There's a big difference between "understanding" and "being able to spell." Especially when it comes to me and German. For some reason, I can speak it just fine, but when it comes to spelling, I can barely manage "Ich bin eine Berliner." Which is really strange, considering I can spell French (intentionally difficult to keep the peasants illiterate), English (invented by the Normans to pick up the Anglo-Saxon barmaids), and Japanese (no comment!) just fine.