I’ve long been fascinated by the German language—both for its precision and ridiculously long words—but I’ve never sat down to analyse how I came to enjoy it. Based on recent research into the qualitative approach of autoethnography, I decided to offer my own oral account of learning German and how it has become a part of my identity.

If you listen hard, you may hear some persistent bird noises in the background—my apologies! Although I can gently encourage our pets to be quiet, I am powerless against the enthusiastic, wild ones that frequent the trees outside our window.