July 13, 2026

Hello, my beloved! Welcome to Day 13. I have finally reached a point where I have to write something to post, no matter what happens. For the first few days, I took the pressure off by ensuring I wrote the post a day in advance and just put the final touches on the edits. This is why the posts could be ready in the morning, but they have not been for the past few days, creating a new kind of pressure. But we move! Today’s post was a special request on how I was able to learn the German language. The ask was how I learned German so quickly. I don’t know if I would say I learned it fast, but I think the lesson there was that I took advantage of the opportunity that came my way. But beyond seizing the opportunity, there were some other factors, and the combination of these factors made me endure even when it was hard. The first factor was feedback. Gosh, this feedback was a very hard pill to swallow. You see, I had spent 9 years in Ukraine, and I couldn’t really speak the language. There were many factors associated with the situation, but I had not only received one harsh piece of feedback, but the person also sent it to my mum. The person I was staying with when I first got to Germany shared their opinion not only harshly but also unkindly. The summary was that I could live somewhere for 9 years and not relate well with the community. I remember calling a friend and crying because too many things were happening, and I just felt it could have been delivered in a better way, and most importantly, my mum should have been left out of it. And my friend gently mentioned that though the feedback was harsh and not all true, I should focus on what I can take away from it.  The second factor was my own personal appraisal. One of the gifts I have had, even before I knew it was a gift, is the ability to tell myself the truth. I do a lot of introspection and self-appraisals so that I am able to unemotionally dissect where my life is not working well and see what to do to improve it. I did it after my trial year in my first uni and saw that I was off track. The months I was waiting for my visa to Ukraine, I appraised how my first Uni experience was, and I made a decision on what I was going to do better at. So it was a no-brainer to do the same self-appraisal when I left Ukraine and I got to Germany. Even in the midst of the tears and the struggle, I owed it to myself to have an honest appraisal of my time in Ukraine. It was in the appraisal that I knew that I needed to take the language seriously.  The interesting thing was that I could speak Russian to an extent. Back in Ukraine, I was the one translating for my friends, but the Russian I had learned was superficial. Ideally, a foreign student goes through a one-year intensive language course when they get to Ukraine before they start their first year. It is necessary to do this because the universities understand the need for the language. But because I transferred, I didn’t have the opportunity. My next best opportunity was when we took Russian as a subject, just like we learned French in school. One hour per week, and it was just for a year. Learning Russian this way came with its pros and cons. The upside was that because it was the everyday language, I could easily practice the little I was learning. The downside is that there was little time to practice. My medical degree was in English, my hostel was full of international students, and my church was in English. So even though I was in a different country, English was my first language. I would have had to intentionally find Russian-speaking friends, but I was sadly locked in my bubble. The funny thing was that a few months before the war broke out, I enrolled in Russian lessons. Nobody needed to tell me that if I wanted to stay and live in Ukraine, I had to step up. It was the reason why the harsh feedback hit me particularly hard. The person didn’t have all the facts. I had already made up my mind that I was going to do things differently if given the chance.  The last factor was that God did give a second chance, and I grabbed it; I was allowed to learn German for free, and I told God that I wasn’t going to misuse it. This was the opportunity I didn’t have in Ukraine. I had almost 14 months of going to school Monday to Friday, and the only thing we were learning was the language. God took it a step further and put me in a village where English is not spoken at all. I didn’t have a choice but to learn it because the moment I step out of my apartment, I say bye-bye to any form of English. In the cities, you get a bit of English translation everywhere, in the buses, trains, and some of the offices. Where I live, nothing of that sort. For almost a year, my friend had to either go with me or call an office or someone on my behalf whenever I needed something  These factors came together and put me in a position where I determined that I was going to learn the language, and it has paid off. Was it hard? Absolutely, but it has been worth it. Language is an annoying barrier, and it can be very frustrating when you can’t convey your thoughts. Am I fluent? lol no. But I communicate and am heard! Does German still sound like