First lessons in German, and other misc stuff...

So when you start to learn a new language getting your mouth and tongue to actually produce some sounds can be a challenge. I have the advantage, I learned Afrikaans from a very early age so the German 'ch' sound is easy for me to pronounce, sure its softer than the Dutch 'ge' but the shape of the mouth is vary similar, just less harsh, in fact I think the German sound is more pleasing. The other half never had my advantage, in fact I think the only German word she ever heard was 'scheizhausen' ( I may have spelled that incorrectly), and its not one of those words that naturally lends itself to everyday conversation. It also doesn't have the 'ch' sound in it. So listening to her, she alternates between pronouncing 'ik', 'urghh', 'itch', and just can't seem to get the 'ch'. I'm sure most German students would have this problem.

Despite the obvious setback of pronunciation, German is actually quite an easy language to learn, many of the words are very similar to their English equivalent and this really helps for someone like her. She has even managed to hold a conversation with a German speaking relative. Well, conversation probably isn't the word, but she was understood and better yet, she understood the responses, but the conversation kinda stopped after that, but its an important first step don't you think?

Actually we've had a few laughs with the phrasebooks, we bought a Lonely Planet German phrasebook, and check out these phrases everyone should know;

pg 65 at the hairdresser 'Ich hätte Sie nie an mein Haar lassen dürfen', which apparently means, 'I should never have let you near me'
pg 93 occupations 'Ich bin ein Drag Queen', 'I am a drag queen'
pg 110 going out 'Ich bin high, 'I'm high'
pg 111 romance 'Er ist ein depp, 'He's a prick' or how about this, 'Sie lässt nichts anbrennen', 'She gets around'

We've been in hysterics going through these and imagining all sorts of scenarios where we can use them!

EDIT: The BBC reports on a German mountain (Brocken) that symbolizes German unity. That's interesting, but what really caught my eye was the value of property in the some parts of the East. Could we really buy a house for €10,000? If so, can anyone point to a website where we can see these properties listed?