The question How is your German? is usually answered in a scale from A1 to C2.
These are the levels of German you can take in class, A1 being complete beginner and C2 being the highest level. The higher lever you're at, the more impressive it is.
Everyone knows this so conversations can go like this:
- How is your German?
- I'm C1. How about you?
- Oh, C1 that's good. I'm at B1.
I think this is kind of funny that you count you're language skills in this scale. It does tell you something but not at all what the other persons language skills are. It also sounds a bit stupid, this scale.
I would probably been a B1 when I came here, talking like a B2, writing like a A2 and reading in a B1 level.
I tend to get into these situations with native English speakers, so we are all ready speaking English and not switching over to German when we know if we have levels that are about the same.
It feels like a standard question that you have to ask when you meet new people, but usually you(/I) don't switch to German. That's a shame and I'm going to be get better at speaking more German to people I know or find out, speak it.
The question How long have you been taking German? is not better to answer.
I just feel weird saying that I've been taking German since 6th grade. That is a lot of years ago. Of course it has been a bit on and of since I finished high school. I didn't really use the language for three years until I moved to Germany in 2008. When I got back to Sweden I had a lot of German speakers couchsurfers coming to me to keep the language active, but that faded to, so when I got here in September last year, I was really out of practice.
The easiest is Do you know German? because it's a yes or no question.
Yes, I do know German. This doesn't say how good I am at it or make me think about how long I have been in a relationship with this language.
I like that the best. Maybe it's just me.
Other things people here say, for those of you that missed it.
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