Oscar Wilde once said, “Life is too short to learn German.” It’s quite a contradictory way to begin this particular blog post…but alas, its a quote that often comes to mind while I’m wailing in frustration about why (for example) some nouns are pluralised differently in Dativ (really…why!?). Some days it really feels like I will never reach the fluency of my friends here in Vienna, and I wonder: am I really wasting a year of my life learning German? But then, something magical will happen. Like the first time you actually follow along to a conversation being had between your friends, instead of sitting silently as you fall asleep with your eyes open. Or, the first time you can understand what a German-speaking child is saying (understanding English baby-talk is hard enough). And in that moment, all the agony about why “die” suddenly becomes “der” and how you struggle to pronounce the word “vögel”, just disappears. Does this happen for everyone, or just me? I guess I should explain who “me” is… My name is Sonja, and I’m just about to enter the A2.2 level. I’ve moved here from Halifax, NS, Canada to learn German and hopefully study my Master degree at the TU Wien. Another reason I’m here is because…well, you see…there’s this guy. I’ve moved to Austria to live with my partner of two years, who surprisingly still likes me now that I’ve started to figure out how to make bad puns in German. Although he speaks fluent English, his family…not so much. Upon meeting his grandmother, she very intimidatingly said to me “You ARE going to learn German. Right?”, to which I frantically nodded my head. 

So, is life really too short to learn German? Well, if you can study at one of the best technical universities in Europe (for cheap, I might add), have a long-distance-free year of being with your loved one, avoid being shunned by their grandmother, and of course, be able to speak a pretty cool language; then I think it might be worth it.