I’m american but have been living in germany for years. About three years ago, I went to school full time(monday through friday, five hours a day) learning german. For about a year and a half. Sometimes I’ll be reading the newspaper or something in german, and just stop and feel like some sort of magic is happening. Because it all makes sense to me. And just a few years ago, it would just be strange letters on paper. It’s a really hard language, with a strange rhythm. But I plug away at it daily.
I’ve recently taken my naturalization test and will hopefully get my citizenship sometime this year. Covid messed a lot of stuff up. So we’ll see