Ever since meeting Annette in 1997, I have been trying to become fluent in German. Some years ago I realized that the only way this is likely to happen would be to live in a German-speaking country.  Now that we are here, I am reading German every chance I get, and trying not to shy away from opportunities to speak it.

I did not necessarily expect that our two daughters would be fluent by year’s end.  Rani is taking a German class at her high school, but the rest of her courses are in English. Mamta, however, ended up at the German elementary school around the block from our apartment.  This decision was more stressful for me than for her.  When I went to pick up Mamta after her first day of school, I was worried I might find her in tears.  Not exactly:

It may not be long before Mamta is more fluent that I.

By the way, the German Shepherd (just “Shepherd,” here) on the stairs in the background arrived at the school solo, picked up a student, and headed home.

I considered taking a language class to bolster my German, but decided instead to see if I could make steady progress on my own.  I recall my friend Darije saying that when he first came to the US from Yugoslavia, he learned a lot of English by watching television.  Back in New Hampshire we don’t own a television, and we try to ensure that our daughters don’t spend too much time in front of a computer.  Our apartment in Berlin came with a large television, and both girls know how to operate the remote (I still struggle with it).  Annette and I are okay with our daughters watching limited amounts of television here — “as long as it’s in German.”  I try to carve out time to join them.

A week ago we decided that when eating dinner together at home, Annette would speak only German to us non-native speakers.  I determined to join her in speaking only German. We figured the girls would speak whatever they liked.  Holding to this decision has proven harder than I would have thought.  It’s not just that Annette forgets; we all do.  Our noble intentions to practice Deutschsprechen at the dinner table are proving no match for the ease with which we communicate in English.