One-Line Summary
Learning German, struggling to find a place to live in Berlin & building out TheStoryOf
Highlights
- I built out a page to remember my grandfather using TheStoryOf – https://thestoryof.io/view/1/kevin-kearney-dodds
- I completed the very first basic German language course A1.1 over 3 weeks
- Found a place to live for the next 6 months
Goal Grades
At the start of each month, I declare what I’d like to accomplish. Here’s how I did against those goals:
Get TheStoryOf launched
- Result: Got the project moved along enough to for anyone to create and publish a simple site but still missing several features notably:
- book viewing & buying
- hooking into an external API provider who can then print the books on demand
- subscribing to a yearly reminder email
- a proper home page to describe the product
- Grade: C+
I had hoped to by much further along with this project but after starting daily german classes 9am-12 as well as spending 2-3 hours a day looking for a new place to live this got put on the back burner. I hope to get most of those bullet points covered this month.
Learn German
- Result: Started an online intensive class and completed the first A1.1 level
- Grade: A
I had put off starting a class as I had hoped to do one in person but thanks to the continuation of lockdown in Germany the class was switched to online only. Having grown up bi-lingual I had an easy enough time in school with French so learning a new language from scratch is definitely a new challenge. Some days my brain feels like it’s melting but overall I do see a big improvement week on week. I hope to get to a conversational standard which on the European framework for language learning is a B1 level. A1 being beginner and C2 being a perfect native speaker’s level. Each level takes approximately 8 weeks so to complete the A1, A2, B1 levels I’d be looking at 24 weeks of intensive courses. 4/24 weeks completed so far.
Find long term accommodation
- Result: Found a place for at least the next 6 months
- Grade: A+
Finding accommodation in Berlin is worse than pulling teeth. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. After arriving here 4 months ago I’ve applied to see a grand total of over 60 rooms – went to view over 8 separate places before finding a long-term place which accepted me. I also viewed over 15 apartments to rent out fully with two friends – we eventually gave up after only finding overpriced places & getting rejected for the properly priced places.
After seeing what a disaster the housing situation is like in Berlin I don’t advocate for rent-controlled anti-capitalist solutions to housing. I don’t believe that paying over €1,000 for a room in Dublin city is much better than struggling for months to find a room priced at €500 in Berlin but there must be another way for governments to approach this issue. It’s only getting worse in cities across the world!
Wrap up
What got done?
- Found a place to live for the next 6 months
- Got TheStoryOf alpha launched
- Learned some very basic German
Lessons learned
- Learning a new language is challenging
- Not having a place to live long term takes up mental bandwidth
Goals for next month
- Get TheStoryOf beta launched
- Complete the A1.2 German course