The course was taught by a middle-aged German man who seems to have lived here for many years, and as a result spoke decent Icelandic which he used far more than I was interested in hearing. I'd signed up for a German course in the hopes of hearing lots of German, not long ghost stories in Icelandic, moments of yoga and relaxation in Icelandic, and a total lack of homework. At the end of the class when I asked the teacher why there had been so little homework, he said that it was because his experience with Icelanders showed that they didn't want to take classes that required homework. For the price I was paying, I'd expected something more rigorous though.
So, on to my own teaching methods. Thankfully my good friend A, provider of German films, is also provider of websites, so I'm now learning online with a nicely organized and entertaining course. I've got books too, bought during my last trip to Germany, and A's organized a Stammtisch for students of German. Also, unlike trying to learn Icelandic a few years ago, there are lots of online ways to practice and learn- I can watch soap operas on zdf, news online, streaming radio stations from German speaking countries, and of course, ongoing contact with all my favorite German speaking people out there in the world.
It's been a strange time of limbo while S works on reconstructing himself, so having the project to learn his language as much as possible in the meantime has been really useful. I don't know what my future holds but at least it will hopefully be approached with some new vocabulary in my toolbag.
