Blog 2= Speaking a Different Language

Having seven brothers and sisters it could get a little hectic at the house. I am the second oldest so there are a lot of younger ones. My older sister goes to Illinois State University and I commute to DePaul so it is nice to be able to have my room all to myself while she is at school. However, she is home this semester because she is going to Germany at the end of February and can’t start a new semester at ISU. As she gets ready for school, yes as early as January, I have learnt a little bit about language.

My sister is going to Germany as a requirement for majoring in German Education. She wants to become a German teacher. The more I think about it the more I am amazed by the whole situation. I can’t believe that she is going to be living in a foreign country for three months, and on top of it speaking a foreign language everyday. This just astonishes me. I took four years of German in high school and I understood it very well, but I was never really passionate about it. It had its difficulties, and I wonder to myself that must be difficult to teach high school students a foreign language. I never really was affected by it though. However, now my sister will be speaking German all the time. It will be like a second language to her. It is unbelievable how someone can learn a totally different language and then teach it. I always thought of language as the words one said growing up. The language that was normal, everyone else was speaking. It’s more than that though.

As I watch my sister prepare to get a better understanding of the German language with real life experience, I realize just how unique culture really is. It will be very interesting to learn about the culture of a different country from my sister’s perspective. I hope to even get a chance to visit her in Germany. I wonder what it will be like in July when she gets home. My little, four year old brother will probably be bilingual because she will always be speaking German. I think that is wonderful that someone has the opportunity to speak a different language.