hilfen - to help
well, i have a decision to make. learn german or make good friends.
as you may recall, my german class was split into two groups almost a month ago. as it shook out, i was the only person moved to the new group, which was quickly filled with names of people who rarely come. we have a core group of myself, and two new folks: nina - my australian friend who is currently in africa filming a movie for the discovery channel, and adolfo - a 19 year old venezuelan boy who refers to himself as "herr pitt" in our make-believe dialog sessions. even our teacher rotates between one very good teacher and a slightly less good teacher. but the downside ends with the inconsistency of people.
i have learned a ton in the last month. in fact, today i went to my old class (i faked a scheduling problem so i could go back for a few days). i had a feeling my new class would be a little ahead of the old one, but i had no idea that we were working at twice the speed. i am so ahead of the old class that i am actually teaching a unit on wednesday. not seeing them every day has resulted in my not getting invited to a group outing last friday, and not being present to see off a classmate who is returning home to canada. at the end of class today laura and i made an appointment to take a walk tomorrow, and everyone in the class really wanted me to switch permanently. it's nice to be loved.
my contract with the new class is up next week. so, what do i do? do i sacrifice learning a little german and a budding friendship with nina to use the next month of classes in my old group to solidify stronger personal connections i've made? or do i try to stay in touch with the people in my old group over email and the occasional dinner and end up pretty proficient in a new language?
hilfe!
as you may recall, my german class was split into two groups almost a month ago. as it shook out, i was the only person moved to the new group, which was quickly filled with names of people who rarely come. we have a core group of myself, and two new folks: nina - my australian friend who is currently in africa filming a movie for the discovery channel, and adolfo - a 19 year old venezuelan boy who refers to himself as "herr pitt" in our make-believe dialog sessions. even our teacher rotates between one very good teacher and a slightly less good teacher. but the downside ends with the inconsistency of people.
i have learned a ton in the last month. in fact, today i went to my old class (i faked a scheduling problem so i could go back for a few days). i had a feeling my new class would be a little ahead of the old one, but i had no idea that we were working at twice the speed. i am so ahead of the old class that i am actually teaching a unit on wednesday. not seeing them every day has resulted in my not getting invited to a group outing last friday, and not being present to see off a classmate who is returning home to canada. at the end of class today laura and i made an appointment to take a walk tomorrow, and everyone in the class really wanted me to switch permanently. it's nice to be loved.
my contract with the new class is up next week. so, what do i do? do i sacrifice learning a little german and a budding friendship with nina to use the next month of classes in my old group to solidify stronger personal connections i've made? or do i try to stay in touch with the people in my old group over email and the occasional dinner and end up pretty proficient in a new language?
hilfe!
posted by jordan at
5:28 PM
5 Comments:
I say stick with the good class. You are more likely to get the best of both worlds this way because you will learn more and have the opportunity to still hang out with you friends. Although the class is a pre-arranged meeting time and you'll have to be a little pro-active about socializing without that pre-arranged time, you could always wait for your friends after their class if they usually go out after (although, you know...maybe avoiding any stalker connotations is a good idea ;). If you go back to the other class then you may be more certain to get to hang out with your friends but you will also be less certain to learn as much. I say go with the choice that leaves you more options. And making ourselves be more pro-active about socializing is never a bad thing (I need to listen to my own advice there, I know, but maybe you can inspire me :)
By
Anonymous, at May 23, 2006 1:42 AM
oh, and you might get an extra friend out of sticking with the good class which is another bonus!
By
Anonymous, at May 23, 2006 1:43 AM
I say you suggest that one or 2 of your old classmates ask to move in to your new class...
By
Anonymous, at May 23, 2006 2:01 AM
I agree with Sara...
By
Anonymous, at May 23, 2006 4:38 AM
yeah, i know you all are right. i'm not paying berlitz to make friends for me. i'm just not great at staying in touch. pro-active has never been my middle name.
By
jordan, at May 23, 2006 9:35 AM
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