I almost forgot to post today. Oops. For a moment when my laptop said that there was no WiFi connection, I considered not posting today, and instead I'd maybe post twice tomorrow and beg your forgiveness, but anyone who knows me well knows that I'm wicked competitive, especially with myself. That is why I will be posting today, however short this post may be, because I'd really like to go to bed now.
I knew that when I started this blog marathon, I'd have to finish it because I put my goal out there for the whole word to see. Once I say I'm going to do something, I do it. Which is why tonight, I'm going to tell you all about another goal I have.
On the second day of living with my new host family, told them that one day I'd like to read Harry Potter in German. I've loved the Harry Potter series ever since I was little. So I figured I'd love it equally as much in German. When I told my host family about this goal, I imagined it as something I'd accomplish towards the end of my stay, when my German was better. Instead my host mom told me that they owned the first book in the series and I could start reading immediately.
That kind of fought me off guard. My German wasn't nearly good enough to read such a long book filled with tons of words I didn't know. Nevertheless I took the book and began to read the first few pages. I didn't understand all of what I read. I had to skim over large chunks of the text. I could have used a translator or dictionary for when I came across an unknown word, but I knew that attempting to translate a 300+ page book would drive be insane and take forever. So I simply read. Some parts made no sense to me, but I'd read the book before so I know what happens.
I started out slow. The first night I read maybe five pages. But I forgot how captivating Harry Potter can be, even in a foreign language. I was amazed at how quickly the first 50 pages went by, then 100, then 200, then suddenly I had less than 50 pages to go.
Today I finished the first book. I was so proud showing my host parents how quickly I finished it. So this evening my host mom and I rode our bikes to the library so I could check out the next book. There they had the entire series, and my host mom explained that I could check them out anytime I wanted. She told me that she had learned Portugese by reading Harry Potter.
So here's my goal. I'm going to share it with you all, so you can hold me to it. I'm going to read the entire Harry Potter series in German. There. I said it. I mean, I have the second half of my exchange still ahead of me. That should give me plenty of time. And I'll be damned if I'm not nearly fluent in German after reading the entire Harry Potter series. Who knows, when I'm done, maybe I'll read the Hunger Games series too.
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