Work recently asked me if I could relearn German within six weeks, I laughed. My language skills are okay; I can communicate in French, my Spanish could be developed and there is a basic level of German to build from; I also know the Turkish for sponge-cake, left, right, straight on, chicken, cheers, coffee, cheesecake and tea.
It was never going to happen, even though I like to make the effort to fit it; when I want to make an effort in a non-English speaking country, I usually speak French, even if it's not a French-speaking region. Although neither I nor the other party understand each other better, I just think it's good that I'm willing to make an effort. I also feel that phonetically the French language is closer to more countries, whilst their use of facial expressions and shoulder shrugs is probably more universally acceptable than just being "shouty, shouty" in English.
Curiously, shoulder shrugs and hand gestures were also how I once mimicked a Jew, when I found myself amongst a group of particularly sanctimonious Christian strangers. I was a Pennsylvania Lieberman.
