Wednesday, February 25, 2015

I thought I was hot stuff 'til I cooled down

I stopped by the bakery and spoke German with lady working there. I did the whole thing in German and she answered in German.

Whoa, I thought.

Maybe this is going really well. She hasn't switched to English. Rock on. Dang, I'm doing well today.

Then, as I was ready to pay, she told me that my German was good.  

Oh.

She said that she wasn't sure if I wanted to speak English or not but figured that I must have wanted to practice my German so she continued in German.

Oh.

Sigh.

Back to the drawing board class for me.



[Though I am thankful for her kindness and thoughtfulness, I am sad that my German is still so weak that people's first thought is to switch to English.]





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4 comments:

  1. Ami im SchwabenlandFebruary 25, 2015 at 9:11 AM

    That doesn't mean your German is weak. There is little chance you'll ever lose your accent enough that Germans won't detect it. They're good at that - even among themselves. My husband can listen to a few lines someone speaks on TV and tell me where he's from in Germany, or at least roughly the area. I give myself away by saying any word with an R in it.

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  2. dubliner in DeutschlandFebruary 25, 2015 at 2:48 PM

    yea I wouldn't worry either. I've lived here nearly 5 years and I still get people in shops/cafes etc answering me in english, which can be really frustrating! I think Germans just love to practice their english any chance they get!

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  3. appydoesdressageFebruary 25, 2015 at 3:44 PM

    This made me laugh. Soon enough you will get it!

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  4. aroundtheFebruary 25, 2015 at 10:50 PM

    That darn "r"! Oh well, we always have "squirrel."

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