[Mrs Ivan]

Simple words, simple sentence structure, hand gestures where they help, ... Avoid jokes and especially sarcasm, because they don't translate.

Absolutely right. My German is by no means fluent and I survived five years in Germany using this technique!

[cricket]

Absolutely right. My German is by no means fluent and I survived five years in Germany using this technique!

I am guessing that this is not the language used to cultivate friends. . .(?) Or is this for starters. . .