2. One phone call to a lifetime's learning

2.  One Phone Call to a Lifetime's Learning (See Quiztests 102-103)

Kurt Herzog had been a Luftwaffe pilot in WW 2 and indeed had won an Iron Cross for his wartime service. He and wife Anna came to start a new life in Australia and escape from the turmoil of post war Europe. His influence on me was quite pivotal. Prior to meeting the Herzogs, I had probably preferred French as a foreign language (and was studying Latin at the same time, which incidentally proved to be a great help later in my studies of Middle High German). Within a very short time, German became my favourite language and this was largely due to the personal contact I had on a regular basis with native speakers. At the end of the evening, Anna, who was a professional cook, would produce a cup of coffee (eine Tasse Kaffee) and a fabulous Torte or Kuchen, and often enough my favourite Schwarzwälderkirschtorte (Black Forest cherry cake with genuine German sour cherries!). German for me suddenly was exposed to its own personal and cultural advertising campaign. I should add at this stage that my father used to drive me to the Herzog's place once a week and he as a teacher was able to help the Herzog's kids with their English, Maths, Geography and any other areas of the curriculum where Dad had some expertise. So, in this sense, I didn't feel so bad about getting free German tuition.

Herr Herzog did something remarkable for me right from the very start. He made me SPEAK the language. I remember vividly one special evening when he said to me: Graham, I want you to tell me in German how a car works. I almost fell out of my chair! At that stage,  I couldn't even have told him how a car worked in English, not that I am much better with cars now. In a very short period of time, Kurt explained to me how it all worked and gave me words like  Vergaser, Bremsen, Zündkerze, Gangwerk, Benzin, Öl, Motor (Carburettor, brakes, spark plug ...  lit. lighting candle ... gears, petrol, oil, motor) and showed me how to put them in sentences. I blundered my way through the task and somewhat relieved when it all came to an end, slumped back in my chair. Then he said to me: OK, Graham, let's go over it again!  (You are joking), I thought, but we did go back over it and I got a fair bit right this time. And yes, you guessed it, when I finished, he said once again: OK, let's do it one more time! I did struggle through it a third time but once again much more fluently than my first paltry efforts. What Kurt had given me though, were the tools for learning to speak a foreign language, which in the 1950s and 1960s was just a non event. From that time on, I have regularly made myself SPEAK a language by putting myself in a similar situation to the one Kurt had given me that night. My fluency in speaking German took off exponentially from that night onwards. Danke, Herr Herzog!

Berlin 2013 Spree River

1. German in the World [99 -101]

1. German in the World (See Quiztest 99 - 101)

***  For posts, there is a usually a Quiztest & Quiztest Answer Post in given in brackets.  Post  99 = Quiztest for Post 1 and Answers are given in Post 101

German is spoken in many parts of the world but primarily the three main countries where it is used on a daily basis are Germany itself, Austria and Switzerland.

There are many dialects in these three countries and it is well possible that a native speaker in North Germany will not understand the language used in the south of the country. Pronunciation and vocabulary used in the respective parts of the German speaking world vary enormously and this can create massive problems for a learner of the language. More about this later!

The standard language of the German speaking world is Hochdeutsch (literally High German) but its name doesn't come from the fact that it is of high standard but from the geographic location of its origins in the highlands of the south. Locals also refer commonly to Hochdeutsch as Schriftdeutsch, or Written German. This is the language taught in schools, used in newspapers and in the media generally. Hochdeutsch came into being when Martin Luther translated the Latin bible into German so the people in Germany could learn about it in their own language and not in the language of the scholars of the day.

I started learning German in an Australian high school at the age of 12. A cupel of years later, a phone call to my parents one night from a native born German speaker, Kurt Herzog, changed my life. He had heard I was studying German for my high school final exams (Leaving Certificate in those days) and wanted to know if I might be interested in learning to 'speak' German once a week. "Your fee?", my parents enquired. "Nothing (kostenlos - costless)! We would just like to get to know some Australian families."

German has been an integral part of my life ever since.

Berlin - Brandenburg gate side view from tourist bus