6 Ways Speaking German Has Messed With My English

One thing that is fascinating about crossing cultures is the mixing that happens. This whole process involves taking on a 2nd filter through which we view the world and there are plenty of times where it is easy to get confused...

1. Sentences: German sentences can keep going and going, and it really isn't that big of a deal how long the sentence is, as long as the thought remains the same. This is very freeing, actually. So even though English sentences need to be shorter and get to the point, I find myself constantly needing to go back and cut down my last sentence when I am writing in English. My German long-sentence-tendencies are crossing over.

2. Things that Aren't Really "Things": Certain events, objects or experiences we have here can be translated, but they just don't carry the same sort of emotional connection. The biggest example of this is Strassenbahn (street car / tram). Both translations don't really capture the essence of the object in my mind. Street cars are only in San Francisco and trams are usually at the airport between terminals. What we have here is different and the German word fits it the best. So we usually just use the German word for it, even when we speak English. It makes for some mixed sentences.

3. Word Order / Words : This one is tricky because it is so subtle. German sentences like to have the time before the place in a sentence. So every now and then a sentence like, "I went yesterday to the store"or "I need at four o'clock to call my mom" comes out of your mouth.

4. Forgetting Both Languages: My favorite moment is when I am talking about something and I can't think of the word in German, so I try to think of the word in English and I can't remember that either.

5. Figures of Speech: I have learned that I like to use figures of speech or metaphors a lot in my speaking and writing. This is great until you translate a figure of speech literally into German and your friend looks at you oddly. The other side of it is now I try to go the other direction and talk about a "donkey's bridge" in English and non-German speakers look at me oddly, as well.

6. When the German word IS the English word: today I was reading an article in German about reintroducing the "Wisent" into a certain part of Germany. So I looked up the English translation... which is wisent. That is the name of the "European buffalo." This also goes back to number 2 above.

I know there are way more than six here. Perhaps at the end of the day I am wrong and German hasn't "messed up" my English. I do think that it has made my life richer to learn another language. Sometimes when I am in a group speaking German it just hits me out of the blue - I am speaking and understanding another language! This truly is a blessing from God.

Share your stories of how speaking a second language below, we can't wait to hear them!

Lens Cap

I am have too many interests. Bethany says I had a major in college, but I have a lifetime minor in curiosity. Too many things in this world are fascinating! One thing I really love is photography. It's an exercise in perspective. You are either trying to capture the beauty of every day objects, or distill an experience into a single frame.

The thing about photography is there are so many details to remember. You can miss one tiny setting and there will be something wrong with your photo. And the settings are different for each condition. The camera can be perfectly set for one circumstance, and then conditions change and your photo is too dark, too light or completely out of focus. There is a lot to think about. The one thing that is consistent is the lens cap. It doesn't matter how expensive your camera is, if your lens cap is on the lens, you're not capturing anything! Every time you want to take a picture, you have to pull off the lens cap. It is the most basic and obvious step of any photographic adventure.

Today I was watching the Olympics in London. There are always a thousand photographers in the background. It is cool to see them snapping away and capturing those moments. In the background of one of the shots, I noticed a professional photographer checking his camera and trying to figure out why it wasn't working. From my vantage point, I could see that his lens cap was still on his camera. In a minute or so, he figured out the issue and got to work.

This half a second on camera got me thinking for two reasons. First, if professionals can make this mistake, I don't feel bad at all for making the mistake myself and accidentally leaving my lens cap on sometimes. Second, I think we always want to make things more complicated than they really need to be. In photography, sometimes it's as simple as taking the lens cap off to fix the problem. In life, we look for some mystical secret behind having a relationship with God. Really it can be very simple...He is the one seeking intimacy with us. I think there are times when we sit there fiddling with the settings on "our camera" and wondering why it doesn't work. But we aren't practicing the basic spiritual disciplines. We don't seek community with others and have real conversations that really challenge us and challenge others. Often, we get stuck with our lens cap on.

Photo credit: rollingroscoe from morguefile.com

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