Ech wott Schwiizerduetsch lehre

I have small bursts of enthusiam for learning Swiss German and they tend to coincide with when I am in Switzerland, (funnily enough). I`ve been in Switzerland for the past week and staying with F`s parents while he is working in Madrid so I have been picking up a few more words. I`ve decided to write them down here so I can always refer back to them if I forget. It`s mainly just random stuff that I learn, like what I ate for dinner etc, but it all helps increase my vocabulary.

schoene obig – have a nice evening
Greuchereti forelle und salat – smoked trout and salad
es schmockt guet – it smells good
mobel – furniture
husten – cough
buro – office
leitungswasser – tap water

My boyfriend and I spent the weekend with his cousin and wife in Dublin who are also Swiss. We didn’t really speak much Swiss German at all because since they are both fluent in English they were polite and spoke in English the whole time so I could actually understand and join in the conversations!

Didn’t do any Swiss German this week! It’s been pretty hectic though, but I would like to do some a couple of nights this week.

I’m still practising the time in Swiss German although have to pick up the pace a bit as I haven’t been doing it every day. I’ve also added another 8 words and 2 sentences to my vocabulary which I was working on last week but need to go over them again this week as well.

During this week I have been continuing to practise saying the time in Swiss German. Most times I get it correct, although I need to continue with this a lot to increase my speed as I still have to think about what I am saying before I say it! I’ve also added some more words and a couple of sentences to my list to learn for this week.

This week I have been learning how to ask for the time and how to say what time it is. I am doing pretty well at this and get it right most of the time, although I am really slow because I have to think about what I am saying. I’m trying to work on this daily to familiarise myself with the sounds so that eventually it will become natural and I won’t have to think so much before I say it!

Spent about 45 minutes going over what I had previously done over the past few weeks. I got my bf to test me and I surprised myself as to how much I had actually remembered! There are still a few things that I have to go over again, but I have picked up quite a bit!

I didn’t work on this again this last week. :-(

My bf has suggested we work at it together 3 nights a week rather than the one word every day because that clearly isn’t working for me!

Tonight my bf helped me with the words and phrases I had written down (but not learned) while he was away. He helped me with the correct pronounciation as well as making me believe again that I can learn this language. I just have to be realistic about it. I find it too easy to get frustrated because it’s such a long process it often feels like I’m not getting anywhere with it at all. One day at a time.

Well, I have failed miserably this week on learning any Swiss German. My bf has been offering to help me catch up in the evenings but for whatever reason, it just hasn’t happened. I’m getting more and more behind on my ‘schedule’ and more and more disheartened and close to giving up (again!) When I started this goal I didn’t think that one word a day and one sentence a week to memorise would be that difficult. I started out well, but it just takes a small change in my routine, like my bf being away for 9 days, or having a big night out followed by a non-productive day, and I get behind and anxious that I have to catch up. I think I need to re-evaluate this goal (and maybe some others too) so that I am not putting so much pressure on myself. I have a lot of personal goals right now that I am trying to achieve all at once and I think I am close to burning out. I have to convince myself that it IS ok if I don’t stick EXACTLY to my goals, as perspectives often change once you have been working on a goal for a while, so I should be able to adapt them more as I go along.