I wouldn't really know since I grew up speaking German, but I think this only works one way ( written to spoken). The other way ( hearing a word and being able to spell it ) has to be next to impossible for a non-native speaker. How did you learn to speak German?
Ah, this is true, I can read German pretty well, but writing it is.. hard.
How did you learn to speak German?
I originally learnt as a kid, having German family, and actually spoke German before I spoke English, but living in Ireland, I obviously needed English more, so we exclusively spoke English since I started school. I've always known enough German to understand spoken (and make out written) German, but speaking it myself was more difficult (and writing even more so), but mostly because I forget words, rather than not knowing the rules or pronunciations. When I learnt German in school, I was pretty much fluent and non-Germans found it difficult to realize that English was my main language when I spoke German, but I've forgotten most of it due to disuse. I really should relearn it...
