This was a fun image to make. We randomly took a picture of our son reading Harry Potter (just for a second) and then the rest of the idea naturally fell into place. You can see a picture of the Harry Potter page that I tried to replicate AND at the same time I learned the verb {to read} - lesen (Present Tense).
I hope you guys enjoy. XO Judi
Image Credits:
http://www.psdgraphics.com/backgrounds/blank-open-book-template/
I guess we can always try multiple {takes} to get things right. I know that when I am speaking German – I need many {takes}.
Hope you enjoy! Lots of Love – Judi
Image Credits:
As I mentioned in a previous blog post, the focus on Monday’s Post will be the differences that I see between the US and Germany. I have been living here for about 8 months (oh my gosh it has been 8 MONTHS) and my current stage of culture shock is where I can observe differences without getting too worked up about them. At least not ALL the time. But I still have ups and downs. I am also slowly {starting} to see myself come up with solutions to differences and creating new pathways forward in life.
In the US, a lot of parents, grandparents, and care givers take their babies and children to storytime at the library. I started taking Isaac when he was just a couple months old. I didn’t realize how much I liked that kind of program until I arrived in Germany. The first thing I did when we arrived here was go to the library in Rehau. BUT it turns out that the library here has really limited hours and barely any programs for kids and NO programs for babies.
The difference is….. the library in Germany isn’t a source of community events like it is in the US. Instead there are multi-generation houses that serve as a source of community events and programs. They have things like musik class and they can help network you to mom groups with local churches or the La Leche League. I can post another time about the mom groups and programs I have discovered in the Hof / Rehau area.
{I have to note that we live in a really small town in a quiet area of Germany so there might be more resources and programs at your library if you live near a bigger city in Germany.}
But basically, I went to as many mom groups as I could find and did a musik class, but it all still left a huge {storytime sized hole} in my heart. I missed storytime.
To fill this hole – I decided to start my own storytime group. So far it has worked out great and might even be better than if I had found a storytime at the library. I enjoy having mom’s and babies over to our house. The atmosphere is relaxed and we enjoy books and songs in both English and German. It will help me learn more German in a fun way and the other kids will be exposed to some English. It is so great that I have met a really wonderful group of mom’s who want to come over each week.
Because I think it would be helpful to other mom’s or even folks who are at the early stages of learning German – I will start posting the program that we do each week. Maybe another mom somewhere in the world wants to do something like this with their kid, but just needs some ideas.
The BEST part is that this storytime program pushes me to search out children’s songs and books in German, learn more German words as I write down the program each week, and clean my house.
Lots of Love, Judi
Image credit:
http://www.psbnyc.com/about_us/index?tag_name=childrens_story_time
It was fun trying to re-create the I heart NY logo with DE (Deutch / Germany). Thanks to my brainstorming sidekick best friend husband, we came up with this image. It wasn’t too 
PS – When I googled “I heart DE” – here is what I found…
DE is also for Delaware.
Turns out DE – also stands for Diplôme d’Etat (DE)
And here DE – stands for Dynamic Earth
The last image I posted was BECOME translated from English to German, but this word is also used to create the future tense. I thought it would be fun to create a Last “Will” and Testament to conjugate the future tense {and we also get “to learn” lernen and the words first, second, third, and forth}.
Just in case, I also posted an image of what a U.S. Will typically looks like. The language in this image translation is copied almost directly from a sample will that I found online.
Hope you Enjoy! Judi
Image Credits:
http://www.vocabulix.com/conjugation/query_german.html?conjugation,lernen,lernen,_german_future
http://ricksblog.lawelderlaw.com/elder-law-vs-traditional-estate-planning/
I will become fluent in German {in 20 years}. Especially if I make an image for every verb conjugation, noun, and word. I am excited to make the next verb, but it might take me a while because I want to get the next image – just right! Lots of Love – Judi
Image Credits:
I {want} to learn German. Maybe if I keep saying that phrase I will eventually believe it. As I mentioned before, I have some challenges towards learning German. I wish the rest of my life would settled down just a little and I could wrap my head around another language. The good news is that Isaac only woke up one time in the middle of the night last night. I {want} more nights like that :) Lots of Love – Judi
{Finding the Perfect Font} Love Story:
The path to finding the perfect font for The Wanted German Poster {above} started with Pinterest. Here I found a great free font pin that sent me to a beautiful website - Elle Claire and while I was downloading the fonts, I discovered Font Squirrel. Where I finally found the perfect font underneath the grunge classification – Font Name –Shortcut- (download here). It all happened so easily. This was a {finding the perfect font} love story.
Now back to the {Learning German} details:
Image Credits:
http://german.about.com/library/blmodalv02.htm
http://zeke-ulrich.deviantart.com/art/Wanted-Poster-Salma-Hayek-91811479 (wanted poster inspiration)
Our son was the visual inspiration for this one. I just sometimes wish he would sleep all night long and look as peaceful as he does in this image. Lots of Love – Judi
More German Verb Conjugations – I guess I am on a roll. I am really enjoying making these images and hopefully I am learning the verbs as I go along :) Lots of Love – Judi
Image Credits:
{I HAVE} the ability to learn to German, :) but sometimes my sleep deprived mommy brain can’t remember anything. One hurdle for me to overcome in learning German is holding onto the idea that this is just too tough in this phase of life and that I am already challenging myself by raising a small child. Basically I didn’t need a language barrier challenge on top of everything else. But here {Ich Bin} and I guess I am finding peace with learning German very slowly. Here is the next motivational learning picture. Enjoy! Lots of Love – Judi
Image Credits:
{ I AM } starting to learn German – after being here for 6 months. I finally have a tutor who can come to my house and help get me motivated. I still have a lot of soul searching to do as to why there is a mental / emotional road block for me to learn to speak German, but I thought it might help me to make images that inspire me to learn these words in German.
Disclaimer – I am not a German teacher or professional translator. If you need immediate translation services please seek professional help with a highly skilled native speaking German. These postings may contain mistakes and should not be used in real life German language settings – especially when accuracy with the formal and informal is critical. :)
Hopefully these images / language lesson links might also help inspire someone else :). Lots of Love – Judi
Image Credits
http://www.anninaroescheisen.com/me-you/messages-from-me-to-you/i-am/
