laughing out loud. I always get a kick watching spy movies where the spies can pass themselves off so easily in another language. It is very difficult to say the least.

While I was living in Germany, that U unlaut (the 2 dots) was always troublesome. One day I was talking to a man about visiting Cuexhaven (ue is the same as a u with 2 dots, for those without the benefit of a german keyboard). He couldn't figure out where I wanted to go because I wasn't pronouncing the u right.

It was also fun to listen to the germans pronounce English words. Especially when it had a th. At bithday time we would sing with them, "Happy Borssday to you".

One of the best compliments I received over there was when somebody thought I was from Switzerland and not from America. I was trying very hard to drop my American accent while speaking german. Most caught on because of my r pronunciation. The german word dir should not be pronouced deer, but di-uh.

-Steve G.