Last week I’ve received a letter from Goethe institute in Tel Aviv. A new semester is about to begin, and they sent a notification about the courses that they’re offering. I’m thinking if to enroll or not.
Knowing foreign languages is wonderful thing. It enriches the mind and the world of associations. It enables speaking with different people in their own language and extending the small talk in English to further topics.
I have studied German in the past. I took two elective courses in the university and then neglected it for two years. Later on I attended 3 courses in Goethe Institute, the official place to learn the German language. With these courses I’ve reached a certain level of certification (finished A level). But yet again, I haven’t been in class for a year and half or so.
Since then, I have tried to arrange meetings with my classmates to practice the language. It’s best to speak with people that are the same level. I had only one success, in which after half an hour, we switched to Hebrew. I must say that I wasn’t pushing really hard to make it.
In my trip to Peru, I met some German tourists, but I didn’t feel confident enough to chat in German. They speak excellent English, so why bother. And as I learned more Spanish, it was harder to use German. I think that these languages occupied the same place in my brain…
The last time that I did use the language was during the war in the summer. Through the Blacklabor activity (Hebrew), I wrote a very very naive (and foolish) letter to Chancellor Angela Merkel, calling her and the rest of the world to help out in stopping the fighting. It appears after the English text here.
So, I have 2 weeks until the semester begins, enough time to think it over…
Studieren oder nicht studieren? Dass ist die Frage.