Language and such...

[Disclaimer: sorry if this entry comes across as snotty in any way... I simply find the the entire language phenomena and people's perceptions of my German rather interesting.]

While at the driving school today, I had two distinctly different styles of conversation, which was quite amusing.

Normally, people speak to me, well, "normally." At work, for example, my co-workers don't slow things down for me because I'm the Office American. I simply have to work a little harder than the others to understand everything. When Sydney told Bizarro Mom once that she should slow it down and speak Hochdeutsch* with me instead of Schwäbisch**, she said that she considered me a part of everyone else - no special treatment, that is. And that made me very happy (though I always appreciate Syd's help and clarifications! I can be rather lost at times.).

All that to say, though people know I'm American, and though I sometimes (often? usually? always? no!) don't follow everything, people tend to speak normally to me.

Today was a different story.

One of the guys at the driving school was seriously a German Al Gore communication-style-wise. He. E-nun-ci-a-ted. Each. Syl-la-ble. And. He. Spoke. Down. To. Me. Like. I. Had. Comprehension Issues. Which I do... but please! Not to that extent! And he kept repeating the simplest of things, as if I didn't understand.

Interestingly, about fifteen minutes before speaking with him, I'd had a conversation with a different man. Not only did this man speak rather quickly, but he had a slight accent, which made it even more difficult to follow.

After talking on and off as I was filling out practice tests, we had the following conversation (in German, of course)...

Man: "So, you got your license in the States?"
Mary: "Yes, in Texas. Unfortunately, it's not valid here..."
Man: "That's right... only licenses from certain states are recognized."
Mary: "And of course Texas isn't in the list."
Man: "How long were you in the States? Did you enjoy it there?"
Mary: "Um, I used to live there. I'm American."
Man: "Oh, I thought you had studied there."

He then told me that he thought I was German, had gotten my license while studying in the States, and had to re-do it here. He said he noticed that my German was a little "off", but thought it was due to an extended stay in the States.

*tee hee*

This isn't the first time for such an occurence, and it honestly confuses me. After much research and analysis, I've concluded that here could be several reasons for such occurences...

1. People are hard-of-hearing or don't listen and thus think my German is better than it actually is.

Person: "Your German's amazing!"
Mary: "It's cause you won't let me get a word in edge-wise."
Person: "No, seriously, your German is great."
Mary: "Yeah, all I've done in the past two hours is nod my head and say either 'yes' or 'no'. If I'd actually speak, you'd witness the horrors."

2. I often carry the same surface-y conversations with people I've just met, so I know what to say, have said it before, and thus come across fairly fluent and, well, German.

3. Having lived here as a child gives me a huge language advantage, and I have less of an accent than most Americans. People can tell I'm a foreigner, but they rarely nail me as American. The only person here who immediately knew I was American was a British sales clerk at the local hardware shop. Thus far, no German has been able to tell.

4. It seems that people rate your language-speaking-abilities based more on how you sound as opposed to content. Co-workers, for example, have told me that my German is better than that of other American colleagues. This is far from the truth. I've spoken German with other American colleagues, and their vocabulary is miles (kilometers!) beyond mine. Sure, I have less of an accent, but I can't express myself or carry on a conversation to the extent that they can. But in the eyes of my German co-workers, my German is better because I "sound" better. Strange stuff.

Anyway. One of my goals is for German to be second nature. I don't want people to be able to tell that I'm not a German... eh, maybe in several years. :)


* "high German", or the standard German

** a language spoken by people in southern Germany. They can do everything but speak Hochdeutsch. Bizarro and Helmut would fall into this category.


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