More about the Blog
06/14/10
7:30pm
Deutsches Haus at NYU
42 Washington Mews
New York, NY 10003
+1 (212) 439-8704
In German
As a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania in the mid '90s, I taught German to undergraduates. Having grown up in a German-English bilingual household, my innate understanding of German grammar was put to the test upon having to teach it. Merely having a gut feeling about which article a noun took was suddenly not enough. Having been at the receiving end of one too many student's blank looks of miscomprehension, I find the titles of David Bergmann's two odes to the German language all the more amusing: Der, die, was? Ein Amerikaner im Sprachlabyrinth and Wie, wer, das? Neue Abenteuer eines Amerikaners im Sprachlabyrith (both published by Rowohlt Verlag, in 2007 and 2009 respectively). Speaking from personal experience, it is absolutely crucial to maintain a sense of humor when learning a foreign language. Sure, it's frustrating when things don't make sense -- let's face it, the evolution of a language is a complicated matter. But I digress, join us for what promises to be an entertaining evening, in which David Bergmann shares his experiences of an American learning to love the German language. If you can't make it Monday night, you can read samples from his books in German as well as in English.
