Today we opened class with some riddles, 5 Rätsel entirely auf Deutsch that left the class scratching their heads in confusion... not because of the language, but because of the riddles themselves.
Try this one on for size:
"Ein Man baut ein blaues quadratisches Haus. All 4 Wände sind nach süden gerichtet. Es kommt ein Bär vorbei. Welche Farbe hat der Bär?"
We went over sentence structure once more (SHIV/SHIM) and applied it once again to the modal verbs. We quickly reviewed the overall list from last week, shown below, and then focused a bit on how to politely ask permission.
Wollen - Want
Sollen - Should
Müssen - Must
Können - Can
Dürfen - May
Möchten - Would Like
Last week we talked about how using möchten to express desire (I would like suchandsuch, please!) was by far the more polite way of doing so rather than using wollen (I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT). This week we covered the bane of all children: "Can I do suchandsuch?" "I don't know, can you?" and how that annoying bit of correction translates into German almost directly.
When asking permission, use dürfen instead of können, otherwise, like in English, you are literally asking whether or not you have the ability to do something.
We covered in-detail the conjugations of the verbs we've done so far (wollen, möchten, können, dürfen) and did some short roleplay with können/dürfen.
Our cultural historical unit continued with a lesson over the Roman Empire's religious habits, both the gods themselves (Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, etc.), observance (libations, prayer, sacrifice, etc.) and most importantly, syncretism and "the cultural identity." We covered in-depth how religion was less about metaphysics and internalized belief and more about "what one does," what it meant to be a good Roman. That this was why citizens and assimilated cultures were expected to (gradually) worship as the Romans did, for the sake of cultural conformity as opposed to any kind of "zeal" or "piety."
Syncretism is always my favorite to cover, the whole "You can worship your gods but slightly differently and also by the way they have the same names as my gods for now on" form of appropriation leading to assimilation. The illustration we did was this:
*me wearing a centurion hat*
"So you're a Roman now. I see you guys worship 'Odin,' huh? Well that's nice. We call him Mercury. You can keep worshipping Odin but be sure to call him Mercury. Also, teach your kids to say 'Mercury' from here on. K? Cool."
Next week we will cover the Germanic half of the comparison with the teutonic/nordic pantheon and religious practices.
I was asked again why we are learning about Rome. The point of this, of comparing Iron Age Rome and Iron Age Germania in all of their various facets of life is to emphasize two things:
- The complexity and gravity of the decision made by the tribesmen not to assimilate (The Battle of Teutoburg)
- The uniqueness of Germany and German history in Western Europe
Germania's interactions with Rome in the first century AD determined the (would-be) country's path forward in ways we are still feeling to this very day. That is why we talk about Rome and Germania.
~Mit Vergnügen
No comments:
Post a Comment