Teaching German—the best job in the world

Teaching — the best job in the world AATG Members tell their stories We reported some member stories and experiences in the April Newsletter — and discovered there are many more stories to share.

We asked AATG members to share with us their story about becoming a German teacher. Who inspired them? What did they discover about themselves and the world around them? How did they connect with the language, culture, and people? What did they experience and explore during their first trip abroad? How do they know they matter—in their classroom and in their community?

After moving to Colorado a decade and a half ago, I thought long and hard about what career path to pursue. I knew I enjoyed teaching German (I had treasured being a teaching assistant in the Modern Language Department during my grad school years at the University of Wyoming), I loved all things language and literature, and I liked the quirky energy of teenagers. So, it seemed natural to embark on a career as a German teacher. I have faced many interesting moments while teaching German, challenging and exhilarating alike, but I have never regretted my decision and I would make the same choice again. The opportunity to share my cultural roots and the ability to help others learn the language and discover the rich traditions of German literature have certainly provided me with a rewarding career, but also given me the time and space to explore my own Germanness. It cannot get much more meaningful than that!—Charlotte Wolf (CO)

I grew up with a German mom. After high school we went to live with my Opa. Two years later I decided to return to the states to attend college. I didn't really know what I wanted to do with my life, so I majored in German, minored in Psychology. I started working accounts receivable at a printing company. When going through the mail one day, I found a want ad. A local school was looking for a German teacher for an early morning program at an elementary school. I interviewed, got the job, and WANTED! began teaching each day before going to my day job. After 2 years, the opportunity arose to go back to school to get my teaching certificate. Good-bye office, German hello classroom! I haven't looked back Teacher since. I love what I do.—Rita Prescott (GA)

From 1967 to 1969 I lived in the village of Waldstetten in Baden-Württemberg with my parents. My father was in the US Army, and the closest housing we could find was in this small village. With the exception of our landlady, we were the only English-speakers in town. My sister and I had to learn German if we wanted to play with the other kids in the neighborhood.

When I returned to the States in 1969, it was at the beginning of the 5th grade. We returned to a small town in rural Pennsylvania. When my fellow students discovered I had come from Germany, they wanted me to teach them different words. I still have a memory of me standing at the blackboard writing German vocabulary terms and teaching my friends how to say them. Needless to say, I was hooked. I knew then that I wanted to be a teacher, and I knew that I wanted to be a German teacher. Fortunately, my family was sent back to Germany for another three years, where I had German in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades. After returning to the States, I had a wonderful high school German teacher, Mrs. Maria Crawford, who nurtured my love of the language. I completed my degree in German at Sam Houston State University, where Dr. Hannah Lewis was instrumental in getting me into the classroom at Huntsville High School. It was an exhilarating experience, and I have been here ever since. I can truly say that although teaching is a challenging and demanding occup

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Opening up the world to young people Our inspiration to teach German is as diverse as the German-speaking world, our students, and the discipline itself. The German Program at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro is a small and vibrant program. We deliver excellence in scholarship, teaching, and service and have a proven track record of outstanding accomplishment. All five program faculty hold PhDs in German and German Studies and embrace the teacher-scholar model that emphasizes superb teaching and pedagogical innovation coupled with committed research and strong service. Collectively, our research expertise spans all centuries of documented written communication in German, from the middle Ages to the 21st century. The German Program fosters a critical understanding of Germany, Austria, Switzerland and beyond through the study of language, literature, theater, film, media, and contemporary culture. Through teaching, scholarship, and service, the German Program contributes to the transatlantic dialogue between the United States and German-speaking countries in Europe. Our teaching and service contribute to UNCG’s strategic goal of internationalization—including the implementation of the Global Engagement QEP. Moreover, our scholarship enhances UNCG’s profile as a student-centered research university. We provide our students with outstanding opportunities to engage inside and outside the classroom and we take pride in mentoring our students beyond graduation. Many of our majors and minor are successful in securing competitive educational and professional opportunities both during their studies at UNCG and after graduation.—The German Program at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

My two awesome high school German teachers and my experience with the GAPP program inspired me to become a German teacher. Both of my German teachers were passionate, hardworking individuals, who not only taught their students German but allowed them to experience German through German club, the GAPP Program and language competitions. Before traveling to Germany, I had known that I wanted to be a teacher, but it was not until I experienced Germany that I knew I wanted to teach German. Simply put, I fell in love with the language and culture while in Germany as a GAPP exchange student. Combining my passion for teaching and my Wanderlust has made me the German teacher and GAPP advisor I am today. Just like my German teachers, I love opening up the world to young people and have been doing so for twenty years.—April Krempasky (PA)

