Introduction (English)

This blog, meant to chronicle my linguistic and cultural journey into Germany, is an archive of short writings in German written as part of my efforts to immerse myself in the German language and society.

In the spring of 2003, I took a formal German language class for beginners (German I) in MIT which covered the first half of the textbook "Neue Horizonte" (NH) by D.D. Dollenmayer and T.S. Hansen. For one year after that my German "lessons" were largely sporadic; whenever my (now) husband and I could find the time, we would open the textbook and slowly progress through the second half.

In August 2004, realizing I had only 10 months left before our move to Germany, I began to allocate more time to my German language studies. For several reasons, I decided to go through German II and III independently, with my husband's help, but without the benefits of a formal class setting. I finished German II --- essentially the rest of "Neue Horizonte" --- in mid-October. I am now in the first parts of German III which uses the textbook "Handbuch zur Deutschen Grammatik" (HzDG) by J. Rankin and E.P. Hubbell.

At the suggestion of Ellen Crocker, Senior Instructor of German in MIT, I have resolved to write short compositions more regularly. These texts are collected here.