Germany Three - Text
Subject is female, born in Luenborg, Germany, in 1972. She has a good command of the English language and her accent is not strong, but it is also unaffected by British or American sounds as she learned most of her English from native Germans. At the time of the recording, she is a graduate student at KU who had been in the U.S. for seven months. Recorded by Chloe Ritter in 2000. Running time: 00:03:35.
TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH
"Okay, um, I was raised in Luenborg (sp?), it's next to Hamburg, and, um, then I went to Kiel, I studied at Kiel for six years - the last six years - before I came to Kansas. And, um, yeah, I traveled, um, throughout my life. I was in Italy, and France; in, um, Greece with my parents, almost. . . And I went - once I went to England, um, to - what is it, um, yeah, next to York, so, Humberside there. And I was - actually I was two times in - in America. 1991 I was in Baltimore and Washington D.C. and I visit a friend. And '86 it was my first year, I went to New York to visit also a friend of mine. I was so little, it was a different impression I had, really. But, um, yeah this was actually my staying abroad, so to speak. It was in the seventh class, so to speak, I mean it's different from America, for sure. And, um, my first foreign language was Latin, so it was my first one. And then I took. . . English. And it was - actually I had, um, yeah I had always German teachers. So they - no - native Germans, not native speakers. Um, yeah, as well as at university, so it was the same. I think seven or eight years in a row I was in Greece. So because my father was a Latin and Greek teacher. And um, I really enjoyed that. So we had a little, really, fish - fisher - fisher village I would say, you know, and it's really, it was the island Kos (sp?). So it was pretty. It was 1770s (?) and, um, no - 80s more, and I really enjoyed that as well as, um, to go with my parents to, um, yeah - is it, um, St. Mont Michele (sp?), so, in France. Okay, I, actually I take French here, so, I also liked it. I had it ten, um, ten years ago at school for two years, so. . . And I can refresh it here. It's great. So I love it. When I came here I got to know at the airport a German - um, a German - an American, um, woman here. She works for the Alumni association center. And she said, "Oh, well, please bring me something, you know, when you come back from Germany." And I bought a book. And she was totally impressed with the - the houses. And what is so typical of Germany, of Luenborg - Luenborg is an old - I don't know the word - salt - salt town, you know? So it was very rich in the Middle Ages. And they have really this brick stone houses with the facades. . . In German it's gieble (sp?). Okay, and it's really really famous, and it's - it's beautiful, actually.
Transcribed by Chloe Ritter