2017-04-06

 It was an interesting course though the dissatisfying note!

   How impressive when you find yourself owning the keys of other cultures! How amazing when you have that capacity to go smoothly into the minds of those from the other cultures! How incredible the feeling of tasting multiculturalism! 

This scene was the last moment in the class. It shows me (the gentleman who wears the tie) including our teacher in between us (two guys on her right hand and vice versa) and also my colleagues. Taken at Goethe Institute- Ramallah

Indeed, these expressions are faithfully coming out of my heart, make me energetic and very zealous to explore more of what's unexplored through this linguistic bridge. Because, I totally believe in what the Japanese writer Haruki Murakami said, "Learning another language is like becoming another person."
Yet, nothing remarkable has been accomplished with the end of the first part of the second intermediate phase that classified (B1) of this majestic German language. The only thing I could say is that am glad whatever was the outcome. I, however, inwardly not that much satisfied if comes to show the real mathematical estimation which reminds me of many previous disappointing linguistic experiences. 
It's naturally to pass through this disappointment in our tireless attempts to get to the summit. Otherwise, success won't come out without failed rounds might be sometimes intractable to overcome. This is the nature of life, it's a matter of luck. This luck, however, contingent on an assiduously arranged work to get the intended success. 
Eventually, tasting a new culture is enjoyable despite being complex at some point, but it doesn't freak you out as long as you have a noble goal looking forward to achieving which the language is your ship to embark on. But, if that goal is waiting for you in the realm of other culture where language is the only weapon to count on in the mid of battle for breaking down the barriers, then, it requires you not giving in to the impediments, just go after it.
What's the mystery behind this language?
At first, this fact makes the theme thinkable when we find out that German (Deutsch) is a widely spoken language in central Europe by approximately 118 million, including native and second language speakers. It dates back to at least the 6th century AD. It derives most of its vocabularies from Germanic branch of  Indo-European language family, part is derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from English and French.
Structurally and grammatically, every language has a special identity, German has a unique wonderment I have impinged on thus far. It's like an endless thread, the more you go into, the more intertwined complex elements you delve into where you can't make sense of what's going on around you at the first glance! So, you get stuck, then you get out, you get back again, and you move on, and on, and on in desperate attempts to figure out this mysterious periphery. It's an inevitable upshot for the newborn in the language.
At this phase, the leads I came up with provide me with a modest sensation to describe an open-ended perception towards German. I can just bring up some funny adventures were deliberately made to stir up the desire of catching up with this language all the time whether inside the classroom or outside. Otherwise, I felt that frustration burdened me down in the battlefield where German grammar alone guarantees my fatal defeat per se!
It's imaginable, and of course, it's quite clear when considering, for instance, the article "the" has three types in German "Der, Die, and Das" which are used in 16 forms according to different rules of feminine, masculine, and neutral that you must abide by. It's mind-boggling and leaves us wondering how can we distinguish if this concept classified as one of the aforementioned types rapidly and on time? My German teacher after explaining a bit the answer said, "Das ist Deutsch!" (This is German!).
Learning a second or a third language is totally confined to the merit, and my meritocracy is a relentless fondness for being a multi-lingual person. And, of course, nothing cost less, it requires time, efforts, and money ... etc. Thus, enjoying multiculturalism and showing off with impressive linguistic capacities cost you sacrificing.
I, actually, used to have a great deal of courage from my multi-lingual sister who fluently speaks four languages, she is insatiable with this, to the degree prompted her to inform me recently that she's looking towards owning the fifth language. All due respect for courageous and brilliant people!
The problem I encountered is the vulnerability in managing eagerness of learning the language wisely. The nature of my research in German affairs opens many channels up where German all the time is present, so, I can't wait for enough to explore what's written in a certain corner which ends me up confused with enormous complicated concepts that supposedly useless in my level, I could barely speak German.
German has its share in the writings of Mark Twain, who showed his ominous orientation towards his German experience as this majestic language is really as bad as he explained more than a century ago when argued in his essay "The Awful German Language,"
"The inventor of this language complicated it all he could. When we wish to speak of our "good friend or friends," in our enlightened tongue, we stick to the one form and have no trouble or hard feeling about it; but with the German tongue it is different. When a German gets his hands on an adjective, he declines it, and keeps on declining it until the common sense is all declined out of it. It is as bad as Latin."
And he concludes arguing that reforming German with remedies that he explains his readiness to do so through some suggestions,
"In the first place, I would leave out the Dative case. It confuses the plurals; and, besides, nobody ever knows when he is in the Dative case, except he discover it by accident and then he does not know when or where it was that he got into it, or how long he has been in it, or how he is going to get out of it again. The Dative case is an ornamental folly- it's better to discard it."
Conspicuously, German leaves an impact that sometimes makes learners run down given to cognitive complexity that not all people have good mental capacities to cope up with. Hence, Mark Twain ended up suggesting some modifications to the language in order to make it easier. I think he hadn't an expectancy that what he was thinking about is a figment of the imagination. It's a language spoken by millions of masses transferred it to this generation as they had used it. So, we still grapple with "Dative." Can we erase the fact that "Vladimir Lenin was the founding father of Bolshevik Revolution of 1917" from the historical documents?
Practically, as a German learner, I see he was somewhat right, let's take an example of how does it grammatically work in the following table;

