German groceries

Every now and then I feel the need to do some cross border shopping for two key reasons: some things are way cheaper in Germany (although some are much more expensive) and others are just not available in good ol’ Frankreich. As usual, since such trips are rare, we went a little overboard on some things, but not as badly as I sometimes have (How can you not when chocolate costs HALF the price 10 minutes and 1 virtually unmanned border away?).

So, besides chocolate, what takes me from one land of sauerkraut and pretzels to another (because c’mon, I do live in Alsace after all)? Well, cheaper chocolate is a start, cheaper toiletries; shampoo, shower gel and the like, but also better cold cuts (I guess my German roots and/or my 3 1/2 years working in a German deli have made me a bit partial), sausages (namely wieners – which I suppose I should get from Austria at some point – and bratwurst), pickles (there are good ones on France, but my favourites are in Deutschland), some alcohols (I’m not much of a drinker, but I likes me some cocktails and have had a hard time finding certain alcohols I consider key: most recently peach schnapps), bacon (what the French call bacon isn’t what I call bacon, and sometimes some good, crisp bacon brings pure joy ), Philadelphia cream cheese (the nearest equivalent is ok for cheesecake, but not for eating as is…

Then there are the things that we come across unexpectedly like Snyders of Hanover pretzels (this might not seem surprising, until you realize that it’s Hanover, Pennsylvania), waffles, bagels, Ovaltine chocolate bars, chocolate covered raisons…

Finally, in looking for some herbal teas (I prefer fruity and/or sweet) the two that most caught my attention (for their flavours, not for their names) were “Heisse Liebe” (“hot love”: raspberry vanilla) and “Pure Lust” (strawberry rhubarb). Crazy Germans.

Language learning – the next generation

At the risk of spam comments, here’s a bit about my latest discovery after my summer learning hiatus.

A few months ago, I told you about Babbel: a website that combines language learning with social networking, with 5 languages (English, French, German, Spanish and Italian) from which you can learn words and phrases based on photos submitted by the users, and audio provided by Babbel. I still like the site, and their latest evolution adding tutorials (even if I’m less than impressed with their attention to users, since it was they who approached me to ask if I wanted to test that function, then never gave me access until the testing was done and it became available to everyone).

Anyway, I recently discovered, thanks to my favourite blog for all kinds of interesting discoveries: lifehacker, I discovered Busuu, a language learning / social networking site with a much stronger emphasis on the social networking part of things. The vocabulary on the first (very basic) units I have tried so far is a little light, but combined with photos and sound, it’s a good review. What’s interesting is that the second level, after seeing the vocabulary, is writing a couple of sentences, which are then corrected by native or advanced speakers on the site to learn other languages. For me the clear lack is (as a beginner) trying to go from vocabulary to actually writing a sentence, but since I’ve started with Spanish, in which I have some “traditional” learning behind me, it was ok. With that basis though, it’s really an amazing way to move forward. I actually started by commenting on a couple of other users sentences in English, which gave me a first idea of how things worked. Besides, in this sort of community, there is little sense in taking (the advice/corrections of others) if you are not going to give (and help other users). I have helped a couple of people with their English, a couple of others with their French, and gotten some help on my Spanish. The site offers vocab for English, French, Spanish and German, but provides a full list of languages that you can indicate that you speak. You seem to be limited to “learning” 4 languages, but you can indicate any on the list (in addition to German and Spanish, I’ve added Italian and Japanese, following a recent decision with Luc to give that a try this year). I quickly became “friends” with two Spanish-speakers who are learning English, and who gave me some great help with my Spanish, as well as a Japanese speaker who is learning English. I’ve only been at this for a couple of hours though, so I’ll have to see how it pans out.

What’s interesting, is that I find myself automatically looking for people around my age, perhaps because I feel subconsciously like they will be the best help for me, and (who knows) the least judgmental. With users I’ve seen ranging from 16 to their 50s or 60s it seems like just about everyone can be that picky too

German certified

Well, I am happy to announce that I (just barely) got my first-level German certificate! I’m not thrilled about the “just barely”, but not surprised either. I have not been thrilled with my learning from the start, and was in a course level that clearly exceeded my abilities, adding to my frustration and potentially further limiting my ability to progress. That said, I am glad to have a concrete piece of paper that says I can get by, even if my ventures into German with my favourite German clients is usually limited to “Ich brauche drei Zitrone” (I need three lemons) – thank you Babbel for that one! Incidentally, I can say that in Spanish too, but since I don’t have my certificate results yet, I’ll keep that one for later.

The end of another school year

Okay, so I’m not technically in school, but adult education courses also follow the academic school year here, which means no courses during the summer, and with several one- or two- week breaks throughout the year. In particular, this week was the wrap-up of my Spanish course (German had already finished) as well as “certificate” exams in both languages (only loosely connected to the courses themselves, these exams are available for anyone wanting to test their level). I actually managed to meet my goal of finishing all of the Babbel lessons (and if doing a fair bit of review, since doing all the lessons once has very little value, as one quickly discovers when at the 7-day review recommended in the application you realize that half (if you’re lucky) of the words are buried deep within your brain, only to return to the surface with much coaxing. I’m particularly proud of that feat, though, since Babbel moved the goal post (pardon the pun that you will understand in the next sentence) more than once, adding a couple of lessons here and there. The last two lessons were a second and third lesson on European football and, specifically, Euro 2008 (with amusing phrases like “Zidane is suspended!”).

It’s been an interesting experience, as I struggled to get out of work in time for classes, but it feels great. Now to play the waiting game until the results of the exams come in the mail. As a great man once said “the waiting game sucks, let’s play hungry hungry hippos” (sigh, is there any part of life that the Simpsons doesn’t play into?). I admit that I’m relieved to have a break, and have my evenings to myself, but worried, since I don’t have a clear deadline that I sometimes need to actually escape the office at a reasonable hour. Thank goodness for holidays (even working holidays: EuroMineral and EuroGem is in just one more week!).

Social networking and language learning

So, I still haven’t taken the leap to Group Recipes (see my earlier post) (in fact, I haven’t really thought about it at all). I have since found a new addiction – a social networking site for learning German, Spanish, Italian, and French (or perhaps a language learning site with social networking capabilities?). Personally, I’m not sure about the social networking aspect, and even less sure since I got a message in the site inbox from some guy asking how I was doing and whether I had a boyfriend. A bit sketchy, if you ask me. However, the fact that there is a point system to show how much you’ve learned, and a ranking (“last 7 days” and “all time”) has pushed me to spend more and more time on it. I first launched into it this just over a week ago, when I was sick and unable to go to my German class. I ended up spending all weekend learning German, so I figure it was a good trade off (not to mention a few lessons a night when I can). My first goal is to get through each of the 53 lessons at least once (basically each lesson has 10-20 words to learn plus 10-15 phrases, but once you’ve done a lesson what you’ve learned gets added to your personal vocabulary list, and you can refresh either the lesson or a bit of everything from your vocab list, so I usually do a lesson, and then refresh a random sampling of my vocabulary). My second goal will be to do the same for Spanish, all the while doing refreshers of German…by the end of May. Nothing like tight deadlines to get things moving!

Thanks to Zoey from TheLanguageTravelCompany for asking (I completely forget to mention it): the site is called Babbel.