This morning, I needed to make two vet appointments for my cats. I’m an American in Switzerland, so that means I need to make a phone call in German. No problem. I’ve lived here for almost 16 years and I have a B2 German certificate.
A B2 means—or should mean—that “I can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible. I can take an active part in discussion in familiar contexts, accounting for and sustaining my views.”
With that definition, picking up the phone and saying, “Ich möchte Kontrolltermine für meine Katzen vereinbaren,” (I’d like to make check-up appointments for my cats) should have been easy, so why did I panic and double-check with Deepl before calling?
Because I’ve gotten lazy with my German.
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