It clarifies how the adjective (applied on male personal pronoun "Sein means His") before the noun is being changed based on the grammatical status. This is a constant draft that the inventors of German Language set up and mustn't be overruled because it's applied on millions of vocabularies. It seems a draconian rule for Mark Twain!

To make it more understandable, the whole things written in the table are obligatory to apply on every single German word. Otherwise, your German is wrong. Beginning with the first column on the left some abbreviations are put consecutively (Nom. "Nominative," Acc. "Accusative," Dat. "Dative," and Gen. "Genetiv"). The sentences are shown in the table can be simply used in English as such;
Singular, from "Nom" to "Dat" cases (two forms for each one): This is a nice friend. His nice friend.
For "Gen": Of this nice friend. Of his nice friend.
Also the same thing with neuter, but here another word is used (Kid); This is a nice kid. His nice kid.
"Gen": Of this nice kid. Of his nice kid.
Plural, from "Nom" to "Dat": these are nice kids. His nice kids.
"Gen": Of these nice kids. Of his nice kids.
But, hold on! the story is incomplete yet, there are cases with the other pronouns (Sie-she, Ihr-you, sie-they (plural), Sie-she or he (formal), euch-you all, and wir-we)

Do you understand now why Mark Twain was upset? Why should we constrain ourselves with this linguistic process as he claims? I could say as my teacher once said, "Das ist Deutsch!" Accept it or leave it.
On the other hand, there are trolls who fiercely defending German believing that it's a majestic language like me. As James Lane states,
"Well, Mr. Twain, you have been dead for over a century now, so maybe it's about time to have another look at your marvelous essay and see it anything has changed in the intervening years. Most of your suggestions for how to slim German down into a more manageable tongue have been ignored. I regret to inform you that the Dative case is well and truly alive, and in fact it is the Genitive case -the one which adds the sneaky -S- to its nouns as in "Wegen des Regens," "because of the rain,-" which seems most under threat."
 Going back to what said that Japanese writer, I feel that owning another language makes me a different person, I could touch upon this transformation.  The last experience at the company where I work is one of many I've gone through, which is indicative, my boss called me in to oversee an oral translation meeting between a Bulgarian delegation of businessmen has been visiting us for setting up a cooperative business, the head of board introduced himself mentioning, "I spent 7 years in Berlin where I studied business administration." After translating to my staff, I commented jokingly in German, "Ich vermute, dass Sie sprechen sehr gut Deutsch," "I guess you speak very good German." He surprisingly replied, "Natürlich spreche ich deutsch, aber wo hast du Deutsch gelernt?" I answered him in German while my colleagues were staring astonishingly at me and their facial expressions insinuated that "Wow you speak German also Nasser, we really had no idea." They actually don't know precisely the fact how poor still my German is! But, understandable.
Then, we chatted together in German over the plenary session whenever we had intervals. His reaction is actually familiar for me, it ascribed to stereotypes of how do people in the West portray us in the East as we still live in the darkness, or in a nomadic life where no modern technology, knowledge and so on and so forth. I totally have an aware about this fact, so, probably, the first inquiry he came up with is how come a guy from the other hemisphere or what's so-called MENA region speaks German or trying to? 
I really don't know why this perception overflying my head, maybe it's a mere obsession caused by getting infected of the Orientalism of Edward Said and his argument about Eastern-Western civilizational links. This businessman has never been to Palestine before. This, indeed, gives more courage.
By the way, I run into people with the same thinking from time to time. For instance, we have to talk to soldiers at Israeli checkpoints to deal with different matters like permits and other vetting measures we are exposed to. I don't speak Hebrew, many of them have asked me this question, "Where and how did you learn English?" It seemingly this a globally spoken language is weird to be spoken by a Palestinian about whom he/she used to nurture his/her mind with negative stereotypes.  
Anyhow, this German course carries the hope for more promising linguistic experiences in the foreseeable future. I'm dissatisfied with my performance at the moment. However, with perseverance, everything will hopefully be perfect.

   

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 24.04.2024