GERMAN LESSONS
Our friend Carolin is helping us by teaching us German.  We make a dinner and she teaches us.  We get the most benefit, she is so good to us and knows English and some French and is trying to now learn Chinese because she will travel there in a few weeks.  Yesterday, I made an apple pie and was trying to cook German lasagna but the oven stopped working.  So when Carolin arrived she helped us talk to our neighbor who let us cook the lasagna in their oven.  Now we need to get in touch with the landlord to see how to get the oven fixed.  We took a walk to the lake while the lasagna cooked so Carolin gave us some German lessons on things in the park.  Many words sound like or are similar to English most are not tho.
swan = schwan
geese = Gänse
insect = insekt
ocean = Ozean
Sea = Meer
spider = Spinne
bug = Käfer
lake = See
bird = Vogel

Learning some German words

Feeding the Gänse and Schwans

Carolin has respect for the Schwans when they HISS at her.

The 4 almost grown baby Gänse eating something in the Willow Tree roots.

Proud parent Schwans, 4 cute fuzzy baby swans or Cygnets or
Schwanjunge

GERMAN LANGUAGE CLASS
My last day of the first German class was last Friday.   I have decided not to sign up for the next one for  awhile.  I didn't like the the teaching method and I think it costs too much plus it was not really a beginning class.  It was more geared for someone who already knows almost all the vocabulary and needs to get the grammar correct.  I will work with the materials I've collected so far and re-enforce what I've learned.  I've ordered another set of CD's and I can always buy the next course book if I need more exercises.  One of the last things we did was to write on 4 pieces of paper in our native language "I" , "want to", "learn", "German" and lay them on the floor.  So here is a sample of some of the languages.  There where about 4 or 5 students absent this day so we didn't get all the languages.

Frau Geronti is in the center in black, she is from Greece.  The rest are students.

Greece, Iraq, Syria, Romania, Poland, Spain, Greece, Poland, Poland, me-U.S.A., Russia?, Thailand, Poland, Montenegro, Philippines.  Absent was India, Georgia, Korea, Turkey, I think that is it. 

GERMAN LANGUAGE CLASS
I am taking a beginning German Intensive Language course Monday through Friday from 2pm to 5:15pm.  I started Jan 15.  I missed the first day.  The class is 5 weeks long.  I was hoping it would start out with simple things like the A.B,C's and 1, 2, 3...  but it is more along the lines of "OK. Lets have a conversation."  The instructor only speaks in German.  I am pretty lost a lot of the time.  But I will get better and learn fast I hope.  The people in the class are interesting.  There are about 26 students.  I am the only American.  So far I have found out that we have people from these countries: Korea, Spain, Philippines, Poland, Montenegro, India, Iraq, Romania, Syria, Georgia, Turkey, Greece, and Thailand.  Pretty good melting pot I think.

I have homework everyday.

Here are books we have to help me learn German.  I bought some elementary school books last year and was translating them.

My books and notebook.  The "Schritte plus" is the text for the class.

I have had a week of class so far and feel like I may be getting a bit overwhelmed.   I dreamt last night that I was talking in German but didn't know all the words so I made them up.  People didn't understand me but I kept talking anyway.  Sort of like what happens to me in the elevator when people talk to me in German.  I don't know what they are saying but they tell me about it anyway.

Me dreaming in German

Abendakadamie - This is the building where I take classes.  Abend means evening.