I have been learning German for the past couple of months. I find the language very interesting primarily because like a programming language it has well defined rules and constructs. A lot of English words have their roots in German and there are a lot of commonalities between Indian languages and German. What I really like about the language is that with whatever limited vocabulary I have, I am comfortable constructing my own sentences without much too many howlers as long as I stick to the rules. The exceptions to the rules are fewer and less irrational as compared to English. Of course I have a very enthusiastic tutor and extremely boisterous classmates to make the learning process more enjoyable.
Within four weeks of the commencement of a new batch at Max Müller Bhavan (Goethe Institut) there is a Student fest held. It provides the students with a platform to showcase their talents with German as the mode of communication. Since mine is not a fast-track course I had the opportunity to participate in two Student fests so far. Both occasions have been memorable, yet, the one I attended last week was more creatively satisfying. Since the last Student fest saw us singing two German songs which had been taught in class, we needed something simple yet novel and entertaining. With just two days to the Student fest and no concrete ideas brewing in our heads, we were on the verge of calling it off. I have always held that inspiration is like a fickle guest: she lands up at the wrong times and never turns up when you invite her. This time I am glad I was wrong. The result is this script. I can’t take complete credit for it because the initial scene is ripped off from one of our German lessons and the song was our Tutor’s idea.
Franz sees Claudia outside the restaurant. He pulls out a flower from his pocket.
Franz: (sings) Wollen wir ins Kino gehen? (When shall we go to the Cinema?)
Claudia: (sings) Tut mir Leid, ich kann nicht. Tut mir Leid, ich kann nicht. (Sorry, I cannot. Sorry, I cannot.)
Franz: (sings) Wollen wir ins Kino gehen? (When shall we go to the Cinema?)
Claudia: (sings) Tut mir Leid, ich kann heut’ nicht. (Sorry, I cannot today.)
The flower droops....
****************************
Müller Familie beim Frühstuck
Mutti: Franz!
Franz: (snaps out of his reverie) Mama! Claudia ist wirklich hübsch. Ich mag sie sehr. (Mama! Claudia is really pretty. I like her a lot.)
Papa: (irritated) Jedes Jahr bist du in ein anderes Mädchen verliebt. (Every year you take a liking for a different girl)
Franz: (complains) Oh Papa! Und der Max?....Er hat ja jeder Woche eine neue Freundin. (Oh Papa! And Max?....He has a new Girlfriend every week.)
Max: (nonchalant) Dieses Mal ist es Rita...(dreamy)und...und sie ist so lieb! (This time it is Rita...and...and she is so lovable!)
Franz: (defensive) Aber Papa! Claudia....ich liebe sie sehr! (But Papa! Claudia...I love her so much!)
(to Mother) Und morgen hat sie Geburtstag! Ich möchte ihr eine Überraschung geben. Was soll ich denn für sie machen? (And tomorrow is her Birthday. I want to give her a surprise. What should I do for her?)
Mutti: (suggests) Eine Geburtstag Party im Restaurant? Oder geh doch ins Kino....sieht sie Filme gern? (Throw a Birthday Party in a restaurant? Or go to the Cinema....does she like watching films?)
Franz: Ja....aber das ist keine Überraschung. Wir gehen ins Restaurant jeden Tag. Ich frage sie „ Mochtest du ins Kino gehen?“. Sie sagt „Nicht“ immer. (Yes...but that’s hardly a surprise. We go to the restaurant everyday. I ask her, “Would you like to go to the cinema?” She always says “No”)
Papa: (folds the newspaper in his hand and bangs it down on the table) Aaaha! Und lernen möchtest du gar nicht. Wann lernst du für die Prüfung? Du flirtest immer! (Aaaha! And you never want to study. When are you planning to study for your exam? You are always flirting around!)
Franz: (makes a face) Papa, ich kann nächste Woche beginnen. (Papa, I can begin next week).
(to Mother) Mama, bitte gib mir deine Kreditkarte. Ich gehe in den Supemarkt und kaufe ein Geschenk für Claudia. (Mama, please give me your Credit card. I am going to the Market to buy Claudia a gift.)
(to Max) Max, mochtest du mit kommen? (Max, do you want to come along?)
Max: Ja, natürlich. (Yes, of course.)
