I knew some home spoken German from my great grandmother & grandmother,but not much. When I was in the 6th grade my teacher brought in a new student right off the boat from Germany.He spoke no English. She, the teacher, asked if anyone could speak any German, & 0f course I raised my hand. To make a long story short,we became best friends, & he taught me German, & I taught him English. He was from Hameln ( the peid piper city ) or ratten fanger stadt. I still know enough to get by, but no where near flouent. He is now my brother in law ! ( I married his wife's sister ) " Unfortunately, His English is Way better than my German right now. Bleibt Gesund, Charles Parcels Marven C Weitzel <marvenw@juno.com> wrote: Charles: My family spoke German at home, and I took German in college. After my college studies, my mother couldn't understand anything I said in German. I didn't graduate until 1974 when I was 41. I got a major in geology and spent several years in the oil business, including a lot of field work during drilling operations. One time I was the geologist on a well being drilled on the property of an old German farmer who spoke English with a heavy German accent. He came to the site one day looking for the "German geologist." I greeted him in German, and asked him several questions in the language. He gave me a strange look, and finally told me that he hadn't used his native language for so long that he could no longer understand it. I think I know how he feels. Ich habe beinahe alles vergessen. Ich brauche immer das Wörterbuch. Marven Weitzel --------------------------------- Got a little couch potato? Check out fun summer activities for kids.