AMD 6 Ian Propper

For my AMD 6 I played Skyrim auf Deut.

For this mission I went off to fight a dragon in the nearby vicinity. The Jarl brought together a band of warriors, and we set off and attacked the dragon. I was excited to play through Skyrim this time as I had not played the game in German since 101.

 However, while my German skills had improved since the last time I played, my game skills had not. The dragon made quick work of me (me dead in the bushes). At least I understood that I was supposed to attack him in the first place!

Kultur 10, Ian Propper

Dinner for two:

Very random, I watched the entire skit. It was old, but seemed kind of campy. It was almost like if "The Room"  was an american past time.

Sundays:
Apparently everything is closed on Sunday. Which really stinks.

Father's Day:
Every middle aged man gets smashed...... Kind of messed up considering it's a day celebrating fatherhood, and large quantities of alcohol typically help you forget life's disappointments.

Grim Brothers:
Interesting that the grim brothers are so famous and they just wrote down stories told by others. Then again, they were probably great editors.

Ashe Wednesday:
German women break the first rule of scissors, don't run with scissors. Also, cutting neck ties sounds dangerous.

German Holiday's
German holidays are very similar to american ones, we may be a bit more Christian.

AMD 4, Ian Propper

For AMD 4 I played Dishonored Auf Deutsche. In the game I went to a mascarade ball. There were three women with the last name Boyles. One in a Weiß mask, one in a Schwartz mask, and one in a Rot mask. I had to figure out which one was the real ladz boyle bz talking to the party guests. I was happz to understand the mission, but conversation with the guests was difficult

however some concellation priyes, i got one of the Boyles to use hatte, i believe we have not met.

Additionally, after listening in on two characters for about ten minutes, I finally herd a relative pronoun, yay!

However, Im not entirely sure what this man said.

Kulture 9 Ian Propper

I found the article on German Beuracracy to be somewhat opposed to the United States. Germany is very interested in certificates, the US, on the other hand, praises those who avoid mainstream certification. Examples being college drop outs, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. I wonder if they would have succeeded in Germany.  

The article on Neighborliness mentions preferred neighbor behavior that is also appreciated in the US.If one does not shovel his/her pathway here, and a neighbor slips, the home owner is liable. Noise complaint is also something that can be reported. Also, for planned communities, one must keep their property looking tidy. Thus expected neighbor behavior is similar in both societies, German behavior just may be a bit more set in stone. 

Germany's patriotism is interesting, it is entirely unlike the US. If one says that s/he hates the United States, and they are a citizen of the United states, that person is typically shunned. Whereas, in Germany, such practice is accepted. 

The article on career training and school rigidity in Germany didn't have any new ideas, and was suff we've mostly covered.

Vienna sounds like an interesting place I am definitely thankful for their ApfelStudel's. 

It is weird how much the history of Österreich was shaped by WWII and Hitler. I wonder if nations like Österreich still guilt, or feel aggression towards, Germany .

AMD 3 Ian Propper

For My AMD 3 I played yet another video game. This time I played Hotline Miami, auf Deutsch. Overall i felt the game was very good for German reading, as it had generally simple dialogue, but, unfortunately, the game had no German voice acting.

The two bits of Dialogue I highlight below are examples of stuff we've been learning in class that were in the game.

This first image is talking about a movie called "Auf Dem Tisch" on the table. It showcases a use of Dative two way preposition. 

This second image showcases the use of Hatte, a subjunctive tense of Haben, which I don't fully grasp yet, but was interested in non the less.

Playing this game was fun, but it as a bit weird trying to piece together the plot having only played the game in German. I think the game was about a man who had recently been inducted into the Mob. I'm not sure why he became a hti man, but he seemed to be struggling with his new lifestyle.

kultur 8, Ian Propper

Germans are afraid of drafts, it’s really strange and doesn't make any sense. Germans are also anti-medicine (for certain medicines). It seems like they dislike aspirin, which generally doesn't cure, but reduce, pain, and anti-biotics, which are dangerous in mass quantities. So their dislike drugs isn't entirely irrational because they are not always necessary. 

Germans really like saunas and getting naked, nothing new.

German Universities seem similar to Michigan with large seminars and difficult graduate exams. However, they are different from American Liberal arts universities which are usually much smaller. German admission is very different because, in addition to choosing students based on grade, they also take into account total semesters one has been waiting to be admitted. The most striking difference between our universities and theirs is: Germans do not need to pay as much.  Which I am supremely envious of. 

One thing that I did not like about the German schooling system was the placement exams. I feel like there are not many students who show serious academic interest in 5^th-6^th grade so how can you place them at that age? Is there room to transition between schools?  

AMD 2, Ian Propper

For my AMD 2 i played yet another video game in German. This time, however, I played Spelunky auf Deutsche. In Spelunky the player goes on "arbentur" durch cursed Minen. Each time you play the game, die Wände bewegen sich... Which means the walls move every time to randomize play throughs. This game, unfortunately, has no dialogue. That said, it is filled with German text. My favorite option was the "Fruenstil" option which I believe translates to Damsil. I chose ein Hund for my Frauenstil.

(The above is my Frauenstil thanking me for the swift rescue. Though, if she knew about the times I mistakenly dropped her in previous games, she might not be so welcoming) 

Spellunky was fun to play for my AMD because, as I had never played the game before, I needed to try to guess what items meant. For example I learned what a Bombentasche (bomb bag) was, and a Fallschirm (parachute).

Kultur 7

Looking through the American cooking auf Deutsch, I found it funny that most recipes were for candy or holiday specials for occasions such as Christmas and Halloween. I wonder if that website is popular. I also thought it was weird for bagels to be a top recipe as I don’t know many people who would go through the effort of making bagels. Perhaps bagels are rare in Deutschland?

The article on lines was interesting, but not too dissimilar from Michigan bus lines. Here people cut to get on the Mbus, especially when it is cold (which is always).

The Supermarkets article was a little surprising because last semester Robert told our class most Germans prefer to shop locally, and supermarkets were not very popular. Perhaps they are now on the rise?

Stuttgart sounds like a nice town with its car factories and opera, but Munich sounds far more interesting.  I hear October fest is amazing.

The article on sports in Germany provided nothing new in terms of soccer, but it was interesting hearing about athletic clubs. It seems like Germans do not have high school or college sports, which is completely polar to American society. 

AMD 1

For my AMD I played the video game called League of Legends, aber auf Deutsch. Upon entering the log on screen I saw several questions, and, I'm not sure, but I think one of them was grammatically incorrect.

I thought this might be an error because the verb is typically first in the sentence to indicate a question, but in this case "du" preceded "hast". I decided not to worry about grammer and pressed "Einloggen". Upon logging in I looked through a couple characters and found a fun quirk with a character named "Lux".




















In the English version of the game Lux had an ability called "Finales Funkeln" that was randomly renamed to "Final Spark". However, in the German version of the game her ability was called Finales Funkeln. The anomaly made me realize that Lux was a German character, as Finales Funkeln is German for "final sparkle". After reading over her abilities I started a game.

Unfortunately, League of Legends is a very fast paced game, so trying to read German while playing was very difficult. However, while I did struggle playing the game, I was able to understand some of the voice acting. For example, Lux often says "eine taktische Entscheidung Beschwörer", a tactical decision summoner, and another character named Leona says "die Sonne geht auf", the sun comes out. So, while this was not the best game for German play, I did have fun reading about characters in German, and listening to their voice actors.