yeah, I learn everything through word of mouth. sometimes notes. like, my friends will text me 'wo bist du?' which i learned to mean "where are you?" and "what time is it?" I learned from my bestie continuously saying it until it stuck in my brain finally that if I hear it, to check the time. xD I can't spell that one though.
They all lasted until German III, and a few are still in German IV, but most were like, "You know, I survived the required two years, so why am I still dealing with this?" and left. xD