improve my German

so i watched a couple of german based/language movies recently, and i could catch a handful of phrases. it frustrates me, because i used to pick up languages so quickly. in high school, i could carry pretty smooth conversations with my great aunt who’s from Austria. plus, it’s another ego-boost to be able to watch an international flick without subtitles. maybe i need to brush up on my mandarin as well, as even these movies get my ears stumped.