Uplifting thought of the day

"There's an old proverb: To learn a new language is to gain a new soul."

I read this in a magazine (Yoga Journal) recently, and I love it. Unfortunately, my efforts at learning German seem to be flagging these days. It's frustrating. I've been here for 10 months and spent wads of cash on German instruction. I just spent a week in a German household where very little English is spoken, but my brain just doesn't seem to be as absorbent as it once was. It's resisting German. Perhaps its gaurding the Italian soul I gained 13 years ago in Siena.

I think what I need to do is shake up my routine. Try something new. Since I'd be really happy if I achieved the vocabulary of my three-year old niece Katja, children's books seem like a good way to go. I started last night with Der Kleine Eisbär. The illustrations really help.

At the suggestion of my German teacher, I'm listening to a lot of Hildegard Knef, a German singer from the 60s. I like her sound. She's got a deep, husky voice, and when she's not channeling Frank Sinatra she's doing Billy Holiday covers - but the words are in German. So today I find myself humming the German version of Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love). I get all the lyrics on Lyrics.de(we help you singin') so I can really follow.

I also just discovered last night, quite by accident, that iTunes is full of free German podcasts. A few of them are for beginners, so I may take a stab at that. Oh, and Christoph and I are trying to speak German to eachother on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We really gave it a shot yesterday. I'd say we did about 50-50. Okay, it was more like 30-70. We'll try it again tomorrow.

Das ist alles für jetzt. Auf wiedersehen.