The last couple of days we've been visiting various aunts, uncles and cousins of Barb, so my German is getting a decent workout. Initially, I was understanding many of the words, but totally missing the broader meaning and not getting the story. But little by little, my brain stops taking the extra step of translating everything to English and I start to hear in German! This gives me back a little brain power to decipher things and after a day or two I can actually follow some of the conversation. But taking part in the conversation is another step and I am often at a loss for words to express myself. It's hard, stopping and starting and hearing things coming out all wrong and messy, but you just hack away because it's the only way to develop fluency. It also helps if you have an uncle handy who is knowledgeable in multiple languages, (including ancient Greek!) and is always ready to explain it all…
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