Day Three: The Language

You know how you learn a language, you pronounce it correctly, you can speak it quickly, and you think you've got it? And then when you hear a native speaker your hopes and dreams begin to dim a little? That was the first couple of days for me. I knew a fair amount of German, all things that I could see myself using consistently. I knew that I had at least a fairly decent accent as well, or at least I could get the words across to someone who knew German as much as I did. 

The first few exchanges I held at the Fischmarkt were short and brief, mainly asking prices and describing things. The hardest part for me wasn't speaking it, however, it was hearing it. The same goes for when you are learning any language, really. Identical situations happened to me with native Spanish and Russian speakers. Not only do people speak much more rapidly than one might be used to practicing, but the addition of slang and local accents makes things more difficult. There were multiple times where I could initiate a conversation, but then freeze as soon as my partner replied. And knowing Germans, freezing up during a conversation is kind of annoying. After a few "successful" attempts at using German the first two days, I really started to pick up much more words by the third. My brother also helped bring to light some colloquial terms (despite the fact that he doesn't really speak German).

As the fourth day came around I had become acquainted with a number of simple phrases I could repeat and throw out with little brain power required, and I was able to formulate more complicated dialogue as well. Ordering Taxis became second nature; at first I only memorized the order of what the operator asked, but by the fourth day I was able to truly understand what they said and was able to interpret it. It was also during this time that I was able to order food at that one Chinese restaurant entirely in German. Including asking for the check and giving the tip as well (considering I could speak German to people who didn't know German too well either, I would call that a success).