Aggh! I have dealt with German computer keyboards, and found them really difficult for typing English e-mail. Maybe I just needed more practice...
Could the keyboard have been one of those awful Dvorak keyboards? I can't STAND them - don't care how efficient they're supposed to be, I learned on QWERTY and I'm at almost 100 wpm, I'm not going to start over and I'm not sure my fingers can relearn a new system . . .