Project update

I liked having time to work in our groups last week, but I think it was a little too much. Right now we need to focus on our individual methodologies the most and just a little on the overall concept. Our group talked about what we wanted to specifically do for our time in Berlin (visiting Kreuzberg markets, going to Prinzlauerberg, talking to different associates, the possibility of doing a case study, etc). I talked about visiting the foreigner's house in Marzahn. I am really interested in spending a least part of a day there in order to listen to the linguistic diversity, that was discussed in the "Russian Disco". We also talked about different music that would fit well with our final composition and overall ideas. This was pretty excited, but I imagine that it will change long before we end up presenting it.

I'm pretty excited to see what the other groups have come up with for this weeks compositions. It's been so long since we've had a composition and this is the first one that will be related to our projects.

So in terms of research, I've been trying to get a little more organized this week. I'm currently working on formulating exactly what my research question will be. I'm been focusing on EU policy this week and the phenomenon of Türkendeutsch. This is something that most German linguistics are amazed by. Rather than German having a huge impact on the Turkish spoken, Turkish is working its way into the German spoken by youth & low income people. The research that I've seen as of now is really interested in the behavior of the older generations. It is in some way expected for youth to behave in such a manner.

I've also discovered that there's a whole spectrum of German words for foreigners and how they speak the language:

Gastarbeiter (guest workers)
ausländische Arbeitnehmer (foreign employees)
ausländische Mitbürger (foreign fellow-citizens)
Nicht-Deutsche (non-Germans)

Here’s an interesting quote from one of my sources:

“In interaction with non-native speakers, those who speak the dominant language (i.e. German) natively might produce so-called ‘foreigner talk’, a simplified form of German that exposes the listener to reduced or even incorrect input.”

This idea would correlate to the increase in the use of Türkendeutsch among the German population, but the experts are still out!

Also, I got my insurance this week. Hurray. You need this for your concurrent enrollment form. Here's the one I would recommend. http://www.studyabroadinsurance.com/

Also, If anyone is planning on going to Oktoberfest, there is a possibility for a hostel, as opposed to making friends at the beer tent. More info here:

http://www.wombats-hostels.com/munich/reservation/