Deutsch Schule ist fertig

As of this past Friday, I have officially completed levels A1 and A2 of German. I am no where near fluent, but I can do things like read signs throughout the city, read the menu to BK at restaurants, order in German, tell them what I need in grocery and department stores and have basic conversation with people. As I've mentioned before though, my biggest problem in Basel is that they speak Swiss-German and would rather speak English to me than speak high German.

The class was great. I really enjoyed getting to know my classmates (who are all in the same situation as me) and hearing about their experiences here. I think the intensive class worked well for me, as I needed some serious structure to force me to learn the language, and three hours a day, five days a week will do that. The teachers in our class say we need to practice now and let it all sink in a bit. I do want to continue on to the B level, but with our travel schedule through the end of the year, right now my only option is to join a conversation group to practice with so that I don't fall behind while being gone for two weeks at a time.

My other big question is...what am I going to do with myself now that I don't have German class that takes up four to five hours per day?? Of course I still have my four-legged friends who need my time and attention three hours per day, but other than that, I must get involved in something. I've saved up a list of things to complete this week before we come back to the US, then hopefully in September can come back and hit the ground running.

Bis Morgan! (Until Tomorrow!)