My wife and kids have been learning German for the last year. We’re to the point now where I can talk to them in simple sentences and send texts to my wife.

In all of this, one thing’s standing out to me. Never in almost twenty years of German have I used ihr (plural you) so much. As a teenager and a bachelor, it was all du (thou), er (he), and ich (I). Now I’m part of a little team and it’s all wir and ihr.

For years German was a solo language for me. Now it’s a family language. It’s amazing how relationships and family can change even the language we speak.

It is not good for the man to be alone.

Get a family. Be on an intimate team. The world of ich is darker than you realize. Ihr will find a whole new perspective in the connected, dependent life.