Learning German: Mission Impossible?

When trying to learn a new language, it is amazingly easy to come up with excuses for slow learning (German is too difficult, I don't have enough time for it, everyone wants to talk with me only in English, we only have German classes once a week, the school is in English so I don't really even need it...). I mean I have lived in Austria for almost a year now in total, and still I couldn't have a proper conversation in German. And even if I try to, my grammar is terrible and it takes ages for me to find the words from the back of my brain which makes me seem as intelligent as a 4-year-old. It is embarrassing that I have learnt so little and I can only blame myself. There has been times when I have been super motivated and studying a lot, but all the other things there is to do have distracted me and speaking English is just so much easier... And just studying German is not enough if I don't use it actively. So the conclusion is: I have been too lazy. Punkt.

Yesterday I read a very motivating blog post written by a dude who is learning Mandarin. First he wrote about a day of an average expat, and it sounded very familiar to me: using English most (almost all) of the time, hanging out with English-speaking people, studying a bit and feeling like you're doing your best even though it's definitely not true, but most of all, not getting out of my comfort zone when it comes to German. Usually I only say the things I know I can already say in German. But that is the same as training for a marathon by always running the distance you know you can already run! How could you ever make progress?

The trick is to get out of my comfort zone and get frustrated. Doesn't sound too much fun but that's what I'm trying next. Staying inside my small German comfort zone means that I only use it to the limit when I still feel comfortable and I know there won't be too many mistakes in what I say. That blogger had lived in Spain and decided to spend a whole month speaking only Spanish, even though he knew it would be extremely frustrating and exhausting. So I'll try a bit softer version of this - for one week I will speak only German (with all the people who can speak German, of course). I have to get rid of my fear of making mistakes because that's probably the best way to learn, and well, there will be mistakes. A lot, and for a really long time. :D

To be honest, it is very easy to live in Salzburg without speaking German. Too easy. There are so many tourists who want all the service in English, and Austrians are well educated, so you can get your message through almost whatever you do or whatever you need. Very likely many of my classmates will leave Austria after 3 or 4 years without speaking proper German, but that's not my thing really. As our German teacher said: "There's a German world out there." And if you can't speak the language, there will always be so many things you will never understand or never participate in, and so many people you could have met and become friends with - if you spoke the local language.

So until next Thursday evening I will only speak German with my flatmates and everyone else who can speak it, listen to German music only, and answer all Facebook messages in German. I've always lacked determination, but now I'm searching for it and hopefully will get some. From now on, I'll be best friends with Frustration :)