I get this question all the time, but don't know how to answer.
To put it into perspective, I know somewhere between 500 and 1,000 German words, which may seem like a lot, but to be honest, most of that is food names and basic kid stuff, like colors, numbers, animals, etc. And the full German language consists of about 40,000 words, so I'm only brushing the surface really.
It makes it pretty difficult to have an adult conversation in German, when the only verbs I know are those on a typical elementary spelling test (jump, know, speak, learn, listen, order, visit, etc.).
The good thing is, I can talk to little kids pretty well. Once I learned phrases like "are you ok?," "ready, set go," and "watch out for cars," it was easy to communicate with them in most situations.
Am I fluent? Absolutely not!! When people start talking to me, I usually lost, but I can order food in a restaurant, call to make an appointment, ask for things in a shop and play outside with children. Of course, my German learning could have been much better this year, but I'd say, all in all, it was a good effort and result for my short time here.
Cara, that was about my comfort level in Dutch when I left. I could get around and do what I needed to do, but I couldn't really have a day-to-day conversation very well unless the person spoke very slowly and simply for me. The amazing thing is Mason was nearly fluent in it and he never even had a lesson! Much easier to learn when you are a kid.
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