In Belgium German was part of the curriculum in secondary school (I think nowadays it is optional). So I learned German and for some reason, although it is not an easy language and the teacher was very strict, I liked it and was actually good at it. Nominative, accusative, dative, no secrets for me!
When I went to high school, my parents said I had to take French as one of my 2 languages, I could choose the other one: German. I had a 17/20 for German grammar, which is, in case you don’t know, an incredibly high score! I graduated as best student overall of my year and with a special mention for German, because of my exceptional grades. Imagine this: on stage, microphone, a bunch of books and applause … Speaking of dying of embarassment …
Unfortunately, I have not used the language in the years I was working for a company and I felt it slipping away. As a freelance translator, I did some work from German to Dutch, but not a lot and in recent years, I have not received any translation work German-Dutch. I hate to say it but I would not be called on stage anymore …
I have decided to invest a bit more in German, but I seem to have trouble finding a German italki teacher. We do have 2 German tv channels here, so I should watch those, but my attention is divided over so many languages that need my attention more. German always draws the shortest straw.
But it is still there and the few times I had an impromptu conversation in German, I managed not to make an embarassment of myself.
Also, an die Arbeit! Wo ist mein deutsches Buch?
