About

How Lisa and I Met

I grew up in the sunny, coastal city of Durban, South Africa. After high school I made my way to London where I worked for some years before moving up to Scotland to study computing science and Spanish.

Lisa and I met at the University of Aberdeen in the final year of my computing science degree. She had come over as an exchange student to improve her English and to experience firsthand: men in kilts, haggis and deep fried Mars bars!

When I first laid eyes on her, I was convinced she was a native Spanish speaker. She has that healthy, sunned latino look. Having just got back from a year of teaching English in the south of Mexico for the British Council my Spanish was not too shabby, which gave me the boost confidence to approach her and introduce myself.

When she told me she was German and from the town of Baden-Baden, I thought she was having me on. Until that time, I'd shown very little interest in Germany, and would never have guessed that I'd attempt to learn the language, let alone land up living here!

At the time, my understanding of Germany was a mash-up of stereotypes. I imagined beer festivals where the beer was served by big breasted blonde ladies in Dirndls. The mustached men, who were not practising Freikörperkultur sported Lederhosen. Beer was merrily accompanied by Bratwurst or Schnitzel, which was washed down by more beer. Clinical football, folk music, kitsch, punctuality, work ethic, fast cars and very practical outdoor gear some of the other things that came to mind.

My only trump card with this attractive girl was that I'd watched the hilarious BBC series Fawlty Towers and knew not to mention the war! Not much of a trump card really but that was a long time ago now and we're still together living happily in Freiburg in the southwest of Germany.

Pukka German Inspiration

On arrival in Freiburg, I realised that in order to properly integrate and enjoy living out here, I was going to have to learn German.

Immediately I devoted considerable energy to learning the German basics as quickly as possible. I used language learning software, CDs, a multitude of books, online resources and also took German language classes. In fact Lisa was quite taken aback by my motivation and she worried that I had some kind of compulsive disorder that she'd failed to pick up on during our time in Scotland!

Unfortunately, I soon noticed that the language I learnt from text books was very different to the colourful language that I heard being used socially. It frustrated me that despite all the time and energy I'd invested to improve my German, I battled to understand what seemed to be the most entertaining conversations. I also felt cramped in my ability to express my personality and bring humour into conversation. It didn't take much to realise that it was the idiomatic language, the colloquial expressions and equally important, the slang that I was missing.

Fortunately for me, I had Lisa who not only did me the favour of speaking with me in German from my first week here, but she also explained many of the useful expressions, that my private studies hadn't exposed me to.

This obvious difference between textbook German and the language used by a large percentage of the Germans I was meeting is what inspired the creation of Pukka German. My vision with Pukka German is to help learners of German to bridge this divide, which normally is only achieved with a patient native speaker at your side.

A podcast seemed the perfect solution because it allows subscribers to hear new vocabulary in context and spoken by a native speaker. It is also an excellent format for regular delivery of content, which is great for language learning.

Personal Interests

When not busy working on the Pukka German quizzes, Lisa enjoys dancing to swing music, playing tennis and she is about to take a self defense course - so I'll be watching my back!

I am a freelance web designer and in my free time, I enjoy mountain biking in Freiburg's forest surroundings and getting out for a few drinks on the weekend. Let me know if you happen to pass through Freiburg and we could meet up for a Weizenbier!

Both Lisa and I love to travel and are in regular debate about our next holiday destination.

Plans and Goals

Now that Lisa has her masters degree in English, Geography and Ethnology behind her she is interested in getting involved in cultural event management.

Apart from Pukka German, I am busy establishing my web design company, Amasango and do freelance web development work for small to medium sized businesses.

Both Lisa and I get a lot of enjoyment working on Pukka German and we plan to continue investing a lot of energy and enthusiasm into the project to help you folks get the most out of your German experiences.