Communicative competence combines the structural and cognitive characteristics of communication with social, cultural, and practical implications of a foreign language. It is essential therefore to master not only grammatical competence but also social competence in order to convey and interpret messages and to function in daily interpersonal exchanges. One should adopt communication and the context in which the language is used. Thus, one needs to understand the culture and the way the language is embedded in the culture. For me, it has been particularly important to focus on the socio-cultural competence while improving my German skills, because I have already mastered the grammatical competence. As Larsen-Freeman (2004) would say, we can focus on evolving a bond between the individual and others, namely to become a member of a community. The best way to develop this bond is through conversation. Besides taking a German class and engaging in discussion during the class meeting I am watching German shows (political, historical, but also entertainment). Additionally, I tried to find people I can talk to in German. Fortunately, there are a few German speakers on campus. Furthermore, I tried to keep constant contact with friends I met in Germany, either by text messages, emails or phone calls. All forms of conversation are essential. Text messages and emails enable communication in an even higher dimension because one needs to express himself/herself and respond without seeing the reaction of the contact person. Thus, one needs to understand the meaning of the words used, how they behave in the sentence, whether they are part of some idiom, phrase or expression, but also to distinguish feelings that are behind the words in order to understand the illocutionary force within the context. In the process of learning I also had to understand when my contact person is apologizing, complimenting, thanking, disapproving, or saying yes or no. Hence, to learn the pragmatic conventions it is essential to learn cultural aspects of the target language. It is critical to recognize how body language, gestures and eye contact work. In one of my journals I mentioned that keeping eye contact while talking to someone is important in Germany. It shows not only respect, but also attention from the other participant in the conversation. Learning how the culture uses body language to convey messages is crucial. Luckily, Germans use almost the same body language as other Europeans, and coming from this continent, it was easy for me to adopt the kinesics of the German culture. Still when it comes to kinesthetics I had to learn that Germans, similar to Americans, maintain personal space and do not like to be touched that often when having a conversation. Although I come from the same continent, I come from the southern part, where kinesics involves kinesthetics. Hence, to cope in German, I had to learn and I am still learning how to integrate cultural standards into the grammar and structure of the language. Thus, I believe that the best way to acquire the necessary competence in the language is done by naturally encountering with other Germans speakers.
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