Why I Love the German LanguageNovember 11, 2012 AlexBrueckner 6 Comments When I started learning German in high school, I, like so many others who have delved into the language of the Vaterland, encountered scores of people who would make a face and ask me, Why would you want to learn German? Its just such anugly language. Everything sounds so mean.Fast forward ten years. While I dont claim to be even close to fluent, my German is passable in just about any situation, save complex medical or technical ones. Ive kept up with my German, even though I now live in Japan, for many reasons, but the overarching one is this: I am head over heels in love with this language.Of course, a great deal of the reason why I love German so much is because I view four of the best months of my life (when I studied abroad in Kln) as intrinsically entwined with the language. I can count the negative experiences Ive had in Germany on one hand. The positive memories I associate with the country and its tongue number far too many to easily count.Its impossible not to fall in love with that country. Unmglich.Part of my love of German lies within its logic. It is a language of rules, of staying within the lines. Learn a grammar rule, and youre pretty much set. And while its structure might not be simple (Seriously, why do we need five different words for the?), theres a beauty in all that neat, orderly tidiness. Someone once told me that I approach language from a mathematical perspective, that I like my words to follow all the rules and that I dislike any sense of disorder. If thats the case, then its no surprise Germans the language Ive grown to love.While I might be a stickler for a language with regular grammar, my real love affair with German lies in the words themselves. Naturally, every language has its words that cannot be properly translated into English. In Japanese, my favorite word is , which means the way sunlight filters through foliage. In French, theres lesprit de lescalier, which describes when you think of the absolute perfect thing to say after walking away from a situation.In German, though, Ive found those untranslatable words even better. With so many of them, theres this inherent, subtle sense of sadness that I absolutely love, though perhaps that says more about me as a person than German as a language. Naturally, Schadenfreude, or the pleasure you take from seeing others misfortune, comes to mind first. (And Im sorry, my conservative friends, but I have been feeling an awful lot of gleeful Schadenfreude in the post-election liberal euphoria, what with sites like didmittromneywin.comand whitepeoplemourningromney.tumblr.com.) Honestly, though, there are so many more fantastic German words.Theres Torschlusspanik, which literally translates to gate-closing panic, and means the dread that, as you get older, the opportunities youre afforded decrease. Forget a quarter- or mid-life crisis. Give me a few years and Im going to suffer from a full-fledged Torschlusspanik attack.And if gate-closing panic gets you down, youve got Kummerspeck, or the weight you gain from overeating from sorrow or heartbreak, to put you at ease. It literally translates to grief bacon, which you when you think about it, is the absolute perfect term. In English, sure, weve got the phrase comfort eating, but doesnt grief bacon just hit the nail on the head so much more perfectly?Then theres Fernweh, one of my personal favorites. If youre lazy, you could just translate it as wanderlust, but its really so much more than that. Instead, its a painful, yearning homesickness for places youve never even been before.And theres Gemtlichkeit, the feeling of being perfectly, cozily, comfortably at homeand Drachenfutter, the gift a husband needs to buy when hes pissed off his wifeand fremdschmen, the act of feeling shame or embarrassment for another personthe list goes on and on.So, yes, I love German for its untranslatable words, but every foreign language has those. Maybe its the sounds I love most of all. Call me crazy, but I could sit and listen to a native German speaker all day long. Others will say that Italian or Spanish or French is more pleasing, but I have grown to find German, with its back-of-the-throat ch and prolonged umlauted verbs, truly beautiful.Perhaps because German, admittedly, isnt a beautiful language in the classic sense, it makes declarations like Ich liebe dich all the more earnest. Tell me you love me or really, give me any sort of compliment at all in French, and sure, Ill believe it because it sounds like youre complimenting me. In German, though, I have to look beyond the sounds of the words to the speaker themselves. I cant just rely on the words because they sound stereotypically beautiful. German has made me keener, more adept at reading people.And if someone tells me Ich liebe dich and I dont believe them? Then Ive always got my sense of Fernweh calling me away to somewhere where I can get over it.http://theglobetrottinggeek.com/2012/11/11/why-i-love-the-german-language/Possible roles and program Untersttzung der Stipendiaten beim praktischen Deutschlernen Supporting grantees in practical learning German Untersttzung des Betreuerteams bei der Konzeption, Organisation und Durchfhrung des Freizeitprogramms Support the care teams in the design, organization and implementation of the activity program Beteiligung am Sport-, Freizeit- und Kulturprogramm Participation in sports, leisure and cultural activities Beteiligung an der Begrung der Stipendiaten als Vertreter des gastgebenden Deutschland Participation in welcoming the scholarship as a representative of the host Germany Austausch mit den Stipendiatinnen und Stipendiaten ber interessante Themen rund um das Leben in Deutschland und den Themenschwerpunkt Wir bauen Brcken in die Zukunft Exchange with the fellows about interesting topics about living in Germany and the main topic "Building Bridges to the Future" Kleinere Recherchettigkeiten und Mithilfe bei der Erstellung der Tagesplne Smaller research activities and assisting in the preparation of daily plans Mitarbeit bei der Dokumentation der Jugendkurse, insbesondere beim Jugendkurs-Blog der PASCH-Webseite Assisting in the documentation of the teens, especially when teens blog the PASCH website Mitarbeit beim Erstellen von Beitrgen fr die Kurszeitung sowie fr PASCH-Global, der internationalen Online-Schlerzeitung der Initiative Employees when creating articles for the newspaper and price for PASCH Global, the international online student newspaper of the initiative

