Me: "I want to learn German."
Them: "Why would you do that? Don't bother!"
Me: "Because I spend half my time on the Fediverse clicking on the 'Translate' button."
I can't help it if so many of the awesome accounts I follow are in German. And I want to be able to understand their messages without clicking on 'Translate' 50+ times a day. Plus this way I would understand / could attend ALL the talks at Berlin #FediDay.
I'm putting this here so that people hold me accountable 😅🤗
@johl@mastodon.xyz haha when I mentioned at FediDay that I wanted to learn German, someone immediately recommended this essay. I'm almost scared to read it (I don't want to be discouraged) 😅
@_elena@mastodon.social Keine Angst!
Twain was from the USA ...
You are never too old to learn languages. I emigrated to France with merci and bonjour only, and now speak it fluently. And as I'm German, I can say: it's much more complicated!
Learning by doing is the best! I e.g. button-translate Spanish posts, and I'm happy that I begin to understand more and more only by doing this, comparing the words ....
@NatureMC@mastodon.online do you have a classic German children's books / cartoon character to recommend? I typically start there, with the simple language of cartoons
@_elena@mastodon.social @NatureMC@mastodon.online Momo by Michael Ende is a true classic that I loved.
If you look for something for younger children: the Pumuckl stories by Ellis Kaut are something that everyone knows here (at least from the tv show). "Die kleine Hexe" from Otfried Preussler could also be something that you might like.
@_elena@mastodon.social It can be frustrating to learn „the awful German language“ (Mark Twain) as an adult, but as with other things on the Fediverse, everything is possible with enthusiasm and interest!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Awful_German_Language