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The drunk snail’s journey (TAC14) | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Suzie Diglot Senior Member Belgium Joined 4017 days ago 155 posts - 226 votes  Speaks: German*, English Studies: French, Dutch | Message 25 of 161 24 January 2014 at 7:01pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Hi Cavesa,
love to see your new log and your progress already done!
As someone from Rhineland area, I confirm that the Pils (I hardly ever hear Pilsener)is usually served in glasses as shown in your link, Patrickwilken, also in pubs. So this might indeed be a regional thing, as beer-drinking habits in Germany usually are. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4797 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 26 of 161 24 January 2014 at 8:13pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Obviously a regional thing then. How could I forget the word "tankard"? I see it all the time in my favourite rpg. However, I think the glass from the place of origin should always be taken as the really correct and typical one :-)
Patrick, anglophones are usually represented among the multiculti groups and I think it's not only the German courses. I think most authors in whole Europe are afraid not to be multiculti enough. And you are totally right those stereotypical stories are horrible. I am tired of all those students going for an exchange or a semester abroad and I am such a student who hopes to get such an opportunity! What about people who find it totally irrelevant? Why can't there be a story of a detective (one of my wild ideas but I think it would be an excellent textbook story across whole book from zero to B1 ;-) ) or a whole family moving or anything. And have you ever noticed that there are no handicapped people, except for the chapter about health and usually not even there? There aren't even many old people. I just wonder. The authors make sure to have all the races in the photos and equal numbers of men and women. But old people are not much represented and never as those in the classrooms, no wonder so few get the courage to learn a language despite their wish. They aren't nearly ever in the advertisements of the language schools, those are full of people under 30 or more likely under 25. And there are no people in wheelchairs, no blind or deaf people represented and so on in the books. But I'd bet there are many more handicaped and old people in Germany (or any country) than foreigners coming to learn the language. The photos are sending a message "it is normal that people of various races and nationalities have a good time together in a language class" but obviously, it is not normal for the authors to have someone with a health condition in the group having fun and learning just like others. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| patrickwilken Senior Member Germany radiant-flux.net Joined 4321 days ago 1546 posts - 3200 votes Studies: German | Message 27 of 161 24 January 2014 at 8:42pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
I realized after I posted that you were Czech and might (rightly)have opinion on the matter! What do Germans know about Pils anyway? :p Tankard is a pretty low frequency word that I mostly associate with medieval banquets, but that might be in part because we simply don't use them in Australia. A Krug (?) seems like a pretty useful word here in Germany.
Interesting, I haven't seen so many textbooks, but the ones I did either had bio-deutsch (that's a phrase I picked up from my wife for German-germans - not sure how common or pc it is) or had lots of Turks called Fatima and the like. Actually I find it annoying how Germans will say Germans to refer to non-immigrants, and then Turks etc for others. I think it's a basic indication that immigration isn't really embedded in the consciousness of the culture. In Australia you would be called Czech or Australian depending on the context - the two concepts are orthogonal. In American you'd be Czech-American, which I always found problematic as it seems to suggest you are somehow not same sort of American as say an Australian-American. Still it's better than Germany where you'd always be either German or much more likely Czech.
So are you still eligible for an Erasmus year? My wife's sister managed to work out that Martinique was still part of France, and that she could do hers in the Caribbean. I must say despite me thinking that was a total swindle at the time her French seems really good and she seems to have learnt a lot (she also did a internship in Tunisia afterwards, and now dates a guy from Lyon).
A Krimi textbook is a genius idea, especially for a German textbook. But I agree in general an interesting textbook that wasn't so bland-and-pc would be really great. There is definitely a market for something more interesting. Perhaps we should just crowd source the idea and do our own. Edited by patrickwilken on 24 January 2014 at 8:58pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4797 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 28 of 161 24 January 2014 at 10:07pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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I love some low frequency medieval words. Actually, I can name a lot of medieval weapons in English even though I can't name most in Czech :-D
Bio-Deutsch. I think I know what you mean. That is another topic the authors never get tired of :-D After all, who needs to get their broken heating repaired in the country when you can discuss its horrible influence on the global warming instead ;-) Well, Germans still have troubles with immigrants and, truth be told, some groups of immigrants aren't helping the situation. And that is the same in most european countries. But I think part of the difference is historical. In America or Australia, you are joining a long tradition of immigrants creating a new nation together. Everybody is either an immigrant (or their descendant) or living in the reserves. In Europe, including the UK so it isn't one of the usual anglosphere vs. the rest of the words differences, you join a country where majority of everyone's ancestors had already been living there before there even was a country like the one there is today. I'm still a student (and will be for several more years) so I am eligible. WHether I get through the selection process (I'll try next year), that is a totally different matter. But I've never considered the Carribean :-D Even though I can totally see the logic. Clever girl :-) Hmm, perhaps I should learn German to high level first, before trying to put together courses :-D 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6385 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 29 of 161 24 January 2014 at 11:06pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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I don't think political correctness is what makes textbooks boring. Everyone deserves better texbooks, and I certainly agree with Cavesa about old and disabled people. And European textbooks tend to forget there's life outside the EU.
Although it's funny when the topic is Multi-Kulti and the book neutrally tells you about the immigrants, and then the teacher starts rambling in Russian about how Turks are invading Germany... 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| g-bod Diglot Senior Member United KingdomRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5770 days ago 1485 posts - 2002 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, German | Message 30 of 161 24 January 2014 at 11:23pm | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Assumptions about the type of people using your textbook are not limited to the DAF market either. The best Japanese textbooks I've used assume that you are learning Japanese because you are to be sent there on a business trip. The worse assume that you are an American college student preparing for a homestay and proceed to frame all dialogues and texts around cultural differences between typical Japanese and typical Americans, as if no other culture even exists. And then they serve up genuinely embarassing practice dialogues about how some stupid college student upset their host mother over something trivial and has to apologise. I will take another earnest page on global warming over that any day!
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| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4797 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 31 of 161 25 January 2014 at 12:00am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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Yeah, the Japanese don't often recognize non-american white people. In Japan, we were always asked whether we were Americans first. Actually "no" made a few people smile in relief. SOme were excited about Czechoslovakia, that was kind of nice no matter it doesn't exist. I'm so looking forward to Japanese (sometime around 2020-2025), g-bod!
Serpent, there is outer life described on the maps published in the EU! To the east, there are bears (Putin rides a bear, I've seen it on the internet!) who make vodka, to the south, there are vast lands overcrowded with future immigrants and, to the west, there is Murica! P.S. And that's actually more complete and precise info than most EU citizens can tell you about most EU member states. :-D 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||||||||
| 1e4e6 Octoglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4078 days ago 1013 posts - 1588 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish, Italian Studies: German, Danish, Russian, Catalan | Message 32 of 161 25 January 2014 at 12:10am | IP Logged | |||||||||||
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About Czechoslowakia, my grandfather still asks when the King (I assume George V or VI)
shall make the next royal visit to Calcutta, British India, if the Union of South Africa and Southern Rhodesia would form a union, and talks about his holidays to the "largest city and financial centre of Canada", Montréal, or by ship to Indochina, Malaya, and the Straits Settlements. Also it does not help that my only set of encyclopaedia are a 1974 A-Z set sitting approximately two metres away from me. And my only atlas as a child still has the USSR, Czechoslowakia, Hong Kong (UK), Macau (POR), Southern Rhodesia (UK), etc. Edited by 1e4e6 on 25 January 2014 at 12:11am 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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