Voraussetzungen, die du erfllen solltest Conditions, you should comply with the Wenn du als Praktikant/in an einem PASCH-Jugendkurs teilnehmen mchtest, solltest du: If you want to participate as an intern / in in a PASCH youth course, you should: 16-18 Jahre alt sein Be 16-18 years old eine weiterfhrende Schule in Deutschland besuchen (Gymnasium, Gesamtschule, FOB) a secondary school in Germany to visit (High School, Secondary School, FOB) Interesse an interkulturellem Austausch haben Interested in intercultural exchange Kulturell Neuem offen und vorurteilsfrei begegnen Culturally meet again openly and without prejudice Selbstndig und zuverlssig kleinere Arbeitsauftrge ausfhren knnen Independently and reliably perform minor work orders Dich gut in internationalen Gruppen Gleichaltriger einfinden knnen You may well arrive in international peer groups Vielfltige, kommunikative Fhigkeiten haben, das heit Freude daran, sich mit den Stipendiatinnen und Stipendiaten zu unterhalten sowie Themen verstndlich zu erklren und aktiv zuhren zu knnen Versatile, have communication skills, that is pleasure to talk with the fellows and to explain topics to understand and actively listening to Von Vorteil sind auch: Of advantage are: Erfahrungen in der Jugendarbeit oder sonstiges soziales Engagement Experience in youth work or other social engagement Auslandsaufenthalte und Reisen Abroad and Travel Mitarbeit bei Schlerzeitungen Participation in student newspapers Erfahrungen mit Bild- und Audiobearbeitung Experiences with video and audio editing Kenntnisse in Textverarbeitungsprogrammen Knowledge of word processing programs Du bereicherst den Kurs im Freizeitprogramm und Projektunterricht zustzlich durch: You enrich it the course in leisure activities and project work in addition by: ein gewisses Ma an Kreativitt a certain degree of creativity spezielle Interessen und Kompetenzen im Bereich Sport und/oder special interests and skills in the field of sport and / or musikalische oder gestalterische Fhigkeiten musical or creative skills

Leistungen, die wir dir bieten Services we offer to you Kostenfreie Unterkunft und Verpflegung in einem Internat oder Gstehaus whrend des zwei- beziehungsweise dreiwchigen PASCH-Jugendkurses Free board and lodging in a boarding or guest house during the two- or three-week PASCH youth course 50 Euro Taschengeld pro Woche 50 euros pocket money per week Aktivitten innerhalb des Freizeitprogramms sind fr dich kostenlos Activities within the recreational program is free of charge for you Die Kursleitung wird euch eine Kurseinfhrung geben und es ist die Zuteilung eines Mentoren bzw. einer Mentorin im Betreuerteam zu Beginn des Kurses vorgesehen The course instructor will give you an introduction course and it is envisaged the assignment of a mentor or a mentor in the care team at the start of the course Du erhltst ein offizielles Praktikumszeugnis, das deine Aufgaben im PASCH-Jugendkurs beinhaltet und deine erworbenen Erfahrungen im Bereich soziale und interkulturelle Kompetenz besttigt You will receive an official internship certificate that includes your tasks PASCH-teens and your acquired experience in social and intercultural competence confirmed http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?depth=1&hl=en&prev=search&rurl=translate.google.co.in&sl=de&u=http://blog.pasch-net.de/jugendkurse/pages/praktikum.html&usg=ALkJrhhLfevkvXKrE1Z7V2NfReSlbE4N4Q

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