Sprechen Sie Englisch?

Since we decided that I'd get to come with John on this little business trip of his, I've been trying to learn the language. I didn't know a lick of German a month ago. It's hard. I took Spanish for a few years in high school, enough that I can't bring myself to eat at certain restaurants. Places like El Pollo Loco for instance. The Crazy Chicken? Really? You wouldn't see anyone naming a hamburger joint "The Mad Cow". But I would in no wise consider myself fluent, more like the exact opposite. I think I can still say the alphabet. I bring that up to point out that in some ways German and Spanish are similar, but only in those pesky confusing ways. Like in Spanish, EVERYTHING is either masculine or feminine. Sometimes both. And you need to know the difference, because all the other words depend on it. Las amigas. Los amigos. You would sound totally ridiculous to say Las Amigos. German seems to have a lot of those idiosyncrasies.

I'm picking up some words. Some nouns. I can count to 11. some verbs. But it's all the pronouns and adverbs and conjugating the verbs I am totally lost with. I'm kind of worried I am going to say something totally ridiculous like "Those shirt is your blue" or something.

I could of course try harder, put more time into it, but I've got other stuff that commands my attention as well. (kids, house) There are a few things going for me however, firstly I hear that many Germans speak English, and most everything is printed in English and German. (kind of like here, I guess except everything is in English and Spanish) Secondly, I bought a phrase book. So now, I can do my best to have a conversation with someone who either doesn't speak English, or just wants a good laugh, while I try to phonetically stumble my way through the book, searching for the page with the info I need. Some of the sections totally crack me up. I'll spare you the details- this is a family site.

So, I'm a little torn here. I kind of have a pet peeve of people not trying to learn the language. So I'm trying. On the other hand, I'll only be there for 5 days and chances are my being able to say "Eine katze ist schwartz" (the cat is black) probably won't come in handy that often. The sad thing is, is I probably messed that up as well.

I know I'm probably making a bigger deal about this than it is, but I have to admit I'm a little nervous to find myself possibly wandering around a foreign country alone. That's probably why I am making zero effort to learn any French. John and I will be together the whole time (2 days) so, being lost together is infinitely better than being lost alone. That and although I've never been to either country I seem to have more of a regard for Germans. Weird.