If I had the energy I would have lots of things to blog about my German class. But it will have to wait. In the meantime a lighter moment from class.
Cansu was showing photos of her two budgerigars and Revis was very taken by them. Since Cansu is Turkish and Revis Afghani they can only communicate in German. During the break he wanted to ask her where one could buy birds like this and how much they would cost. Too much to process for him in one go hence he blurted out: “How much do you cost?” I wasn’t even thinking before I told him: “Three camels.”
I explained to the others that had not gone out to smoke what he had actually asked. The Afghani women (among them his wife) were in stitches, as was Cansu. Revis was slighty bewildered but joined in the laughter eventually.
Es gäbe einiges über meine Deutschklasse zu bloggen, hätte ich denn nur genug Energie. Aber das muss wohl warten. In der Zwischenzeit hier ist ein heiterer Moment aus dem Klassenzimmer.
Cansu hat Bilder von ihren zwei Wellensittichen herumgezeigt und Revis war von ihnen sehr angetan. Da Cansu Türkin ist und Revis Afghane ist, können sie sich nur auf Deutsch verständigen. In der Pause wollte er von ihr wissen, wo man solche Vögel kaufen könne und wie viel sie kosten würden. Zu viel auf einmal für ihn, folglich platze er mit “Wie viel kostest du?” heraus. I dachte nicht mal nach, bevor mir “Drei Kamele!” rausrutschte.
Ich erklärte allen, was er eigentlich gefragt hatte. Die afghanischen Frauen (darunter auch seine Frau) schmissen sich weg vor Lachen, Cansu ebenso. Revis war etwas konsterniert, aber konnte schließlich auch herzhaft mitlachen.
Your classes sound like a lotta fun!
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I am trying to make them so. With this particular class, I need that more than them.
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There’s always one class like that, according to my husband.
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Agreed. One problem, though: It’s the only class I have for 2 years (another 12 month to go!).
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I feel your pain …
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🤗
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3 Kamele, so dit is die lopende koers?
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Ek is nie op datum nie. Ek het net seuns. 😏
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Jy het net seuns! Wel, jammer vir die Deutch – ek het nie geweet jy is ‘n Suid-Afrikaner en ‘n Afrikaans sprekende nie.
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Ek is Duits maar ek het 15 jaar in Jo’burg gebly. Ek het na WITS gegaan.
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You are Dutch, spent 15 years in South Africa and went to WITS University. I tried without the translator
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No, I am German. Duits in Afrikaans = German. Dutch would be Nederlands. It’s that whole confusion between Dutch/Deutsch in English. But you did well!
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So you teach German? Terri from Sunday Stills and her husband, Hans study German every day.
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I’ll check their blog out. Thanks for the hint. I teach German to Western script illiterates and a few primary illiterates (people who have never gone to school ever).
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WOW! That sounds rewarding.
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I do enjoy it. But I don’t think it’s my calling … I started as a volunteer in 2015 when they discovered that although I’m not a trained teacher I had the qualifications to teach alphabetisation. The need for teachers with 1 Million refugees was dire at the time and I thought it was just for a couple of years. But the need is still there.
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We complain here in the US about illegal immigration, but our numbers are no where near what yours are. Uneducated immigrants and refugees puts a horrendous strain on the educational, economical, and medical systems of a country. The good thing is that their lives will be better forever because of what you are doing. No one can take away the gift of education from a person.
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We had the fortune to have a chancellor who said: “We’re going to manage.” (or: “Yes, we can.”) I had my problems with Angela Merkel and her politics but I will always have respect for her decision at the time to be compassionate. And yes, I always found it a bit funny that Canada kept congratulating itself for a taking in around 45,000 refugees from Syria.
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The US doesn’t take nearly that many people who are classified as refugees, but we have a huge illegal immigrant population especially now with a fairly open border policy. Many of them are probably refugees but without any paperwork, who knows? We had 2.76 million undocumented migrant crossings in 2022. It keeps the average age down, but doesn’t do much for social services.
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