Fifty Percent

That's about how much of the German that is spoken to me I am understanding at the moment. At work. I wish it were fifty percent of every conversation. More often it is 20% of many conversations and 80% of some conversations. Of course there are the occasional 0% and 100% understood conversations as well (but the zeros significantly out number the one hundreds).

Perhaps if we used the 80-20 rule, then I would say that I understand 20% of the German that is said to me, 80% of the time.

Thankfully, this is all part of the plan - the plan that my managing director has to convert me into a German-dreaming, writing and speaking machine. The office, each and every coworker, has been instructed to speak to me in German. If they speak to me in English when it is not absolutely necessary, they are reprimanded, not me. They are watched.

And so, regarding German, I am not behind or ahead of schedule, I am right on time. Three months from now, if my head doesn't explode from all these >35 letter words, I'll be pitching media in German and understanding most of what is said to me.

How novel. It is hard to imagine a future where my coworker says to me, as she did today, "this company is more interesting, the more I read about it" or my other coworker asks"does that work for you?" and actually respond with something besides a look of dumbfoundedness.