Having started in German, I supposed he figured I was comfortable in the language and so we continued in German once I showed up at his place last Friday. On the whole, this is not a major problem. It's not like trying to go to a German medical school or anything like that. Still, there are a couple things that I really have to concentrate on, and one in particular that is truly baffling.
The main thing I have to pay attention to (which also includes the source of the bafflement) is the name of the guitar strings. "Put your finger on the low E string" sounds in German like I'm supposed to put my finger on the A string. But the different vowel sounds are already a bit hardwired in my brain,* even though I did have to stop and think about them last week. More confusing though, is the naming of the guitar strings themselves . . . or at least one in particular. Previously, I learned that the strings on a guitar were named like this:
(Courtesy of Storm at guitarteacher.com)
Low E to high E and a useful acronym for remember the strings in between is Eddie Ate Dynamite, Good Bye Eddie. Well, in German the B string is an H string. It's not as if there were no B in German. In fact, the letter B is alive and well and useful in words like Brot and Butter (yes, I'm having my breakfast as I write this).
Being a certain kind of student, I didn't want to ask too many questions about this on the first lesson. I gave my instructor a questioning glance, he gave me a smile and a shrug in response, and that was that. So now I have to learn a German acronym or change "Bye" to "Health" or something stupid like that. Making matters slightly worse, is that the letter H is pronounced "Ha" . . . and my inclination is to think, "Ha is right, where's the B string?"
Whatever.
This is all probably a really important development for me. Next thing you know I'll be cooking in German, too!
*My name for instance, sounds like EE-Nez, because of the different pronunciation of the letter "i."
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