On October 4 last year, the only German I knew I'd learned from car adverts - Vorsprung durch Technik and all that. But to succeed in the German market - as we advise our new British exporters - it helps to be able to communicate in the native tongue.
So I have had - for this role - to embark on a complex, twisting but ultimately fascinating journey in this new, grammar-heavy language. It's been a long process but thanks to some excellent teachers, two fluent family members and a bit of luck, I am now there or thereabouts with my German language skills.
Not only can I now say 'Vorsprung durch Technik' with the right accent, I even now know what it means (progress through technology, if you were wondering). But the real breakthrough for me came recently when I was asked/volunteered to give my first speech 'Auf Deutsch'.
When preparing, I didn't want to approach it like an elephant in a porcelain shop (the German version of bull in a china shop). Instead I was methodical and thorough - and with the help of patient, native-speaking colleagues - I was ready for the ten minute exposure of my linguistic abilities.
Speaking about my new favourite subject, these are the key messages (in English) of what I told 40 business people in the lovely city of Mainz - famous for wine and being twinned with Watford.
- The economic relationship between the UK and Germany is strong and getting stronger.
- UK companies export nearly €40bn worth of goods and services to Germany every year - more than double the value of exports to all the four BRIC countries put together.
- Nowhere else in Europe has attracted as much inward investment in the past year as the UK, with German investments there worth £100bn.
- 2,500 German businesses, employing 400,000 have already invested in the UK.
- In Germany, every sixth foreign business is British - more than 1,000 firms employing 200,000.
- It takes just 13 days to set up a business in the UK - compared with a European average of 32 days.
- We've recently launched a new growth strategy and, more than ever, the UK is open for business.
Apart from a bit of trouble pronouncing my genehmigungen (permissions) and my rahmenbedingungen (framework conditions) I got through it unscathed. They even laughed at the right moments (the British-German relationship is complementary - we invented football, you win the tournaments!).
Full of pride at my new-found confidence in a foreign language, I then did a follow-up interview with a journalist from a regional newspaper - also 'Auf Deutsch'. I got my messages across, although I know I was mis-quoted - my reported statements included a grammatical construction I haven't even learned yet!
So for me, and for potential exporters to Germany, it’s a case of ‘Vorsprung durch Deutsch sprechen’ - progress through speaking German.