Caitlin Schiller

Frühstück, Rechnung, and quatschen are among the hundreds of colorful words I learned in preparation for my move to Germany. Shortly after arriving, however, I discovered something I hadn’t even considered: the sheer amount of English words I’d need to unlearn in order to make sense of my new home. Ask for a “Beamer” in Germany and you’ll be presented with a run-of-the-mill office projector. The average “public viewing” is corpse-free—you’ll just be watching football in a big, clamorous group. But the adopted English word whose German meaning stands out sharpest in my mind is “wellness.”