Good Morning!

ahh try a few letters at a time, slowly ? @tonys

Your amazing @TAB You don't quit.. Wealth of info and tenacious. Ever the helpful soul.

I almost don't want to tell you. We tried everything including threatening my laptop with a microwave oven.. Its Ok, n thanks for trying. It'll come.. OK bedy byes TAB tones..

Stickivity easy when you know you're right @tonys last word Id call myself re T word

Literally lost count of jobs have walked off eg

Yes, @TAB, they were the 'squiggles' I was talking about. I was researching my ancestry and teaching myself German at the same time. It warmed the cockles of my heart to be attaching to the history of much of my forebears.

yes, @Historylover can relate. father was German, mother Australian, German was only spoken with male visitors in car going for drives, not in house., so I got to hear 4-5 different regional accents when young. I did 2 terms of German in year 8 when we got a German Principal after the one who taught French got cancer.

We moved the next year , new school did not do Foreign languages though.

I got talked into doing uni entrance exam as had not completed Matric late 1980s, I wasnt ready for it then, but in hindsight, should have done something then. I did an adult apprenticeship a few years later, then on finding me score was still in system like mid90s I made the plunge.

Anyway, did German through uni , but thats not comparable to growing up there or living there, or going to school or uni there.

Still, I got into Intermediate at Foreign language school in Berlin in 2000. They did a one on one test. think my standout weak point was oral. possibly comprehension more than expression. Too long ago.

Old joke about Foreign students of German... Can parse Wagner, but cannot buy a bus ticket. Well I could buy bus tickets so there lol. Another person on the trip to Germany (organised through uni) whose German was way better than mine said to excuse yourself from start in conversations re language ability, but to me sometimes that just lead to pulled faces and made things harder. after language school was over, I went to visit relatives. My aunt sent me to local soccer club in village . I was not allowed to pay for drinks, my cousin who had to work had arranged it. so theres me with a bunch of strangers, well ticking over and they went and found some English person. ( bumped into one in Berlin as well. they went there 20 years earlier, and just stayed.) anyway, I couldnt speak English. Took me a few goes and few minutes ha ha

Yes, it's hard knowing who can tolerate and even encourage our attempts to speak German, and who just find it annoying and time-consuming. For me, I crammed hard for 18 months so that I had more than the basics when I got there. I just wanted to speak and hear the language of my forebears. It meant a great deal to me. Gender and verb placements are the most difficult, but my ex-psychiatrist helped me get my head around the verbs. It was like force feeding. I'm still digesting it today and I still surprise myself how much I know, but like you, understanding the spoken word was the most challenging for me. I could read a newspaper and make reasonable sense, but the spoken words sped by before I could grasp them. Television with subtitles have been beneficial for many language learners.

I have a Chinese real estate agent whose correspondences initially scarcely made sense, but after 12 months she was fluent. It just goes to show how living with a language and being given no choice but to use it aids so much. Sink or swim.

Anyway, I do love that I have reached back into my ancestry and learnt to speak some of their language.

Hey @Glisten at the moment ... drum, recorder, voice and piano. I am just keeping busy and doing anything local or connected to lifegiving opportunities for me. Filled me diary up. I was really on the edge for a long time, but coming back into circulation, I guess. Still having emotional oopsies. Using a little Mexican hand-drum in a Christmas carol. Had great rehearsals last night for a service and a theatre production. This morning back to practise singing for a Spanish thingummy coming up. More used to Italian and the difference do my head in but the poetry and music is great. Anyway thats the program atm: drowning myself in music ... and swimming ...

@Former-Member @Historylover @TAB @tonys and all ...

Its Monday Morning!

Hello @tonys I'm sorry you have had issues trying to type my name "@Former-Member" I have been to my profile seeing if I could change it to SmilingGecko instead without the underscore. I don't seem to be able to do it myself. Maybe the moderator or peer support can give insights on how to change it @moderator @Thyme

@StanD

Wow ... you beauty!

Be careful now ... mama tut tuts

My bikes were 1970 models, but yours is ancient for the times. Impressive.

Still be careful Bella.

Hi @StanD

I'm thinking you have a lot going on right now? Is that correct?

Stay strong and keep being you.

😍