Robin talked about whether it is worth learning a language for a vacation in his new YouTube video, it reminded me of the trip I took a couple of million years ago🦕 to Germany. In fact, I wrote a bit about that trip in an old entry here, if you're interested. Until that moment, I had never really been to a country that wasn't either English-speaking or Spanish-speaking. In other words, Germany was pretty much my first place I visited without knowing the local language. The only German I knew was:

Danke (sehr) —thank you

Guten Morgen —good morning

Guten Tag —- good afternoon

Auf Wiedersehen! —- goodbye

Ich liebe dich — I love you

I remember being so excited about this adventure. I was so motivated to learn German that I even bought a German-for-travelers type of phrasebook, even though it wasn't really necessary. My friend and I were visiting our mutual Japanese friend, who had been studying in Düsseldorf, and she already spoke German. We were to stay in her dorm room, and she was going to be our tour guide for the entire stay. We were flying Japan Airlines and I could use English at airports, so there was really no need to learn German beyond the basic greetings.

Still, I wanted to learn something. I studied the phrasebook for a few weeks before the trip, and I remember writing down the basic phrases that I wanted to memorize in a pocket notebook. I also tried to learn how to count and memorize a basic list of vocabulary of daily items. In hindsight, it was a futile effort. The notebook never really saw the light of day — there weren't many chances to be alone with a German, since we were always in a group with more than one German speaker. Why would I use my makeshift notebook when I had people around me who spoke both German and Japanese?

I still wanted to make the most of this experience — I wanted to speak as much German as possible, even if it was just a teeny-tiny bit. The only thing I could do was use the basic phrases. Although my German-speaking friends handled all the ordering at restaurants and shops, I never failed to say "hello," "please," and "thank you" myself. Since I couldn't understand any German, my ears could only pick up these short, basic, and familiar words wherever I went. I soon realized that local people had a distinct intonation when saying "Danke," especially in shopping contexts. It was quite different from the "Danke" I'd heard on the CD that came with my phrasebook. Remember, this was a long time ago🦕 — there was no Duolingo, YouTube, or iPhone back then. If you wanted to learn a language on your own, you bought books (in Japan, many language books came with CDs attached).

Similarly, I picked up the natural pronunciation and intonation of small words and short phrases by listening to locals here and there, and tried to imitate the sound as much as possible. Before long, I started to get compliments on my pronunciation. I was so overjoyed by this minuscule progress I'd made with German that, one morning, I tried a solo shopping in a bakery. I can't remember if it was the third or fourth day of our stay, but we went to a bakery as usual to buy some pastries and sandwiches. There were many customers and we had to wait our turn. Instead of all of us waiting inside the cramped shop, we decided to have one of us buy all that we needed while the others waited outside. The logical choice was to have one of the German speakers in the group do the shopping, however, I said to everyone, "Let me do this." My friends asked if I was sure, and I replied,"I've got this."

Heart pounding, I waited patiently until my turn came. I still vividly remember the plump, middle-aged lady with a short hair behind the counter, wearing a slightly stern expression and working quickly and efficiently. When it was my turn, I said the first "Ich hätte gern….(I'd like…)" with all the confidence and courage I had managed to gather. She didn't seem to frown or anything — so far, so good. Well, to be fair, her default expression already looked like frowning , but at least her frown didn't get any deeper.

Then, I pointed to the product in the display case.

"This!! One!! Please!!" (in German)

Then, I hastily moved my finger to another item.

"And this!!! Three!! Please!!" (in German)

Yes, it's working. She understood. Good. The last one…

"This, this!! One!! Please!!"

That was it, I did it —I actually did it. (The theme of Rocky started playing in my head)

The lady, however, said something after she finished putting all the pastries and sandwiches into paper bags. I blinked at her, confused. I didn't understand her, so I gave her a "????" face. She repeated the phrase, and of course, I still didn't understand. I leveled up my I-don't-understand face and shook my head this time. Body language was the only reliable tool left in my arsenal. Then, she gave me such a beautiful eye-roll, which I still remember fondly to this day, and continued to ring me up, muttering something to herself. I thanked her with a perfectly pronounced "Danke," smiling sheepishly, and exited the bakery. This was fun.

This memory came back to me when I was watching Robin's video. I believe I still have the notebook I made for this trip lying around somewhere. I remember not being able to throw it away when I was Marie Kondo-ing all my belongings. Yes, it's a silly little notebook that served me nothing in the end. However, it's attached to the memory I cherish, and I can also see all the German phrases that once went through my head even though they are mostly forgotten. Was it worth it? Totally.

Thank you for reading!

(I’d be grateful for your corrections and suggestions. The feedback will be studied, but I won't edit/correct my original post.)