German

Saturday, March 30, 2013

German

We have been learning German in preparation for our mission to the Europe Area.  We will be living in Frankfurt, Germany.

Language training for senior couples no longer takes place at the MTC.  Instead you contact them and they set you up with a private tutor who teaches you over Skype.  We each met separately with Brother Thorley for an hour three times a week.  The MTC bookstore has LOTS of language resources: cds with audios to listen to and PDFs to print out, digital files of entire books, German hymnbooks (it is really fun to sing in German), and textbooks.  Free online resources include Quizlet (flashcards and games to practice spelling and pronouncing vocabulary), Duolingo (a wide variety of methods to teach Spanish, French, German or ESL), Google Translate (when you are desperate) and Skyping with RMs to practice listening and speaking German. Our first Skype partner was Alicia Cutler (our sister-in-law Joyce Cutler Stay's niece now studying in Atlanta GA).

If you have the time, you can also be immersed in the language you need to learn.  Immersion takes place at the LDS Chapel at 100 W 800 N in Provo.  From 8-5 everyday, it turns into a Language Training Center.  We went three days (it's all we had left) for 4 hours.  Each day we had 2 hours of tutoring in a classroom with other German learners, one hour of private study time on an MTC computer system, and one hour of private time speaking German with a 'study buddy.'  Study Buddies are people who live in the Provo area and volunteer their time to talk with and help you with your German pronunciation.  Wonderful people.

We have a LOT of German yet to learn, but it is pretty amazing that in 3 short weeks we learned to pray ("Unser Vater im Himmel: wir sind dankbar fur . . . ."), bear our testimonies ("Ich weiss dass das Buch Mormon wahr ist."), get acquainted and buy some food.

[Somehow this next sentences got cut: ] We can testify to the reality of the gift of tongues: it is amazing how much German we are able to understand and speak.  We pray that gift will continue with us.