On Monday I had my last conversation class with my Monday conversation class (make sense?). Despite some of them drifting 'slightly' off topic, and talking about things which really can't be repeated here, I let them continue, so long as they spoke in English. These are Year 10 students and over the last months, I have seen many of them when Lois and I have been in the city during the weekend and as a result of seeing some of them last Saturday, I got asked lots of questions about Lois and about us. They were very interested to know about our relationship and afterwards the boys said that we look 'very cute together'. As they left, a few boys stayed back and tested my German by asking me further questions. They also said that, despite not having any more conversation lessons after Easter, they hope that they will still get the opportunity to talk to me and have some more lessons with me, which I really appreciated. I must have done something right!
After this it was time for the Year 5 class. This week I would describe their behaviour as 'tolerable'. They weren't as loud as previous weeks, but then again, they were far from quiet. For this lesson, I had gone above and beyond my call of duty (again) - I'm not really complaining, but we were told at the training course back in September, that we were not supposed to teach lessons alone and we were not at all supposed to teach grammar - Both of which I found myself doing on Monday. The term 'language assistant' says it all really - we are there to assist. But then again, when you have a nice group of students, teaching them can actually be quite fun, so it's definitely a case of swings and roundabouts. But the lesson went well and the exercises I had planned also worked well. Since the Year 5 students have a limited vocabulary I found myself explaining some words in German, which is good since I need all the practice I can get! Sometimes they even teach me words! I also had to try and explain that there is no direct translation of the Bavarian greetings 'Grüß Gott' (literally 'Greet God'? They're pretty into religion here, remember!) and 'Servus'. This was quite hard for some of the pupils to understand, but I did my best to try explain that the best translation is simply 'hello'. These are regional greetings and I guess comparable to something like 'Ey up' in Yorkshire.
Due to actual speaking tests taking place, my lessons on Tuesday morning were cancelled, meaning I didn't have to be in until after lunch again. I spent the morning watching a German film, so my morning off wasn't wasted. I then assisted in the final conversation lesson with the Tuesday conversation class. The students practised the whole exam and my job was once again to hover, listen in and then offer feedback at the end. I was blown away at how good they were and I noticed very few mistakes indeed. So much so that towards the end of the lesson, when it was my turn to stand up and offer feedback, I only had a few improvements to mention and the rest was positive feedback. Seeing as though this was their last lesson and they had their exam the following morning, I didn't want to dwell on the negatives either. However, once back in the staffroom, I was once again brutally berated, this time for giving feedback which was 'too positive'. This is, as I've learnt, standard in Germany. Few people concentrate on the positives and focus, often, on the negatives. Perhaps I'm too soft and need to develop a back bone, and I do appreciate that in order to learn from mistakes, you need to be aware of them, but to me the students need to be hearing positivity on the day before their exam. If I was doing the exam, I know for a fact that I would do a lot better had someone just told me that I can do it, as opposed to being criticised for my mistakes. And as I've experienced, being told that your language skills are good provides you with such a boost, whereas being told that your language skills aren't so good (which I've also experienced!), really drags you down. Anyway, I said what I felt and I'm confident the students will do very well.
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This week I noticed this book lying around the staffroom. Every year the council publish an new edition of this book which gives all the statistics for Regensburg. I really don't see in the point of it, but if you want to know how many females in Regensburg are under the age of 40, have two children, live in a three bedroomed house and earn more than 30,000 Euros per year then this is the book for you! (The stereotype that Germans love bureaucracy and paperwork is not wrong!) |
Before I left the staffroom I was approached by one of the male teachers who started talking to me about the upcoming Bayern München VS Manchester match. (He started the conversation in English, which goes to show how bad he thinks my German is, considering he used to talk to me in German. However I tried to turn it around by answering in German - I don't know much football vocab so that proved tricky!). Since I mentioned I lived not far from Manchester, everybody now thinks I'm a raging Manchester United fan, when in fact, I'd struggle to name one player who plays for them. Nevertheless, I tried to converse and did my best to pretend I knew what I was talking about.
As I entered school on Wednesday I was approached by one of the teachers who had been doing the speaking exams with the Year 10 students earlier in the week. She was overjoyed and explained that the pupils who had been attending my Thursday conversation class had done really well in the exam, and had gained a much better mark than many of the others. I too was overjoyed at this news. I really didn't expect myself to feel as overwhelmed as I did, but I felt a real sense of pride and achievement knowing that I had helped them achieve this. Throughout Wednesday I was attending various classes, often just assisting when needed, but practising more speaking in one, since the exams last for the entire week. I did my best to live up to idea that I'm a keen Manchester United fan by exchanging banter with many of the boys about the evenings upcoming match. It seems to be talk of the school, which again shows the influence of football here. As I've said, speaking exams are taking place throughout the entire week, and some of the teachers returned to the staffroom after conducting exams for the previous 4 hours, they immediately began discussing the pupils and their answers. A small group formed and they laughed and joked about the mistakes some of the students made. It was pretty funny and I know that it wasn't done out of malice or unkindness, but I found it really interesting to be 'on the other side', so to say. I'm sure, just as students talk eagerly about the answers they gave / wrote in a test immediately after completing it, teachers also discuss the answers with each other. It made me think about the tests I have done throughout my years in education - I wonder how many of my answers provided giggles for the entire staffroom!?
