Milestones in Language Learning

There are certain milestones in learning a language, those moments when you feel “wow, I can communicate!” They’re particularly sweet, buried amongst all the other failures and inabilities to express yourself.

People say you have truly learned when you dream in the language. But before that we have:

• When you successfully argue with the telephone/utility companies
• When you can give directions to someone who asks you on the street
• Making small talk with strangers
• When you can help someone who asks for help

Normally, I have trouble understanding random questions from strangers  - I need context to understand, so something out of the blue can be difficult. Today, a sweet little old lady asked me in the grocery store to help her read the expiration date on a loaf of bread. She had forgotten her reading glasses. I read the date, which was yesterday’s date (odd in a German store!), and we both said that was too old. Then I looked for another loaf that was good for another week. It usually feels good to be able to help someone. It felt GREAT to finally be able to do it in German.

Comments

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Couldn't agree more on the steps to communicating, however, I do not know any Germans who have sucessfully negotiated or got any reasonable answer or service from the telephone company.
My crowning achievement is to have intermittent, occasional, glimmers of understanding with my GF's mother!! German is difficult but East Berlin and Dresdener slang is a nightmare. I might as well be Mandarin.
In a recent article about language learning it was interesting to note that in America and England, early emphasis is on spelling and phoenetics, whereas in Germany it is on articles and such important words like "auf" which can mean on, in,upon,at,toward, for,to,and upward!