Germany Here I Come !

In ~70 days I will be travelling to Cologne, Germany for a 6 month assignment. My head is spinning with so much to do to prepare. Although I have been reassured that "everybody speaks English," I would like to learn some basic German. So far I have been using Duolingo. It claims that I am 45% proficient. /jk

Yesterday I went to a meetup group in Basking Ridge, where 5 people conversed in German, and I listened. Suprisingly, I could understand some of it. Everybody was warm and welcoming. I received several suggestions - the website http://www.dw.com/de has a lot of options, from a story in simple German, to the nightly news, read slowly. (No, that's not a SNL skit!) - check out Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten

Mitglieder-M also suggested that I try writing in German every day. So here is my first try:

Hallo, Ich bin Laura. Ich kommst auf New Jersey. Ich gehen Cologne en April oder Mai.

Google Translate:
Hello I am laura. I'm coming to New Jersey. I go cologne in April or May.

(It's really hard not to cheat and just use Google Translate for everything!!)

So my corrected sentence, using the handy Collins Dictionary app:

Hallo, Ich bin Laura. Ich kommst von New Jersey. Ich gehen nach Cologne en April oder Mai.

Much better! Hello I am laura. I'm from New Jersey. I go to Cologne in April or May.