(i)*National Poetry Month 2021
To celebrate I am sharing a picture and poetic form - everyday in April!
5 April: Happy Birthday, Colleen!
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| 9 April 2021 picture + form: I 'der' to Learn German |
I lege meine Schlüssel
in die Schüssel,
nicht mein Eis oder
mein Ei.
Ich esse meine Kirschen
in der Küche,
nicht in der Kirche
mit meinem Koch.
Deutsch learnen macht
sehr viel spass
und is super einfach!
Nicht für mich!
©2021, Bridget Magee. All Rights Reserved.
Translation by Me:
I put my keys
in the bowl,
not my ice cream or
my egg.
I eat my cherries
in the kitchen,
not in the church
with my cook.
Learning German
is very much fun
and super easy!
Not for me!
picture: screenshot from one of my Duolingo German lessons - 713 day streak!
poetic form: Poem in Two Languages
- poem written in one language
- translated in another
The inspiration for my attempt at a Poem in Two Languages is Tabatha at the Opposite of Indifference. She also happens to be this week's host for Poetry Friday! Check out the NPM goodness!
Ha! What a fun and funny poem. Oh, goodness...the fun gaffs I'm sure I would make in German.
ReplyDeleteLet me tell you, Linda! I've said some pretty weird things on accident. For the most part the Swiss are forgiving. :)
DeleteSo fun! And the sounds in the German poem are so sensory!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mary! High German (which is taught at the language schools) has a pretty clear phonetic pronunciation. Swiss German (an oral only dialect) is a whole other beast. And living in Switzerland, they speak Swiss German! Another layer to our language learning. :)
DeleteOkay, you're having too much fun. Love your translation :)!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jama! Some German words are just so close is spelling and pronunciation that you can say a lot of nonsense very easily, which is already a talent I have in English! Ha! ;)
DeleteThat makes me laugh - your poem sounds like my Duolingo sentence! I repeat the phrases and then say, "Wait, what!?"
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the German!
Thanks, Tanita! Yes, there are a lot of "wait, what!?" moments in my daily life. :)
DeleteI thought by now you'd have it down, Bridget, but this is a laugh today. I had a friend long ago who tried out her Spanish while at a baby shower & said she kept mixing up 'perro' with 'prego'. People were amused; she was not.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Linda! I'm happy to report that I passed the German language exam for my residency permit - a level higher than required! So I'm not going to get kicked out of the country! Yay! Your poor friend, making an embarrassing language gaff never feels good. :)
DeleteThe Duolingo sentences can be over-the-top, can't they? For some reason, they had me keep discussing whether or not I had a spider & whether I was wearing underpants. (I do love the Gaelic word for spider: "damhan-allaidh" which sounds like Diagon Alley.) Reading your poem made me wonder when words are capitalized in German. Just curious !
ReplyDeleteYes, Tabatha, I have no idea who writes the content for Duolingo, but I think they may have a sense of humor. Regarding capitalization of words, all nouns are capitalized in German. Confusing. :)
DeleteI took German in high school, but that was so long ago... Thanks for your poem!
ReplyDeleteThank YOU, Ruth! If you ever want to brush up, I'm game to practice... :)
DeleteLearning another language while valuable can result in unintended consequences Bridget. Your poems and their translations are a hoot. In Italy I once ordered testicles when I meant tickets!
ReplyDeleteOh, my Alan, that's pretty funny! From my experience with Italians in Italy is that they would love that kind of gaff! The Swiss probably not so much. :)
DeleteHahaha! Making lemonade, I see. :) Your poem looks like it would be fun to read in German, Bridget. I'll run it by my hubby. He took German in school and, remarkably, is still able to read it pretty well— or maybe he just fakes it well. (I guess I'll never know!)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Michelle! I've found that I read and write German MUCH better than speaking and understanding - especially when the Swiss German dialect is involved. :)
DeleteHa--your poem makes me wish I could speak German! My parents always told the punchline to their jokes in Yiddish so the kinder couldn't get it... and the sounds of your poem bring that back for me.
ReplyDeleteI think you'd enjoy the language, Buffy. I consider myself a 'kinder' in my language learning journey - and proud of it! :)
DeleteYou are the consummate punster! And I am in AWE of your 713 day streak! Maybe I'll make it past 50 after school's out. Hoffentlich.
ReplyDeleteYou can do it, Mary Lee! I find Duolingo extremely therapeutic and found that it helped me IMMENSELY on my language exam for my residency permit. Plus with the ridiculous sentences like the one in my picture, it's good for a bit of comic relief. :)
DeleteYes, what a running streak you have with German. Funny poem, and your ending "für mich!"if the ch is soft sounds like the yiddish word farmisht, which means all mixed up, thanks Bridget!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Michelle! "für mich!" actually means "for me", but I like the yiddish word, 'farmisht' - because German absolutely makes me all mixed up! ;)
DeleteYour poem made me smile. I don't know German but a tad, a small tad. I have a former student living in Basel, Switzerland for a couple of years and she has to pass a German language test as the "trailing spouse" I think is the term. She is finding it hard. Your poem is a hoot for so many reasons. I love it.
ReplyDeleteJanet Clare F.
Thanks, Janet Clare! If you want to give your former student my email I'd be happy to commiserate/help her with what to expect on the Swiss language test. I'm the 'trailing spouse' caught in this permit requirement, so I understand on many levels. :)
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