot. (Unless I'm understanding this wrong.) And my German is good, especially for understanding it, but it's not that good to produce the exact words that I want in order to convey what I mean. And how often do you actually use the word slam in a day anyway? (Depends on the day, I know...)

I mean, yes, I could totally use words like "stossen" or "schlagen" but they don't seem violent enough, and "donnern", at least as far as I'm aware, implies more that it goes past nosily, and wouldn't hit the wall at all.

All of this because I want to tell my colleagues that, "I didn't just hit my limit, I slammed into that brick wall like the Kool Aid Man... Oh yeah! However, unlike the Kool Aid Man, I just bounced off that f***er."

Some things might be better left untranslated.

2 more weeks till spring break...2...

[MaggieMae]

Spring break is now half over, and I'm still feeling dead.

I think I've finally managed to convince my husband to speak Swiss German with me during summer break, though, so I can learn it. We're flying back to the States for 2 weeks during that time, so I fully expect that to amuse the crud out of me.

He's just so picky about pronunciation, though, that I wish I had someone else I could also learn with.

German is feeling more and more comfortable in daily life, but I still feel like I run into so many words that I don't know, or I understand, but would never think of when trying to speak or write, that I constantly doubt if I'm actually fluent or not. Imposter Syndrome much? My new(ish) teaching job is helping considerably, but also spurring on those feelings of inadequacy. Sometimes I think I'll never really learn this language, much less Swiss German.

It's also been wrecking havoc on my English skills. I was talking to a couple native speakers over the past couple weeks, since they took over my English classes, and we had a good laugh over how germanized my English has become. Things like word order and common turns of phrase, mostly. Of course, I can't think of any concrete examples at the moment. At least I haven't gone so far as to try saying, "Hello together!" That one hurts my soul. I know where it comes from, but it hurts so much.

My Swedish learning colleague moved to Sweden for the next 6 months, so I'm back to private lessons. I'm hoping to convince hubby to join me after we get back from the States in August, but that's been an uphill battle for the past year already. The past few months have felt like everything was flying by, and I wasn't learning anything, but now I feel more like I'm scrambling to pick the pieces up off the floor. So, not good yet, but better. I also tried watching a Swedish TV show on Netflix (Young Royals), but I don't care for the storyline. The plot mainly centers around the bullying and class warfare that happens in fancy private schools, when I was looking more for a romance. I was able to understand a decent amount, though! And hubby brought up the idea to go to Sweden for fall break, so I'm super excited over that prospect!

But, since I finally caved and got Netflix a couple weeks ago, I've been watching way too many K Dramas and Anime. I even managed to find a decent show in Mandarin, though I only caught every hundredth word or so. My Japanese is much better than my Mandarin at this point, and that's saying something. My Japanese is TERRIBLE, and pretty much all learned from movies and anime... so, not good at all.

But now my brain's like: "Since Korean's phonetic, it's easier to learn, and they have some things that are similar in grammar and such to Mandarin, so maybe you should learn Korean first and then learn Mandarin." Because I don't have enough on my plate, obviously.

But, yeah, just trying to take things easy this week, since it'll be back to the grind before I'm ready, anyway. We'll see how it goes.

[DaveAgain]

It's also been wrecking havoc on my English skills. I was talking to a couple native speakers over the past couple weeks, since they took over my English classes, and we had a good laugh over how germanized my English has become. Things like word order and common turns of phrase, mostly. Of course, I can't think of any concrete examples at the moment. At least I haven't gone so far as to try saying, "Hello together!" That one hurts my soul. I know where it comes from, but it hurts so much.

I remember Prof Arguelles mentioning a thing he does when this happens. He visualises a filing cabinet(?) and puts the suspect word/phrase within language X's drawer. Perhaps you could try that?

I also tried watching a Swedish TV show on Netflix (Young Royals), but I don't care for the storyline. The plot mainly centers around the bullying and class warfare that happens in fancy private schools, when I was looking more for a romance. I was able to understand a decent amount, though! And hubby brought up the idea to go to Sweden for fall break, so I'm super excited over that prospect!

I've watched some episodes of The Sandhamn Murders recently, that looks like a nice area for a holiday

[jeff_lindqvist]

Can you access SVT Play?

If you're using SVT Play in a browser, you can use a filter to show programmes available outside Sweden. On https://www.svtplay.se/program there's a checkbox with the text "Kan ses utomlands" ("Can be viewed abroad").

[MaggieMae]

I remember Prof Arguelles mentioning a thing he does when this happens. He visualises a filing cabinet(?) and puts the suspect word/phrase within language X's drawer. Perhaps you could try that?

I do try that, it's still just a long process.

Can you access SVT Play?

Yes, I have it on my tv. I'm really just too picky about what I watch, I think, and too unwilling to step out of my comfort zone. I really need to work on that.

I really need to sign up for the next Super Challenge, but still only for German. I have a real chance this time, I think, since I won't have exams in the way, and I have that push from my students to read more with them. I'm nowhere near good enough to do it in Swedish, though, I'd just get too frustrated with my inability to read longer books, although the video part might be doable. Maybe I'll try tracking it unofficially and see how well I do in general.