Author Archives: Pesak_Krisztina

Learning German on a Daily Basis

I really liked today’s class. We were learning about writing complain letters. As we order more and more things online, this can be a very important lesson 🙂 It also shows how to write a formal letter to a company or to an Authority.
DeutschAkademie gives us relevant information every day, it prepares us to be independent outside the class.

Actually this is what motivates me to learn every single day and practice in the weekends. To be independent. To be able to read articles, news, watch a movie or do a simple Google search in German. There are a few series in the TV in Viennese dialect. I would get closer to the famous Austrian humor by watching it. I would like to read books or stories which are only available in German.

Our teacher at the course in wonderful. She explains everything so clearly that it makes us understand the difficult grammar rules easier. She is also patient. Sometimes we ask the same questions all over again and she still answers and want to make sure we got it.

There are only 12 students in the class which makes an atmosphere where it is easier to learn. We practice and play grammar games a lot, it is good, because we use immediately what we have learned.

My Favorite Places in Vienna – Donauinsel

I’ve been running regularly for more than 6 years now. When we moved to Vienna, one of my first things was to find a great place for running. I checked on-line, and three beautiful places were recommended. First was the Prater, which is wonderful, but too far from my home. The second was the Schönbrunn, but it is always packed with tourists. (Don’t misunderstand me, I like tourists, but running around them can be a bit tiring). The third place was the Donauinsel. It’s a very narrow (only 70-120 m), 21 km long island. At the first time I fall in love with it. (And I also started to run on an island on the Danube).

The Donauinsel is not a natural island, it is the part of the city’s flood protection system. The works started in 1972 and finished in 1988. The Neue Donau is practically a long swimming lake, not a river. If you are on the island, you see the difference between the color of the water on the left and the right side. It can also be seen on Google Maps. It is a recreational area with a lot of restaurants, a water park and various activities on the water (windsurfing and boat rentals are also available).
You can lay under the Sun and tan from late spring till early autumn or just have a drink in the grass while watching the water. You won’t be alone, don’t worry 🙂 There are always a lot of people.

For running, it can offer different distances, remember, it’s 21 km long so it’s only up to you! I usually start at the Neue Donau station at U6, then head to the south. I’ve already met rabbits, baby swans and ducks.

This weekend there is a huge, famous and FREE festival, don’t miss it! I will be there 🙂 www.donauinselfest.at

This Danube is really „blue“

 

Swans with their babies

Our Class

Vienna is an international city, and you can see this in the Deutschkurs, too. People are from Romania, Iran, Indonesia, Japan, Spain, Mexico, Ukraine and Hungary (me). Different cultures and habits meet every day. Last month there was a woman from Tanzania. I love to hear the stories from all over the world like what their motivation is, how their hometown is or how they met their loved one.

People are studying at the university, writing their PhD, or just trying to find a better job. German is not an easy language and takes hard work to improve.

This is the second week of the course, it started a week later, but at least we had some time to go over everything again. At B1.1 we practice and talk even more, German started to become the part of our lives. I don’t use English anymore in the city and that makes me feel more confident. Though last time we went to a spa the waiter in the restaurant didn’t understand my „school German“ so I had to ask for help 🙂

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Why did I chose to learn German?

When I married to a handsome Austrian man it became clear that, some time, maybe not in the very distant future I will have to learn German. Just to be able to communicate with the family or raising kids together.
Well, we were living in California, so I wasn’t very motivated. I wanted to show him that I’m interested in his culture so I started an on-line course but, I didn’t get further than the basics.
The city where we lived was founded by a Swiss man though, and a lot of German people moved there to find their luck during the gold rush. It has a huge German community (from first generation Germans to German descendants), they have an official beer fest, most of the women own at least one dirndl (sometimes more) and Heidi is a really common name. The local Turnverein offers German lessons and they are sold out fast.

When my husband got his new position in Vienna, I was shocked. I knew that without speaking the language I won’t find a good job and I didn’t want to sit at home. So I decided to learn German in all my free time but, I was too worried so I drove to San Francisco instead 🙂 It calmed me down, our moving date seemed far enough. We had only two months left…

So I came to Vienna with a very basic knowledge (level A1.1)
which of course wasn’t enough for anything. We started to look for courses. I wanted something very intensive where I can feel motivated and we practice a lot. My husband found DeutschAkademie, it had really good reviews so we decided to give it a try.
I had to write a test to see which level I could fit in. In March I started A1.2. I knew most of the things already but I couldn’t use them, I recognized the words but they didn’t come to my mind in everyday situations, I mixed up the articles and the „Personalpronomen“.
Our teacher was wonderful. Patient over all 🙂 We were practicing a lot, we were forced to talk, create sentences, use the proper articles.
I absolutely loved it! Slowly, my German started to improve. First I was too shy to talk, what if I mix up the articles or use dativ instead of akkusativ? Well, who cares? Just talk as much as possible and it will get better.

Last week we visited my mother in law again and we could have our first real conversation! I was very proud of myself – also my husband. Hard work really pays off 🙂

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Hello from Vienna

Hi Everyone,

My name is Krisztina, I’m 34, and coming from Budapest, Hungary. I am a personal assistant. I know, it’s not a very exciting job, but at least interesting 🙂

I moved to Vienna in February with my husband (he is from Graz), because he’s got a new assignment here. We lived in California before, so it took me some time to get used to the Central European weather again 🙂

I love Vienna, I think it is a wonderful city with a rich cultural heritage. I also love that Austria takes green energy seriously and works on making the supplies sustainable.
I started at DeutschAkademie in March with level A1.2 and this month I’m already at B1.2. Time flies… and I really see the progress! My mother in law came for a visit and we could finally talk – she only speaks German.

I would like to show you my journey with this exciting language and my favorite places in Vienna.Roses at Volksgarten