Literary Living

I went to the library yesterday to pick up some reading material because I didn't bring anything with me to Vienna except my dictionary and grammar reference books. I picked up a German novel, an environmental engineering reference book, a cookbook, and a film. I was amazed at the section of foreign-language literature. There's English and Turkish and Spanish and French and Russian ... the list goes on and on. What's interesting is that most of the English-language books are actually mixed in with the German-language books. Most young people, by education and practically default, are bilingual here. Reading Harry Potter in English, for example, is just fun, not necessarily a challenge.
Hence, Americans are often defined in lingual communities as those who speak only one language. Stereotypes, stereotypes, stereotypes.

Word of the Day: die Bücherei = the public library