Learning Deutsch

The first time we arrived purposely to learn German, we were so enthusiastic. For me, I haven't really sat down to learn a new language, perhaps because there are no formalised institutions for learning Nigerian languages as in Germany. And that strikes me as odd! No one seems to have discovered that we could actually create formalised outlets for learning some, if not all, of our 250 languages. If that had existed, I could have spent time learning good Hausa formally in the six years that I spent teaching in Gombe. But again, there is yet another snag: why would one pay, sometimes heavily, to learn a language that perhaps has little or no global presence? People have been learning German, French, Spanish and Portuguese, and they are now learning Chinese even in Europe. Why? The people who own those languages have some value or so they think, that those who are learning their language want. Take a look at English language. Even with Brexit, a lot of European nations are still schooling their young ones in English. Why? The English language has more foothold in every part of the world than all other European languages, except French, put together. 

So sadly, I spent six years in northern Nigeria, but as the olodo that I am when it comes to learning new languages, I could not pick up Hausa from the streets as was expected of me. I just couldn't, despite the combined efforts of friends, students, colleagues and neighbours. It just didn't work out! Maybe, some people have become too accustomed to the classroom kind of learning environment that they cannot learn new languages in any other way. That's too bad of me!

First day in German class, now in retrospect, was really ,,sehr komisch''. We were to report at the language institute (Sprachschule, in Deutsch) by 9.00 am. It was exactly the next morning after our arrival the previous evening. The story of the trip is interesting in itself, but will leave that for another day. So we were told we need to take a bus ride first, and then two trains to get to the locaton of the school. Having heard two trains, I felt the journey would last as much as one hour or more. So, in the first train, I relaxed and before it came to my realization that we were lost, we have found ourselves back at the same airport where we arrived the previous night. We then alighted, bought another ticket and had a return journey to the over six train stops where we should have come down in the first instance to take the second train. Now, when I pass through those stops now on my daily commute, I smile to myself and check the faces of those in the same coach with me, wondering if any one of them has missed his or her stop and is still there "forming" as if they know where they are going, just like I did.

We were almost two hours late: no phones, no internet, no way to contact anyone. So we arrived after about two taxi rides; one that took us in the wrong direction, and the other that brought us back and made sure he made away with our 2 euro change. He must have sensed that we just arrived and drove off as soon as we alighted from the taxi. He is even a much older person, whom I remember very vividly not to be Ausländer. I couldn't do the exchange rate Maths then because, my head was still reeling from the long search for our destination and the Taxi costs. Anyways, we arrived and were immediately taken to our new class. It was everybody's first day, we eventually got to know. But we have already missed the first session. And it is the erste klasse called A1. This is the class for beginners. It is like the Kindergarten of Deutschsprache lernen. But boy/girl, were we so wrong!

You would think that in such a beginners' class that they start off with letters of the alphabet, numbers, and most importantly, good old English to ease you into the new language... that's so wrong! Till date I cannot recollect what was taught in the first week because throughout that period, as far as I was concerned, the teachers were speaking in tongue! How do you teach a new language with the same language you are supposed to be teaching? Learning Deutsch in Deutsch! That's unimaginable. There was no room or allowance for English in class (the Deutsch always adds an extra "c" - Englisch, as if the word is not long enough). Now that I've come to know the teachers, I cannot help feeling like having a sense of retaliation: bringing them to Awka and teaching them Igbo in Igboland with Igbo language and then seeing how they come out of it. I already know how they will do from the way they (mis-)pronounce my full name when I decide to use it. I now use my full name to test every new teacher or person that I meet. Watching them strike a balance between pronouncing "Izuchukwu", and carefulness not to mispronounce; and then between trying not to offend me and not sounding idiotic. This is always a pleasure to relish. This is however not in any bad way. For me, it is playful and comedic!

As I watch some people squirm while pronouncing my full name, surname or my wife's name, I begin to understand and cherish the beautiful diversity that languages provide. The Deutsch Sprache is unique. It is a difficult language which no one prepared me for. All the friends I made in South Africa,  who know the language considerably, save one, didn't bother to give me heads-up. So it was so shocking to find out the role that gender plays in the language. Everything has a gender affiliation, every thing you can think of. And the relationship between objects and their gender affiliation range is simply arbitrary and sometimes inconceivable in English. So every noun goes with an article that tells you its gender. Our knowledge of definite and indefinite articles (German, bestimmte und unbestimmte Artikel) does not prepare one for what Deutsch gives. In English, the definite articles "the" or "that" simply points to specific objects while "a" or "an" simple designates every of such. But in German, "die", "der" oder "das" tells you whether the object is feminine, masculine or neutral. So you have:

die Frau - the woman

der Mann - the man

das Kind - the child

and plurals go;

die Frauen

die Männer

die Kinder

These articles are married to the words. They are inseperable. 

"Learn the words with their articles" is what you often hear. You can have in an examination portions where you would be asked to supply the articles of words. The articles are the fulcrums that determine how sentences are formed, as well as the declination of other aspects of the sentence. Let's not go into the kassus: Nominativ, Akkusativ, Dativ und Genitiv. That's an entirely new world on its own that the term "difficult" may not be able to qualify.

But for me, German is a challenging and very interesting language for one to learn. I have been so taken by this study that I am now considering learning other languages beginning with French next. Learning other people's languages gives you a better perspective of your own language. I have come to appreciate my mother-tongue, Igbo language and its beauty. As I grapple with the articles and making sense of Deutsch (pronouncing the words are not that complicated), I am thrilled by the confusion that comes to the faces of my teachers when they cannot comprehend, for instance, the fact that in Igbo the letters "ch", "kw" and "nw" in my full name and surname are actually single letters known as "Ụdamkpị" which is Igbo for "letters with double sound". So when you say "Izuchukwu" or "Nwankwọ", the underlined are single letters that are pronounced as one. "Ch" might be less problematic because even English has a lot of it, like in "church". But others could be a challenge, and the Igbo language is not yet done. It has others: let me even end with the Igbo letters of the alphabet and then underline all "Ụdamkpị", for those who don't know, there are 36 of them, 8 Ụdaume (vowels, in red); and 9 "Ụdamkpị".

A    B    CH    D    E    F    G    GB 

GH    GW    H    I    Ị    J    K    KP 

KW    L    M    N    Ṅ    NW    NY    O 

Ọ    P    R    S    SH    T    U    Ụ    

V    W   Y    Z