Are you studying German with our online course? Why not sign up for an eTutoring session with Kirsten? Below LL interviews her about her love of the German language, what she misses from home and her best tip for German learners.
What do you love about the German language?
The most amazing thing about the German language is that it’s very precise, which has the very positive effect that it’s really hard to misinterpret something. It’s a very straightforward and direct language and can be very reasonable, but very poetic at the same time.
What do you like about being a German eTutor?
I love teaching and working with students. Helping them to advance and to be able to communicate makes me feel like a cultural ambassador for Germany.
What’s your favorite German phrase?
“Wie gewonnen, so zerronnen.”
Which means something like “As soon as you earn something, you lose it immediately.” It’s similar in meaning to the English saying “Easy come, easy go.”
You live in the United States now. What do you miss about Germany?
My family, the delicious bread and other food items.
What’s your best tip for people who want to learn German?
Memorizing vocabulary is very important, but seeing the language as a mirror of the German culture and mentality will make you fully able to communicate. This also implies that you must see the grammar as an intrinsic and necessary part of understanding the culture.
What language(s) would you like to learn and why?
Tibetan and Hindi. Tibetan because I would like to read and understand certain ancient texts in Tibetan. And Hindi because I went to India and want to go back there to travel and talk to people there. We also live in a neighborhood with a large Indian population and talking to them in their language as well would be fun.
What’s up with those super long German words?
Since German is such a precise and concise language, the idea is to combine several words and make it just one, so instead of having a huge sentence using prepositions, a genitive article, etc. we just have one concise word. Actually, the longest German word was Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz (law for beef labeling regulation & delegation of supervision) until the law was repealed last year. These words may surprise English speakers because in English you would use either a whole sentence to describe this or use hyphens, while in German you just put all in one gigantic word.
Managing compound words together with the correct declinations of article, etc. is the highest achievement in dominating the language.
