Hallo Leute

I just wanted to come by and give a little update. I’ve pre-scheduled posts that will take this blog into the new year without intervention, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t come and write extra material for you when I want!

It’s been, hmm, let’s say six weeks since I started studying German on a somewhat regular basis. Am I making progress? Some days I think yes, some days I think no.

I’m finding it sometimes difficult to not so much find time, but to find time when I can concentrate sufficiently. I don’t get as much done in an hour as I expected I would be able to when I set up my initial study schedule, so I’m going to have to revise it pretty soon. (I’m trying to get four or five hours of study in a week, although really I’m getting more like 3 or 4.)

I’m also still gathering study materials and just generally figuring out what works best for me at this point in the learning process.

The hardest part at the moment for me, is trying to write a sentence in German every day. I leave it the last thing in my study session, and often don’t get that far before I’m either interrupted, or my brain flops over in exhaustion.

And even when I do write a sentence, I’ve yet to figure out a reliable way to learn if the sentence is correct. I confess I’ve been asking AIs. I have no idea if I’m getting good information or not when a computer program suggest grammatical improvements.

Considering how poorly AI edits English, I have serious doubts the situation in German is any better. But I don’t know what else to do at the moment. I’m insufficiently consistent at it to want to bother real people, in a chat or language learning thread or something like that.

Also, your basic German “Tschüss!” (‘Bye) would, you think, after six weeks of study, be easy enough to for me to say, but according to Babbel’s voice recognition software, I’m still mispronouncing it regularly.

On the other hand, I received a copy of the highly recommended Learn German With Stories – Cafe in Berlin series, and was pleasantly surprised by how much of the first story I easily understood.

I’m also happy to report that rumours Germans have no sense of humour are false.

Recently a German language lesson from Babbel included this: “Es ist zweiundzwanzig Uhr fünfundfünfzig.” (It’s 10:55 p.m.)

This was followed by a couple of phrases to use when you need to ask people to repeat themselves.

I’ve downloaded a suite of Anki flashcards to practice vocabulary when I don’t want to talk out loud or when Babbel is acting up (the Babbel language learning app sometimes slows down or simply refuses to advance to the next question, not too often, but enough times I notice.)

I understand that Duolingo is considered more a game than anything else by most serious language learners, but I’ll make another confession, some days, it’s the only “studying” I get in.

And I’ve been listening/watching a couple of YouTube channels that specialize in making German easy to understand – mostly Easy German and Learn German with Falk.

If anyone has any recommendations, I am very open to suggestions!

My creative news is that I’ve completely taken apart and re-written a creative non-fiction piece over the last little while.

I’ve been tinkering with the piece for ages, putting it aside, taking it up again, trying out different ways to braid stories and themes together to make a complete piece.

Last month I had a couple of good ideas about it.

The first idea I decided I couldn’t pursue. The problem was actually related to German translation. I’ve only been studying German for six weeks, I clearly can’t translate anything properly at the moment myself, and figuring out how to go about securing the rights to use someone else’s translations of a text originally in German which I wanted to use, well, that just seems far too challenging.

Maybe some day, when I’m way better at German, and if it still seems like a good idea, I’ll be able to translate myself and give that idea a try. (In reality, I’ll probably forget the idea in a few more weeks anyway.)

The second idea I had about the piece though, I’ve used it and I think that’s worked.

I’m sorry for being vague, but because the piece hasn’t been picked up for publication yet, it might still be subjected to editing, and I don’t want to talk about it too much more without knowing what it’s final published form will be.

I will tell you it’s partially an ekphrastic story and also there is a lot of bread in it. As it turned out, it’s rather appropriate for this time of year. I suspect that if I can find a place to publish it, it won’t be out until around this time next year. But we’ll see.

One of the last garden projects I undertook this fall was uncovering the paving stones that make up a pathway between the house and a shed in the yard. I had no idea the paving stones were so big, under all of the earth and grass that had built up and grown in over decades. The turf around the stones has built up at least an inch since the stones were placed, and this in a part of the world where it’s often a bit drier than growing things like.

I found clearing the stones quite satisfying.

Now I just have to remember there’s a bit of a new tripping hazard when you walk along the path!

One of my ongoing projects, writing little poems inspired by films I watch, is getting closer to completion. I initially started on this project in response to a call for mini-chapbooks. That call has long passed, but I hope to create a mini-chapbook anyway. I figure better later than never.

And soon, as we get close to the end of the year, I should have my top films I’ve watched in 2025 list of recommendations for you.

Will I have a book list this year? Probably not. I haven’t been keeping track of everything I’ve read, and I’ve been reading a bit less over all than I expected, particularly in the last few months.

However, I’m happy to recommend the book I’m reading through now – The Wascana Anthology of Short Fiction. I found the 1999 collection at a second hand shop, and I see that there is also an update – The New Wascana Anthology: Poetry, Short Fiction, and Critical Prose. This anthology isn’t quite what I thought it was when I grabbed it, as I thought it would be only writers from the Canadian prairies. Instead, the anthology I have is a collection of short stories selected by University of Regina professionals with first-year university students in mind. It’s designed to introduce short stories from around the world and across time (and genres) to students, as well as including several writers from the region. After each short story, there is a short discussion of it’s author, or the story’s theme, or suchlike.
I’m enjoying the collection so far, and have been happy to have the chance to sample some big famous names I’ve never read before, along with more local authors. Although I have just skipped reading The Yellow Wallpaper for the dozenth time.
If you’re interested in short stories but don’t really know where to start – or you’re just looking for a pretty good collection, particularly if you’re interested in Canadian or Great Plains writers, maybe keep an eye open for this anthology.

P.S. – Wascana is a big man-made lake and park in the city of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The University of Regina borders on the park.

I hope all is well with you!