AMD 4

For AMD 4 I went on Livemocha.com. I chatted with a few different people and it was very interesting. I learned a few things about the way i was speaking German and how I could improve it. The people that I chatted with were very helpful and nice and really seemed like they were trying to help me.

Patrick McTighe

I found the article An Obsession Explained: Beer, Brewskies and Liquid Bread very interesting and hilarious. It also taught me a few things about how to act when in Germany. I knew that Germany was famous for its beer but I had no idea that there are over 1,000 breweries in the country. I also did not know that everytime before drinking they must toast to their tablemates and look them in the eyes or it will mean bad luck for seven years.

In th article Capping the Bottle: Germany Looks to Tighten Up Public Drinking Rules I found it interesting that it was so difficult for Germany to change the public drinking laws. I did not know that the government would have to go as far as to change the amount of power that the police have just to change the drinking laws. I did, however, expect a resistance from the citizens because they believe their right to drink in public is pretty much a natural right and the government shouldn't have any power against it.

The article German Fast Food: Forget the "Mett," Try a "Frikadelle" had some very useful information about eating in Germany. It showed many different options that people have when they do not want fast food like Mcdonalds or Burger King. Most of them sounded pretty good and if I ever got the chance to visit Germany I would definitely check them out.

For the AMD 2 assignment I decided to read "The horrors of the German language" by Mark Twain. I found it both entertaining and interesting. I knew that German did not translate perfectly to english but I did not know that it was that difficult to translate. It was almost impossible to understand what Twain was getting at or trying to say. The literal translation was also pretty funny because you could tell how different German and English are from each other. It made me wonder if it would be the same if the roles were reversed. If somebody was were to translate a speech that was written in English to German would it not make very much sense like the one that Twain did.

AMD 1

For this assignment i decided to change my facebook to German. It was interesting to see all of the things that i read everyday in another language. It also made it a little easier to understand seeing in a more recognizeable setting. I find it easier to learn sometimes in a context that is not reading and memorizing from a textbook.

AMD 1 helped me become a little more with some common German words because I can now associate them with facebook and it may make it a little easier when it comes time to study for a test.