A small summary of the first week of the intensive three week German course in DeutschAkademie:
After an introduction to German basic phrases of communication, from greetings to exchange of information, like name, age and nationality we proceeded to some basic principles of German grammar.One of the most complex, in the sense that it is quite unpredictable, is the gender of nouns.Basically there is no specific rule! Though in Greek language there are also three genders (feminin, masculin and neutral) it is quite understandable that a native English speaker might be quite overwhelmed on his first introduction to genders of nouns. However the German teaching method proceeds to a learning process based on experience through the use of the words in written exercises and spoken dialogues.Gradually one comes to comprehend certain types of structures.The same applies for our first introduction to verb conjugation.Through the course we have the opportunity to use the verbs in different forms and contexts rather than just trying to memorize them on their own. I am starting to feel more confident about my ability to discern changes in verbs, nouns and pronunciation, through short dialogues with my classmates. Looking forward to week 2!