***************************
Im Supermarkt
Franz: (examines a CD player walkman) Oh Schau mal! Der CD Player ist wirklich originell. (Oh look! The CD Player is ingenious)
Max: (puts his hand understandingly on the younger brother’s shoulder) Ja, aber ein CD Player zum Geburstag? Das ist keine gute Idee! (Yes, but a CD player for a Birthday gift? That’s not a very good idea).
Franz: (nods) Was soll ich denn fur sie kaufen? (What should I buy then?)
Max: (thinks awhile) Einen Diamentenring! Frauen mogen immer teure Geschenke. (A diamond ring! Ladies always love expensive gifts.)
Franz: Ach so! (Ah right!)
(to shopkeeper) Verzeihung! Wo finde ich Schmuck und Accessoire? (Excuse me! Where will I find jewellery and accessories?)
Verkäuferin: Bitte kommen Sie mit. (Please follow me)
Takes them to the counter. Shows them the display and hands Franz a sample.
Franz: (selects a diamond ring) Ahhh! Wunderbar! Wie viel kostet denn dieser Diamentanring? (Ahhh! Wonderful! How much does this diamond ring cost?)
Verkäuferin: Nur 990 €. Das ist echt Diament. Es lohnt sich! (Only 990 €. That is a genuine diamond. It is worth it!)
Franz: (shocked and almost drops the ring) Das ist wirklich teur! Ich kaufe keinen Diamentenring für 990 €! (That is very expensive! I am not buying any diamond ring for 990 €.)
Dials from the mobile phone.
Meanwhile Max continues interacting with the Shopkeeper.
Mutti: Müllers!
Franz: Hallo, Mama! Ich möchte einen Diamentenring für Claudia kaufen. Aber der kostet 990 €. Das ist zu teur. Was soll ich denn tun? (Hello, Mama! I want to buy a diamond ring for Claudia. But it costs 990 €. It is too expensive. What should I do then?)
Mutti: Franz, die Liebe kann man nicht kaufe. Mit der Zeit wird sie groβer. (Franz, one cannot buy love. It needs to grow with time.)
Franz: Das stimmt, Mama! Ich kaufe ihr kein Geschenk. Ich schenke ihr meine liebe. Vielen Dank, Mama. Tschüs. (That is right, Mama! I am going to buy her any gift. I shall gift her my love. Thanks Mama. Bye.)
Mutti: Tschüs.
Franz: Max, wir gehen nach Hause. (Max, we are going home.)
*****************************
Morgen im Restaurant
Franz: Viel glück zum Geburtstag, Claudia. (Happy Birthday, Claudia.)
Claudia: Danke schön Franz. Und wo ist mein Geschenk? (Thanks a lot Franz. And where is my gift?)
Franz: Ich habe keins gekauft. (goes down on one knee) Ich schenke dir mein Leben und meine Leibe.(I am gifting you my life and my love.)
Claudia: (confused and a tad bit sad) Ohhhhh... Aber mein neuer Freund kauft mir einen Diamentenring. Schau mal! (shows the ring in the finger) Ich bin wirklich frohlich heute. Franz er ist Max meiner Freund. (Ohhhhh...But my new boyfriend bought me a diamond ring. See! I am extremely happy today. Franz this is my boyfriend Max).
Max: (sings) Wollen wir ins Kino gehen? (When shall we go to the Cinema?)
Claudia: (sings) Ja, ich geh’ mit. Ja, ich geh’ mit. (Yes I will go with you. Yes I will go with you)
Max: (sings) Wollen wir ins Kino gehen? (When shall we go to the Cinema?)
Claudia: (sings) Ja ich geh’ oh ja! (Yes I will go with you, oh yes.)
The German is of level 1 so it might come across as crude in terms of vocabulary and the translation to English quite comical. Even so, it was immensely gratifying to be on stage (I did a cameo) and see my classmates enact it so effortlessly even though none of them had been on stage before. Much of the credit for the applause and laughs we received goes to their acting. Our Tutor was particularly proud because we carried on confidently despite some minor glitches and earned a word of appreciation from some German visitors in the audience. In hindsight, I was planning to give this Student fest a miss but I am glad I didn’t because I had the time of my life.
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21 comments:
Reminds me of our complusary German subject in Loyola's. Agree with you its fun to learn. And guess what...I was amongst the toppers. :) Unexpected...even my profs were stunned.
Seems a trip to Germany is on the radar, is it?
