March 2023
This year I have committed to reading 30 books, and I am aiming for around 8 of those to be in German. I have read 2 books in German so far this year, and I cannot believe how much it has boosted my language skills. Here are my findings:
1. Encountering wonderful words!
I am not ashamed to say that I felt incredibly 'humbled' (read: mortified) by the end of my first page of German fiction. As a German teacher of 5 years, and a German learner of 18 years, I really thought I had most words down. Dipping a toe into a German novel demonstrated that I had been missing out on so many atmospheric and thought-provoking realms of language - you simply don't encounter words like 'achselzuckend' (with a shrug of the shoulders) and 'Dompfaff' (Eurasian bullfinch) in everyday language learning!
2. Seeing through a native speaker's eyes
There is just something about reading stories from a particular time and place in its native language. I found myself empathising with German-speaking figures in a way that I had simply never experienced before. Novels (well, good ones at least!) transport your consciousness into the eyes and ears of their characters, and this is an incredible way to feel more at home in a foreign language!
3. Remembering that language learning is a lifelong pursuit
Despite knowing that I will never manage to read every book, I've never considered reading to be a pointless endeavour. Yet so often we hear outlooks about language learning which suggest that there is no point if you cannot quickly become fluent. Reading German novels has been a helpful reminder to me that language learning, like reading, is about the journey and not the destination. As adult learners (and teachers!) it is all too easy to forget that things which seem simple to us now were once an uphill struggle, and being forced to look-up the term 'Dompfaff', and then google the question 'what is a Eurasian bullfinch?' was a stark reminder of that delicious exertion!
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