As I described in my last post, last weeks attempt to watch the Bayern München VS Manchester United match was unsuccessful due to me arriving too late, so this week I made sure I set off in good time. After another, rather boring, afternoon stuck inside, I was excited to leave my flat and rode into town to the sports cinema. With over an hour before kick-off, I almost had the choice of the whole auditorium! I picked a nice spot in the gallery, bought a beer and settled down to watch the much anticipated match. The place soon filled and the beers started flowing, often from large pitchers bought by the spectators. The Bayern München colours were visible everywhere - scarves, t-shirts, hats. Although this didn't stop a few guests turning up in the typical Bavarian dress of Lederhosen. The game was good, but Bayern were the better team and deserved the win. Any time a good pass was made claps of approval could be heard and any time the referee gave a decision against Bayern, boo's and fists came flying from the crowd. You can therefore imagine the reaction when Bayern began firing home the goals. The place erupted, people jumped up, high-fived, clinked glasses and gulped beer. I saw a few glasses get knocked over in the excitement. They really do love their football! And they love it so much that there is even a TV in the toilet, so that when the need arises, you never miss a minute.
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| The crowd celebrate as Bayern score |
My Thursday, and final day in school before Easter, was fantastic. My first lesson started at 9:30 and it was with the Thursday Year 5 class - also known as 'the very nice and friendly Year 5 class'. This was particularly special lesson, as the class had organised an 'English Breakfast' and I was the guest of honour. I was quite blown away as I entered the class and found several toasty makers warming up, kettles boiling, plates being distributed, tables being moved to form a long communal table and pupils rushing everywhere. Before long the room had been transformed and the food began to appear. This wasn't exactly a true 'English Breakfast' but the variation of food was good. Toasties were the main order of the day, with a large choice of fillings. Drinks included milk, orange juice and of course, a variety of teas. The teacher had made some cucumber sandwiches in an effort to incorporate some 'britishness'. I had only just eaten my own breakfast and here I was eating toasties, cucumber sandwiches and drinking tea. It was really great and lots of fun. The pupils loved it too and made an effort to speak English. Of course, we did a little work as well, but the breakfast was the main bit of the lesson. I really enjoyed myself and it's definitely the best experience I've had in the school so far. The teacher explained how motivated the students are when I'm there, which is really great to hear, so I'm certainly going to be seeing more of them before my time is up. Before leaving the school, I had a really nice chat to some of the teachers and it made me realise how lucky I am to be surrounded by such supportive and friendly staff and just how comfortable I've come to feel in such a foreign environment. It made me also understand just how much I will miss the school, the pupils and the staff when I come to leave. I left school on Thursday buzzing from such a great morning in the school, but also really excited for the Easter break. As I rode back through the park, I saw the workers turning on the fountains which had been turned off for Winter - This was a comforting sight to see.
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| Cucumber sandwiches, Earl Grey tea, Lemon curd. Even the napkins had a British theme! |
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| This is a great class and I had a really enjoyable morning |
Lois' arrival on Thursday meant that our break could finally begin and after tea we enjoyed a drink in the city to celebrate reaching the 'final checkpoint', as we see it, before the end. On Friday we finalised our plans for the week ahead, did a little more university essay work (the deadline is fast approaching, but we're pretty much finished) and enjoyed a relaxed afternoon before what will be a very active week begins.
This week I finished 'Der Vorleser' or 'The Reader', which was given to me by Anja as a Christmas gift. I really enjoyed the story and found myself absorbed by the book on an evening before bed. Although often hard to understand, I battled my way through it and feel another sense of achievement after finishing another German novel, read for pleasure rather than a requirement. I also watched the film (with Kate Winslet - I'm sure many of you have heard of it / seen it) in German (I've seen it in English but to me, it was all the more significant in the language it was meant to be in) yet found that I preferred the book. This is something I have, over time, discovered - I find books are always better than the film. Whilst I love watching films, and they often give you a different aspect to a story, getting lost in a book is appealing to me. So much so, that I asked Anja for some recommendations and was met the next day with two more novels for me to begin. I'm very much looking forward to getting stuck into them. It seems I have become quite 'The Reader' - oh, the irony.
I hope to update my blog on our return from Berlin and Paris next Friday - It will give me something to do to try and ease my excitement about welcoming mum, dad and Freya on the Saturday - Lois and I both can't wait!
Before I end, I will leave you with two quotes which I discovered this week and particularly liked. These come from Mark Twains' 'The Awful German Language' (If you have a spare 20 minutes or so, it's definitely worth a read: http://german.about.com/library/blmtwain01.htm) His text explains just how difficult German is to learn as a second language. Hopefully it gives you an idea as to some of the struggles we have both experienced in trying to overcome this tricky language (and also the perfect excuse as to why the ability to speak it well still eludes me!)
"Surely there is not another language that is so slipshod and systemless, and so slippery and elusive to the grasp. One is washed about in it, hither and thither, in the most helpless way; and when at last he thinks he has captured a rule which offers firm ground to take a rest on amid the general rage and turmoil of the ten parts of speech, he turns over the page and reads, "Let the pupil make careful note of the following exceptions." He runs his eye down and finds that there are more exceptions to the rule than instances of it"
"In German, a young lady has no sex, while a turnip has. Think what overwrought reverence that shows for the turnip, and what callous disrespect for the girl."
Until next time and 'Frohe Ostern!' (Happy Easter!)
Tschüß
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