We are into the second week of German class. Due to the holidays interrupting and shortening the schedule, this intensive class is more intense than usual, compressing 4 weeks into 3. The extra thirty minutes make a difference. My brain feels a little foggy by the end of class, though perhaps that is due more to my head cold than the length of the class.

I have been surprised at the practical timing of our German lessons.  On the day we learned how to express having a problem with something I had to speak with a teacher about a schedule change. The day I am coming down with a cold we discussed body parts and learned vocabulary dealing with different types of sickness. The day after we talked about making and changing appointments and exams, I encountered the words for these things when talking with my son’s teacher.

These things are so encouraging to me as a student. It inspires and motivates me to keep learning when I see how very practically to my everyday life what I am learning is. I know there are people who manage to live in another country without learning the language of the place that they live, but to me it feels very cumbersome and limiting. I called the kindergarten yesterday to tell them my son was sick. I tried to communicate who I was and why I was calling in German, but they couldn’t understand me so I had to resort to English.  Today someone in class was asking me about my previous work as a nurse, but the words to describe it in German weren’t there.  But one day they will be. I work toward that end.