The first Language by Doing event
It happened March 6th, on a warm Thursday in Berlin-Tiergarten, where, contrary to popular belief, some people do live. A small group of 5 hungry dudes and dudettes gathered to tackle the ultimate culinary challenge: Bratkartoffeln.
Anna- Master of Bratkartoffeln
We had a great time cooking and chatting, ate well and had some drinks sitting at the table late into the night. Tales of foreign lands and nearby museums were exchanged, jokes were made and we tried to make sense of traffic systems around the world (Should there be less or more regulation on the roads? Having less rules works really well in some places )
What did we learn from the first event?
– People in Germany tend to speak English with Americans, even if the Americans would like to practice their German.
– Bratkartoffeln are tasty
– You definitely need laurel leaves, cinnamon and cloves for Rotkohl
– Markus is allergic to peanuts
– Events like this are best to attend if you speak the target language a bit
At least at this event we spent a long time talking, and we did switch to English so everyone could participate, but it’s not really in the spirit of the project.
Chillin all cool and all
So, what to do?
- It’s probably best if you speak the language you want to practice a bit. You don’t need to be fluent, being able to have an easy conversation is good enough. We’re all there to learn, so nobody minds if it takes a bit to get your point across.
- If you don’t speak the target language at all, there are some activities where it probably isn’t that important.
If there’s a lot of sitting, talking is what you’ll be doing and conversations are a bit easier if you have a basic understanding of the language.
The host should provide an environment where patience is supported and you can practice, but you need a foundation in the language that can be built upon.
- For activities like sports it’s usually not that important to understand every detail and you’ll grasp simple expressions and commands quickly. Sports are a great way to learn how to curse as well. Maybe someday we’ll have an “insult the referee” class. Oh, what fun :D.
We had a great time and I’m looking forward to the next event. If you would like to host something, just let me know and I’ll invite the people by e-mail. A better solution is planned for the future, but this is good enough to make it happen!
Spreading the word is also much appreciated! The more people join, the more we can do ;).
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