READING GERMAN

At first, it was very intimidating to read books not of English. 

Though I was born speaking Cebuano or Bol-anon, I never thought or did not attempt for many years to read German. 

When I arrived here, I was enrolled at the University of Vienna. 

But upon getting employed the German of my colleagues was different. 

There you learn about Trottel, Narrish or any not so kind usage of the German language. 

At first, I was disappointed. But then, I thought perhaps it was in this way that some people were raised as kids at home. 

It cannot be denied that the country fully supported the Nazi Third Reich. 

My parents used to warn me about expressing unkind words even in our language. 

I believe it was a naïve attempt at controlling rudeness. It never cured things. 

Later, as we had kids, they were also exposed to such harsh language. 

It was easy to think of Don Quixote fighting such monstrosity. But in the end, it did not mend things. 

Not that attitude of “If you can’t lick them, join them.” 

It simply complicates matters. Before, in the University, we only have one book for reference. 

Now, we have the internet. 

Simply type in common phrases and voila! One can begin to sharpen ones Deutsch/German. 

Pronunciation could be difficult at first. But German is read as is. 

Their phonetics follow the book. If ever it strays away, it’s because it is borrowed from French or English. 

The only difference is when they use the “umlaut”. 

Those two cute points above a vowel. 

Another is borrowed words either from English or French. 

They put their way in changing it like adding a suffix to the verb. 

Examples: Studieren (to study) or repair: reparieren to cite a few. I walk my dog every day. 

And I pass this old telephone booth that’s been converted into a repository of old books. 

Its notice says” If you’re a book lover, take any of the books here. 

Sometimes, there are English books but most of them are in German. 

I even brought home a dictionary of Spanish and German. 

I tried to learn Spanish again after doing the Camino de Santiago in Spain. 

We had Spanish language in college, but I fail to appreciate it. 

But some of our words in Cebuano borrowed heavily from Spanish. 

Our being a colony of Spain for centuries forced us to learn Spanish. 

But like German we easily acquired the bad words. 

For instance: Lecheng YAWA! Which has nothing to do with the language, but the Spanish priests perhaps used them to express their disgust at somebody or someone. 

I learned later in life that Yawa is not the devil, but a mythical character known as Nagmalitong Yawa, a seducing Cebuano female folk deity.

Yet I got a failing grade on the subject Spanish. 

To save my scholarship my teacher made me memorize Jose Rizal’s “Mi ultimo Adios” Still in my teens then, it was still easy to commit many things in memory. 

That saved my scholarship. 

Now I find some fun in learning new languages. 

My family love vacations. 

So, before we go, me and my son have already learned a few phrases of the language of our destination. 

First, it was Rhodes. There we applied “Kalimera” (Hello or good morning) then, “Efcharisto” (Thank you). 

It was pure delight when the other person beam to a smile after hearing you can converse in their language. 

Though it was not new to me, while I was working in the catering service of Austrian Airlines, many Yugoslavians and Turkish people work there. 

I was once a group leader there and I learned to converse like them, just enough like a few phrases, but most especially numbers. 

I drew enough admiration from strangers when I did that. 

One time, we had a vacation in Croatia, I converse with the people working there in Croatian. 

Resorts like these forced their crew to converse in English. 

Me and my son have already prepared phrases to induce smiles. 

Of course, it’s just child’s play but seeing the humanity of the other person is simply priceless. 

I also participated in a mass mobilization in the Netherlands once. 

I was surprised that a lot of young Dutch participants know how to speak Tagalog and English aside their native Dutch. 

Many of them are activists. 

It’s much easier for them to move around when they are linguistically equipped. 

So, before we get side-tracked let’s get back to German. 

My German language teacher before told us to avoid translating words in our minds. It uses a lot of energy, but it doesn’t help. 

He told us to go inside the mind of a German person. 

He said, Remember: We are inundated with German every day, from train announcements to tv commercials.” Get into the zone!

I started with newspapers I got from work. It was also easier when my kids spoke to us in German. 

Since they were born here, though they also acquired the vernacular. 

Again, my teacher reminded me not to use the vernacular except for fun. You cannot sustain it.

When I found myself struggling to find the right word in a conversation. 

It became handy when I move around in my mind with an equivalent. 

Example: car (auto) or lkw (truck).

It may sound difficult at first, but it improves one’s vocabulary resources.

This old telephone booth was converted to a repository of donated books in Langenzerdorf. Before this photo was  taken, boxes of donated books could be found lying inside it on the ground.–

Those who would give light must endure burning.                         

                                        -Viktor Frankl