One mistake you repeatedly make is in translating Wollen wir ins Kino gehen? It's Do we want to go to the theatre?
I also found a few other errors in the German and some inaccuracies in the translation.
But I guess it was a good effort for a beginning student.
(One more point. I'm saying this because you may not be taught this. Ich mag sie is not idiomatic. Substitute Ich habe sie gern.)
!
Khelnayak,
Nopes. Certainly not.
Pink Panther,
Yes I know that. But doesn't "Do we want to go to the theatre?" sound weird in English? In any case I translated the essence of the dialogues for the benefit of those who don't understand German. And btw "Ich mag sie" was ripped off from my text book.
In any case will check it with my 'Lehrer'.
And btw if nitpicking is the only thing that you like to do around people's blogs then I am afraid I won't entertain it too long.
SP,
Where are the words...what happened?
munch munch ..i ate Spee's words..eew some were bitter..Cameo ? which part did you play ? You played the flower ? or the ring ? or was it Mutti?
Oh by the way where are the Dragon eggs and the magic words and the talking tree ? thu thu ..I'll go read Sp's post now..thu ..call me when you write a good story..yawn...and HELLO stop SENDING mails in GERMAN ..grrr..
Guten Tag ..no no
Je regrette, mais...Bonne journée!
uhahahhaaa eat that you fire breathing broomstick yielding pony tail ....
Come to think of it, it's "weird" in German too—Wollen wir ins Kino? A better translation might have been "Are we willing to go to the theatre?" (I mean, it isn't a straightforward question.)
Actually I thought your play was great for someone only two months old.
As to ich mag sie, I checked a bilingual dictionary right after writing the comment. It had the mag phrase too, but used the gern phrase in the definition. So I would assume ich mag sie isn't unidiomatic, only that ich habe sie gern is more natural to a native speaker.
In case you plan to type more German in the future, here's how to get the umlauts: (I'm typing with spaces between the ampersand and the code so that you can see the codes instead of the letters) "& auml;", "& euml;", "& uuml;", "& Auml;", "& Euml;", "& Uuml;".
Umm … Sorry for so many comments. But I'd like to offer you something. I'll send you any German resources you need from my collection. I'm crazy about the language and I'm learning it with much enthusiasm. Assuming you feel the same way, I'd be glad to be of help.
If you have a cheap (or free) Internet connection, I'll send you a bilingual dictionary which I found superb (Oxford-Duden). I haven't checked, but I think it's a few tens of megabytes. Tell me if you feel the need for anything specific. And tell me your e-mail address.
And what grammar topics have you covered so far?
Mr. Pee,
Thank you for those pieces of information. I think, for a pea-brain that I am, I've already had an information overload! Whew I already have a headache.
I wonder why people visit my blog if they don't like the stuff I write! Save yourself the trouble and the telephone bills next time.
Vee,
I am really sorry about those mails. You poor thing! Anyway you had fun didn't ya :P Stop calling me names grr grr.
Thanks Ma ...and Pee's comments were so funny ..uhahahahhaaaaaaaaaha Wait till i tell Sp .. dont fly off on your broom ..wait wait. .
Oh, that last comment contained all the invectives I knew in German. I know you'd do me the same favour if I put up the french play I wrote for my elementary french course. Well, I took a lot of help from google translator for that one, but I'm told it was still gloriously terrible!
Why are you bashing the pink panther guy? He's being all nice and helpful and all, lending you his dictionary and helping you out with your german. You're supposed to tell him Thank You.
But the guy who deserves the most sympathy here is poor li'l Franz of course.
But what role did kk play??
Nice one :) I enjoyed reading it :)
Interesting.. :) err...how do you say that in German?
wow
Anony,
Take a guess.
Gubbacchi,
Thanx. Keep visiting.
Phatichar,
In German it is "interessant"
Rohit,
Thanx.
Hey Claudia,
I thought this post was too funny, but funnier was the war of words in the Comments. My sympathies with you, Pink Panther, you should try impressing this Claudia with a Diamond ring & not a dictionary. I thought you would have learnt that from the play :D
Anony,
I am sorry to burst your bubble anony I wasn't Claudia in the play. I was a lamp stand :P No..I was the "Verkäuferin" :)
Oh..I learn German for a year too..its quite similar to English..
I also did French after that..I like French more..much more soothing to the ear..
ohh sooper stuff kirthi :)
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