Hello everyone, my name is Shane Cummings, and I am a junior at Penn State currently at the Technische Universität Braunschweig. My experiment focuses on idiom comprehension in a second language, and whether or not second language learners of English can effectively learn English idioms through instruction.

My first week in Braunschweig has been very productive. I managed to get all of the essential data coded for my eye-tracking experiment, and after a meeting with Dr. Hopp (Braunschweig’s PIRE partner) on Monday, I should be able to start running participants. Very exciting stuff!

Adapting to life in Germany has been confusing, to say the least. While I am a German major, at the moment my language is lacking. Every time I asked for a receipt, people gave me strange looks: it was only later that I found out that I had been asking for a “Kasserolle” (casserole) instead of a “Kassenzettel” (receipt). Very embarrassing!

It’s quite difficult building up the courage to speak to people in German; I find interacting with native speakers exceptionally intimidating. Every time I speak with someone, I find myself being asked to speak louder. I guess I subconsciously become quieter every time I speak, and this makes understanding me a bit difficult. I’ll make sure to keep trying, however.

One thing I’ve noticed about Germans is that they don’t seem to jaywalk. I’ve been so used to Penn State students’ blatant disregard for traffic safety laws that I forgot other countries actually follow them.  It takes all my willpower to not run across the street at a random intersection!

Tomorrow I plan to take my first trip out of Braunschweig since landing in Europe. I’ll be taking a train to Berlin. I hope to see the Brandenburg Gate, the Alexanderplatz, and other general touristy things. I’ll write about my trip during my next blog post.

I can’t wait to start running participants next week, and I’m very excited to learn about German culture while I’m here!

Tschüss!

-Shane