When I first started teaching German students in German my German wasn�t very good--I had learned most of my German through experience (not school). As time went on and I became more comfortable with the language (and more aware of all the grammar rules I was slaughtering) I found that I would still use my accent and make some mistakes because they tended to endear me more to my students.  They had fun out of class trying to talk with my accent and laughing over my mistakes.  I am a very open person, so I was usually the first to comment on my langauge weakneses which made it okay for them to have fun with it without offending anyone.

 

Now that I have lived here for many years and spend the greatest part of my time speaking German, I find that I am capable of speaking clearer German when I need to, but I usually speak with more of an accent (an accent that is easily understood by most natives) in my daily life--it�s part of what makes Douglas Douglas.

 

Written language is a whole different story though.  I am very articulate about writing.  When writing in any language, it has to be as near to perfect as possible.  I use proofreaders and ask for advice anytime I write something in a foreign language.  If something is written improperly it can become more confusing the more someone reads it.  So it has to be pretty much perfect from the onset.

 

That�s how I see it,

 

Douglas