As the saying goes...

Was ist wichtig im Leben ist Leben, und nicht das Ergebnis des Lebens.
What is important in life is life, and not the result of life.

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Monday, August 9, 2010

Last Post for German 10: The End of the Beginning

Before anything else, let me share something...

I wasn't really planning to take an integrated German 10-11 class (although I was aware that integrated foreign language classes are much better and much more effective than those that are not integrated). I only took this class because some things led me to doing it. During the first round of preenlistment for the 1st semester of AY 2010-2011, I was lucky to have all 18 units. It was also fortunate for me as a shiftee* to be able to know what major subjects I should enlist in. So, during the first round, I already had the following:

1. Sociology 11 and Sociology 101 -- major subjects usually taken by Sociology majors during the 1st semester of their 1st year
2. Sociology 114 -- a major subject usually taken by Sociology majors during the 1st semester of their 2nd year
3. German 10 and French 11 -- foreign language requirements
4. Southeast Asia 30 -- my only GE subject for this semester

Unfortunately, at the start of the 2nd round of preenlistment, the only Sociology 114 class for this semester got dissolved because the professor who was supposed to handle the class had to study abroad** and no one in the Department of Sociology was available to replace her. Because of this, I tried enlisting in other GE classes but I wasn't lucky anymore so I only waited for the registration week to come. During the registration period, it took me two days to enlist in another class. On the second day of registraton, I tried taking Malikhaing Pagsulat 10 but the line for the Department of Filipino and Philippine Literature was, as usual, very long and, to make it worse, it didn't even move when I was there. I was so desperate to have that 3-unit class right away so I decided to leave that horrifying line and find something else. I figured out that the line for the Department of European Languages was short so I decided to cancel my German 10 and replace it with a 6-unit integrated German 10-11 class even if it made my schedule really bad. (Aside from the fact that I'm a person who never regrets anything no matter what) I didn't regret taking this class even if its consequence was to have an 0830h-1730h schedule with only 3 classes, a three-hour break and a one and a half-hour break everyday! (Oh and yes, I don't need das academische Viertel for this semester.) I didn't regret it simply because I'm learning a lot and I'm having so much fun. That's why all the "unfortunately," "unfortunate" and "wasn't lucky" in this paragraph actually means the opposite. That's how I became a part of German 10-11 THWFR. I'm really hoping that the department will let me take more German classes (even if it means overloading and more summer classes) and, at most, to be a German minor if that's possible.

Moving on...

I remember the first time I accessed this blog using Google Chrome. The browser asked me if I wanted to let it translate the page because the page was written in German. I still don't know why it made me happy in a way. Perhaps, having this blog labeled as "written in German" seemed to me as a form of accomplishment. (I normally use Mozilla Firefox so I tried accessing it again using Google Chrome just a few moments ago to check if the same thing would happen but it didn't happen anymore. It's okay, though. I know that it's obviously in English.)

However, to be honest, I'm not really sure if I'm doing well in my foreign language classes including this class. One thing I am sure of is that I'm doing much better in Deutsch that in Français. At the very least, in German 10, I am able to understand the topics that were discussed in class and to appreciate them including the activities we did--including this blog. I can now read German words and sentences. I can count in German. To some extent, I can now construct German sentences and understand German statements.

I still have some problems in learning the German language, though. Just like what I said in my reflection paper***, I can't clearly see the stuffs written on the board because of my eyes and my eyeglasses. (Oh! What a vary poor vision!) Good thing, I get to look at my seatmates' notes. Hopefully, I get to have the time to replace these (No! Not my eyes!) eyeglasses. One more thing is that I sometimes feel sleepy during the class because I'm not really used to waking up early in the morning. Those are my only problems and, I guess, these problems are so generic that it can be applied to any morning class I have. However, this is the only morning class I have for this semester (considering that I don't regard 1130h-1300h classes as morning classes).

I learned a lot from and had a lot of fun in German 10. Hopefully, German 11 will be much better and much more exciting!!! I just can't wait to start German 11!



*I am a former statistics major.
**Actually, there were enough students enlisted for it not to be dissolved.
***The reflection paper I was never able to publish here

1 comment:

  1. I'm glad you've enjoyed our class anyway, despite having been forced into it by circumstance.

    And yep, I think you're doing very well in German. Keep it up! :)

    ReplyDelete

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