Saure-Gurken-Zeit: Why a Slow Season Is Still a Season of Growth

image credit: :https://localzero-ulm.de/saure-gurken-zeit/

Over the last few weeks, I have been harvesting cucumbers from my garden.

There is something really satisfying about picking a cucumber that you planted months ago. Looking at the plant now, it is easy to forget how long it has taken to get to this point. There were weeks where it seemed to do very little at all. But it was establishing itself, growing stronger and getting ready to produce fruit.

That made me think of a wonderful German expression:

Saure-Gurken-Zeit. Have you heard of it before?

Literally, it means "gherkin time".

It might sound odd in English, but in German, Saure-Gurken-Zeit describes a period when things are unusually quiet or slow. The expression dates back to the nineteenth century and is thought to have originated in Berlin, where shopkeepers used it to describe the quieter summer months. Many of their wealthier customers had left the city for the holidays, business slowed down and cucumbers happened to be one of the seasonal foods that were plentiful at the time and needed pickling to preserve them. Over the years, the expression became a general way of describing any lull, particularly during the summer.

I wonder whether we all have our own Saure-Gurken-Zeit from time to time?

When it feels as though you've stopped making progress

I often notice this with people improving their German communication.

The beginning is exciting and every week brings something new. You can almost measure your progress because there is always another concept, another set of vocabulary or another communication milestone you've reached.

Then, somewhere along the way, things change.

You still turn up, have your coaching sessions and use German at work. But if somebody asked whether you felt you were improving, you might hesitate... because it just feels... steady.

And because there isn't an obvious breakthrough, it is easy to assume that nothing much is changing.

Well, think of the cucumber plants!

Looking back instead of looking ahead

One of the advantages of working with my clients over many months, and sometimes years, is that I notice changes they no longer see themselves.

Someone who once needed several minutes to formulate an email now writes one without really thinking about it.

Another learner who used to avoid speaking in meetings now contributes naturally before they've had time to overthink it.

They don't notice these changes themselves because they happen gradually!

They've become their new normal.

I think we're all a bit guilty of measuring ourselves against where we want to be instead of where we started.

Learning is a bit like growing cucumbers

My cucumber plants certainly don't produce fruit every day.

Most days, nothing looks any different from the day before.

But when I compare them with the tiny plants I put into the ground earlier this year, the difference is remarkable!

Language learning works much the same way.

You don't wake up one morning speaking perfect German.

Instead, your brain slowly becomes quicker at recognising patterns, you spend less time translating in your head and you understand conversations that would have felt overwhelming six months ago. You become more comfortable joining in, even if you don't know every word.

Those may not be dramatic changes, but they are the REAL ones.

Perhaps this is exactly what summer is for?

Summer has its own rhythm because some people are away on holiday, work can feel a little less hectic and there is often more time to sit outside with a coffee or go for an evening walk while the weather is still warm.

Rather than worrying that you should be doing more, perhaps this is the perfect time to enjoy having German around you?

Listen to a podcast because the topic interests you, watch a German programme one evening, read an article you've been meaning to get to or simply notice how much more you understand than you did this time last year.

You might just surprise yourself.

A final thought

The German expression Saure-Gurken-Zeit suggests a period when not much is happening.

But appearances can be deceptive.

My cucumber plants remind me that there is often a lot going on before we see the results.

So if your progress feels a little less obvious this summer, don't be too quick to decide that you've reached a plateau.

You might just be in a season where the foundations are becoming stronger.

And when things become busy again after the summer, you may well discover that you've moved further forward than you realised.

And if you are not a member of our Hive yet and after the summer you decide you'd like some support with building the confidence to use your German more naturally at work and in everyday life, I'd love to help. That's exactly what we work on in my 1:1 communication coaching and inside the Better German Community Hive. Just reach out.