I've been reading these short fairy tales in German and I'm reminded yet again why I love foreign languages, and it all comes back to how amazing the human brain is.
I find it incredible how easy it is to read a story even when a large number of the words are unfamiliar. And when you don't think about it and read at a natural pace, skipping over stuff you don't know, it makes even more sense.
It's like when I listen to German hip-hop that Judith posts.... these artists are just spitting out word after word, but key words and phrases stand out... words I only learned once months or years ago suddenly stand out from the others and make total sense. The unknown words in-between are interpolated... and even if there are multiple possibilities that make sense, the brain hangs onto all of them until the ambiguity is later resolved and one makes the most sense.
In the end, I generally get the gist of the story/song, even if I can't remember what parts made sense and what didn't.
When I recall conversations I had with Judith's friend Tony in Dresden, I realize another reason I love language... Tony's English was as poor as my German so when we talked, it was always switching back and forth between languages. When I think of our conversations today, I remember the topics and who said what (heh, the conversations were all pretty simple), but I can't remember what language we were talking in.
You know, I've probably posted this all before, at least in bits and pieces. But you're the sucker for reading this far, and I didn't even embolden key words for Eli. (hehe... can I use the word "embolden" in that context? the dictionary says "to give boldness or courage to". :P)