What does it take to get a free trip to Germany? For Matthew Kasper, a sophomore majoring in German at Fordham College at Rose Hill, all it took was a few Z’s. Thirteen of them, to be specific.
As part of an entry in to “German Jungle – Twist your tongue,” a competition sponsored by the Goethe Institute, Kasper recorded the following video snippet:
For those un-versed in German, Kasper, who is also president of the Deutscher Klub, provided a little context:
“I said: ‘Am zehnten zehnten zehn Uhr zehn zogen zehn zahme Ziegen zehn Zentner Zucker zum Zoo, which translates as ‘On the tenth of the tenth (October 10) at 10:10, ten tame goats pulled 10 centers (that’s an an obsolete measuring unit) of sugar to the zoo.
“This is why I had my watch in the video, why I “baaed” like a goat (probably the most embarrassing part) and then dug into a bag which said Zucker (sugar) on it to the zoo.
“At the end, I said ‘Das ist nicht der Eingang!’ which means ‘That is not the entrance!'”
For his efforts, Matthew will go to Dresden, Germany, in January for a free language course, courtesy of the Goethe Institute. Whether he shows off his Z’s to his German hosts, we’ll have to wait and see.
—Patrick Verel
