Deutsch

When I was taking my German quiz last Thursday, there were a few questions I didn't know. I had to make a few guesses, so I just winged it. "Hmmm... 'habt' sounds right. Let's go with that." We started the quiz a little late, too, so I rushed it and didn't have time to double-check my answers. So I was all disappointed, thinking I'd gotten my first B in German this semester. Not a huge deal, except that it always makes me feel all warm and glowy when I get a good grade.

So today we got back the quiz and our last two homework assignments. And in big green letters at the top of the quiz, it said...

"Wow! Ausgezeichnet! 102%!" I flipped through and not only was everything right, but the teacher had written comments like "Eine Perfekte Seite!" and "Perfekt schon weider!" all over it. I pretty much just stared at it and thought, "How the heck did I manage that?" Honestly, I have no idea.

I also got a check plus plus on the last homework assignment, even though I didn't think that was a real grade. It was supposed to be a paragraph or two about ourselves. I wrote about juggling fire, and then at the bottom, I drew a little stick figure of myself juggling fire and saying "Meine Haare sind kurtz denn ich habe sie verbrannt." (My hair is short because I burned it off.)

Also, the teacher wrote up on the board a poem that's supposed to help us remember how to conjugate the German verb "to be."

Ich bin hier.
Du bist da.
Er ist in Amerika.
Wir sind groß.
Ihr seid klein.
Sie sind an dem schönen Rhein.

Translated, that means:

I am here.
You are there.
He's in America.
We're tall.
You guys are short.
They're on the beautiful Rhine River.

Doesn't sound half as cool in English, but meh. That's how language works. Anyway, the teacher split the class up into two groups. Apparently, half the class didn't understand one of the recent homework assignments, so she took that half of the class to the back of the room to review with them. The rest of us were asked to write another poem in German based on the "Ich bin hier" poem, only conjugating the verb "haben" (to have) instead. We worked in small groups. Most of the poems were things like "Ich habe Gelb. Du hast eine Katze. Er hat ein Vorlesung." (I have money. You have a cat. He has a class.) Another group came up with what translated into "I have one. You have two. He has three fish. We have six. You guys have five. They have sharp fish-hooks." Personally, I really liked the one Phillip and Martin and I came up with.

Ich habe eine Gabel.
Du hast ein Messer.
Er hat ein Löffel. (Dein Messer ist beßer.)
Wir haben keine Tassen.
Ihr habt keine Teller.
Sie haben jetzt kein guter Wein in dem Keller.

Translation:
I have a fork.
You have a knife.
He has a spoon. (Your knife is better.)
We have no cups.
You guys have no plates.
They have no more good wine in the cellar.

I'm bragging now. Strut strut! Fear my beginning level language skills! Isn't it great that I can pass a first-year German class after having taken two years of German already?

...Well, now I don't feel half so cool. Dang.

I wish I were doing as well in the rest of my classes.