Yesterday was an exciting day for me. It was also extremely taxing,
but I suppose that's life. In my last post I talked at length about the
Goethe system, and how my studies are being conducted. I said that I was
at the B2.1 level, after completing the B1.1 level in the last four
week period. Yesterday, I took the first piece of the B1 certification
test: this is a certification called the 'Zertifikat Deutsch,' and it
certifies that you have mastered German up to the B1 level. It is also,
incidentally, the level of certification required to become a German
citizen. Fundamentally, it states that one has the German required to
live in Germany.
I received a bit of validation of
this on my way home from class - I had taken a 3 hour German test in the
morning, and sat through 4.5 hours of lecture. I was pretty tired, and
listening to my music. At the station before mine, the loudspeaker
binged, so I took my headphones out, just in time to hear an
announcement from the train operator. You must understand, this is
actually quite unusual -- usually, the announcements come at regular
points, and are prerecorded. This was actually the driver sitting in the
front of the train talking. He greeted us (the passengers), and went on
to explain that there was a downed power line in my station (the next
one), and the train would not be moving until it was fixed. Sadly, he
did not know when that would be. At this point, I looked out the window,
noticed a set of buses idling, and made a split-second decision. I
lept from my seat and ran through the station to the bus stop. I went to
the first bus, and asked rather breathlessly: "Fährt dieses Bus nach
Hochdahl?" (Does this bus go to Hochdahl?) The driver told me the bus
went to the marketplace (not so useful for me), but that I wanted bus 5,
which was at the front of the line. I thanked him, and headed to the
aforementioned bus. I got on, and to make a long story short, I arrived
home only 10 minutes or so later than I would have otherwise.
The
experience left me with the sensation that I could really live here.
Before, it's always felt like I was barely making it. But I've started
to develop routines -- I know my way around the city, I have places I
like to eat, and I can understand most communications, even if they're
unscripted. I've discovered German music, and I'm listening to it almost
exclusively now. To drive the point home, I'm typing at my normal speed
on a German keyboard. What does that mean? Well, the keys are all mixed
up! A normal sentence in English (typed like on a normal keyboard)
would look like this: Mz goodness but it takes some SERIOUS getting used
to to make use of this sillz kezboard )obviouslz z and y are mixed up)!
I mean, <i canät even make things work!
You get the point.
Returning to language, it feels like I have arrived at the edge.
Prior to now, I was unable to really understand most of what went on
around me. Now, it feels like I understand most of it, even if my
vocabulary is a bit lacking. But I have the connections to learn
vocabulary at a phenomenal rate. All I would need is about 3 or 4 months
living here, and I would be totally fluent (Incidentally, the Goethe
Institute estimates that after about 6 months of study here, I would
speak German better than many Germans). It's an empowering feeling.
I write this in one of my breaks from class, and it will end shortly, so I must here sign off. To all who are reading my blog:
Liebe Grüße, und ich freue mich, eure Achtung gehabt zu haben.
Best regards, and I'm happy to have had your attention.
