Transition from mental translation to instant comprehension

Something interesting happened today, I was listening to a German talk show when suddenly I realized that I wasn't translating it to english in my mind before understanding it. It took 3 years of moderate immersion in the language for this to happen, and a lot of practice went into it, but things finally just clicked into place.

I look forward to breakthroughs like these because they always make me feel like all the work I've put in was well worth it. :-)