Obligatory Language Lessons
Written on : January 16, 2008
We worked out a plan concerning our problem about being away from each other for three months. I will not go to Austria this summer to study German there but I have to get a tutor here and I must take my lessons seriously. I must really learn how to speak before we go there for a two weeks vacation in May. By then, I should be good enough to pass the examination. So we will risk it. I will take the course’s examination without attending its lessons. Getting the school to agree to this is yet another thing we have to manage but right now I am just glad to know that we don’t have to be separated for 3 months.
My previous German tutor is an Austrian. I had around 10 sessions with her but she is now expecting so she needed to go back to Austria for good. Marcus got me another tutor and she is a Korean who is married to a Belgian guy. She can speak Korean, Chinese, English, Belgian, and German. Impressive. I met her today for our first lesson and I have to say that she is quite good. She’s not a native speaker of German but she teaches this language well.
Maybe a lot of you are wondering why Marcus is not teaching me. Well, Marcus is not a very good teacher. Sure he can speak perfect German (obviously because it’s his mother tongue) but he doesn’t know how to explain the intricacies of it. He can correct me if my grammar is wrong however he cannot explain why my grammar is wrong and how I can make it right. Plus, we are so used to speaking in English with each another. So far, the most difficult thing that I have to overcome in this intercultural marriage thing is that even if Marcus can speak perfect English, I still have to study German. Do you know what’s his? For him, the most difficult thing to overcome is eating balut (fertilized duck eggs).
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Hi, I really like your blog! I am American, and my husband is from one of the former Soviet Republic countries. We’ve been married for almost 10 years and going strong!
I am also a language teacher (with a degree in language acquisition). I totally relate to your language experiences. The couple must either speak the language or pay for an outside teacher/tutor/classes. In our case, we didn’t speak English together, and we tried to change over, then tried for me to teach him–totally pointless.
Spouses can’t teach each other language any easier than they can teach a high school or college class on their language. There are far too many other issues that need attention in marriage.
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