The Song of the Lark

The third LibriVox project I worked on was "The Song of the Lark" by an American novelist from the late 19th-early 20th Century era, Willa Cather, depicting the journey of an irrepressible talent in finding her "voice" from humble beginnings, propelled by her indomitable desire, determination, and drive--the magical formula for successful enterprises.  (This was also the project that inspired me to learn German.)  Though there are insightful and lifelike depictions of each of the main characters in the book, they seem to me to be somewhat one-dimensional, even Thea Kronborg, the heroine, seems to be confined in and, as it were, protected by, the bubble of a character type defined by the author.  I thought that my reading had improved a little for this one but it was still plagued by halting diction, which impeded the flow of story-telling.  I'm onto my fourth project now; I'm grateful for the opportunity to work on my speech articulation, something which I wish I had practiced more when I was young. 

   

Wie sagt man das auf Deutsch?

I almost fell out of my chair when our instructor showed this video in class the other day. I've definitely got myself into a totally unfamiliar, parallel universe this time when I enrolled in a German 100 class at IU this fall.  I've been going to class at 8 in the morning, four days a week, since school started.  Learning a new language, from the ABC's like a pre-schooler in a kindergarten, with a bunch of young men and women barely out of their teens, is quite a novel experience for me.  When I went back to Graduate School over a decade ago to study Architecture, I was similar in age to my classmates' parents, now I could be their great aunt.  Thankfully, I am not as prone to feel embarrassed in such circumstances as when I was younger. 

What prompted me to take up German was the frustration I felt when I attempted to pronounce a few German words in a book I was reading for LibriVox in the summer.  Also, I remember feeling very embarrassed and rude when I couldn't understand or say anything in even the barest minimum of German on our trip in the German speaking part of Basel some years ago.

One often reads about how learning to speak a new language or to play a musical instrument can improve the mental agility of older adults.  It so happens that I seem to have been doing all the things that may contribute to keeping my wits about me.  At any rate, I hope my learning German now may have many more benefits than just enabling me to say "Vielen Dank!" when occasion arises.