Blogabroad
by Mary Pinckney Waters

April 28, 2006 - Monitoring my progress

“Is he gonna kick us out?” my friend Meredith whispered to me Tuesday five minutes into our psychology class – her first class in Germany.

As I gave her a “don’t worry” headshake, I realized how different these first few minutes of a German seminar course must be for her, and remembered how strange they were for me last semester.

Bamberg University doesn’t have a standardized system set up for registering for classes, meaning the “just show up” approach reigns during the first week. Naturally in the highly desired courses, oftentimes more students want to take the course than the professor can handle, such as in the psych course Meredith and I sat in earlier this week. What results is an awkward, eye-dodging 15 minutes during the first class in which the professor outlines which students are most justified in taking the course. A few first-semesters might trickle out, followed by some minors perhaps, each time to the still-seated’s delight, as if more competition has just been voted off the island.

As most of my American friends are finishing up their exams this week, my second semester in Germany began Monday. It’s a landmark in this experience soliciting my retrospect and reflection.

A new round of exchange students have been in town for a month now, and I’ve been trying to minimize their adjustment pains as much as I can, and understanding them when I can’t. I’m offering up any useful info I’ve learned: shortcut streets, the best restaurants in town, German slang translations, what European cigarettes taste the most like Camel Lights, the fact that the top story in H&M clothing store is indeed more women’s apparel, and introductions to any friendly Germans I’m acquainted with.

In my advice-giving, I’m recognizing how much progress I’ve made here over the past seven months – how much I’ve learned about the culture, how much Bamberg has become my home and how much better I am about not looking like a clueless foreigner.

When I watch the fresh-come Americans react with shock to things I think are normal, or have learned to think are normal, I appreciate that I have adapted here. Last night, for example, we attended a giant semester-startup party sponsored by the university. The event was held in the school’s largest building, normally a venue for social-science lectures, but with some streamers, a pizza stand, two DJs and four student-run bars set up in the hallways, the classroom building was transformed into a makeshift club for an evening. I’m guessing USC wouldn’t back a function that allowed cocktails and cigarettes in Gambrell Hall …

One of the most rewarding realizations has come from speaking with Germans I haven’t seen since last semester (two months ago), who say they notice a clear improvement in my German (cue hallelujah music). This is immeasurably encouraging. It’s very difficult to grasp any initial progress, since learning a language is such a gradual, osmotic process, but the proof comes from native-speakers’ feedback over the long run.

If I could start this experience from the beginning, I would add one thing: a tape recorder. If you’re planning on studying abroad to improve your foreign-language skills, I think this would be an easy, fascinating way to monitor your headway: record yourself for five minutes each week talking in the language you’re learning. I’ll bet you’ll be surprised at the difference between your first and last recordings.

Mary Pinckney Waters welcomes your comments and feedback: marypwaters@yahoo.com