Auf Deutsch, bitte

I’ve been working a bit on my German again, trying to remember things I’ve forgotten over the years. And funny though it seems, I do recognize certain things even though I don’t quite recall what they mean – for example, I can recognize when word forms are incorrect even though I don’t know why, and I sometimes come up with phrases that fit what I’m trying to say in spite of not being able to articulate exactly what they mean.

I also have a friend who seems interested in conversing auf Deutsch via emails. That seems like an appropriate level of challenge for the moment – seeing what I can remember, but with the handy crutch of a dictionary and Google Translate to fall back on or to use to double-check my gut responses!