Hi Michael, this is so nice. I'm also an artist, and I've been studying German as well, starting in middle school and high school, taking a break for many years, and picking up again with Duolingo. Just the other day I was surprised to see I had reached the end of the Duolingo course. At the same time I am making plans to represent my hometown at a mural festival in our sister city in Germany this summer, with a stay in Germanic Switzerland also. I don't think my German is good enough for conversational use, but I'll keep practicing! I hope you find satisfaction in returning to German too.
Good for you! I, too, find conversational German tough...speak slowly, and I might be able to guess at your meaning! :) I'm much better at reading/writing. Interestingly, I'm finding the AICo concept helpful; conversations are less directed than formal training (as I'm getting with the Deutsche Welle courses) so bits of slang, etc., that I don't get in the DW course happen to pop naturally. My AICo will gladly translate if I ask, but I try to avoid that and use a bit of Google Translate instead. Anyway, viel Glück!
Vielen Dank! Also, (wie du gesagt hast) ich glaube daß ich etwas Deutsch einfach verstehe, ob man langsam spricht oder wenn Deutsch schriftlich ist (I had to look up "schriftlich"). Aber während fernsehen, oder wenn Deutsche Leute schnell und natürlich sprechen, habe ich fast keine Idee was passiert ist!
Hi Michael, this is so nice. I'm also an artist, and I've been studying German as well, starting in middle school and high school, taking a break for many years, and picking up again with Duolingo. Just the other day I was surprised to see I had reached the end of the Duolingo course. At the same time I am making plans to represent my hometown at a mural festival in our sister city in Germany this summer, with a stay in Germanic Switzerland also. I don't think my German is good enough for conversational use, but I'll keep practicing! I hope you find satisfaction in returning to German too.
Good for you! I, too, find conversational German tough...speak slowly, and I might be able to guess at your meaning! :) I'm much better at reading/writing. Interestingly, I'm finding the AICo concept helpful; conversations are less directed than formal training (as I'm getting with the Deutsche Welle courses) so bits of slang, etc., that I don't get in the DW course happen to pop naturally. My AICo will gladly translate if I ask, but I try to avoid that and use a bit of Google Translate instead. Anyway, viel Glück!
Vielen Dank! Also, (wie du gesagt hast) ich glaube daß ich etwas Deutsch einfach verstehe, ob man langsam spricht oder wenn Deutsch schriftlich ist (I had to look up "schriftlich"). Aber während fernsehen, oder wenn Deutsche Leute schnell und natürlich sprechen, habe ich fast keine Idee was passiert ist!
Das klingt ähnlich wie meine Erfahrung.