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Although I am not currently a teacher, I have decided to become a German teacher for my second career, when my children are grown and have finished college. I began learning German in high school in 1984, and my interest in its sound, structure, and history has only grown. I went on to major in German in college, and I got a Master's degree in German Studies; unfortunately, career paths sometimes lead people away from their true interests, and that happened to me. I have done my best to retain my knowledge of the language and dream of finally being able to share my enthusiasm for poems such as "Mondnacht," "An den Mond," and "John Maynard," as well as the fascinating history of the German Democratic Republic. I've taught myself about the history of the Germanic languages, and hope to show how German's relationship to English can especially be seen in the language of Beowulf.—Kevin Fischer (FL)

My German teacher inspired me to teach My former German teacher inspired me to teach German, as did my very good friends in Germany. When I was in high school, Adeline Theis, the then-German teacher, had a reputation for developing fluency in students in short time. I took one adult education class and German 2 with her and I was hooked. Her enthusiasm was without limit. Many years later, I am still infected by her enthusiasm. I continue to teach German, because the students who choose to learn the language are special. German students do not want to learn the language because their parents told them it would be useful later in life. They take it because they are curious about the language and the culture. I find that they have a general thirst for knowledge, and I benefit from their interest. I find that I am at my best in front of a class of German students, where I can be my crazy, creative self.

Students from the other language classes have told me that they perceive German students as a very tight family. I think we are, but yet not a family which excludes anyone. I love German, its language and the culture as well as the students.—Elizabeth Pierce (MA) I began my journey in German when I was fourteen years old. I had an amazing German teacher who encouraged us, while also holding a high level of rigor in her classroom. I share that same enthusiasm with my students and have encouraged students to go on to become German minors and majors in college, and travel abroad.—Christopher Dennis (NJ)

My story is a love story: I fell in love with a German.

I was a freshman in college and he was an exchange student from Ravensburg. We got married and I quickly finished my BA in German from the University of Utah in order to follow him to the Medical College of Wisconsin. I began commuting from Milwaukee to work as an International Flight Attendant – flying to Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Frankfurt and Stuttgart.

After our fourth child was born, I “retired” from the airlines and became a stay-at-home mother for the next 10 years.

My children were my first 4 German students, as I was passionate that they learn about their heritage. We discovered Waldsee in 1998. When the oldest left for college and the youngest started first grade, I decided to go back for my teaching certificate, and ended up finishing a Masters of Arts in Language Pedagogy instead. I taught one summer at Waldsee and six years at the University of Utah, until taking my current position at West High. I wonder if any of my students (or my children!) will tell a similar love story one day.—Wendy Schmidt (UT)

Mit der Geburt meiner Tochter damals begann auch das Umdenken, plötzlich war das Heimweh da. Als meine Tochter drei Jahre alt wurde, besuchte ich mal wieder meine Familie, die auf dem Land im tiefen Sauerland lebte. Während dieses Urlaubes hatte ich meine Tochter beobachtet, wie sie den ganzen Tag draußen mit den Kindern spielte und viele, viele schöne Kindheitserinnerungen wurden in mir wach. Ich dachte, all diese Dinge möchte ich mit meiner Tochter in Florida auch machen: Laternenbasteln, Weihnachtsspiele usw. Ich wollte, dass sie die deutsche Mentalität kennen und lieben lernt, deutsche Traditionen erlebt. So formte sich mehr und mehr der Wunsch, mit Kindern zu arbeiten und ihnen die deutsche Sprache und Traditionen näher zu bringen. Wie es der Zufall wollte, lernte ich gleich nach meiner Rückkehr eine deutschsprachige Spielgruppe kennen. Ich wusste, dass ich nun all mein Wissen und meine Erfahrung an diese Kinder weitergeben kann.

Meine jahrelange Mitgliedschaft in einem Kinder- und Jugendchor und in einer Theatergruppe, meine Leidenschaft zum Basteln und Musizieren und vor allem, meine Liebe zu deutschen Traditionen konnte ich nun endlich weitergeben. Zur der Zeit unterrichtete ich Deutsch in einer christlichen Grundschule. Schnell wurde ist aus der Freiwilligenarbeit und meinem Hobby mein Beruf. Meine Liebe gehört der Arbeit mit den Kindern und ich bin glücklich, dass ich in der Lage bin, ihnen und ihren Familien und nicht zuletzt auch mir und meiner Familie, mit meinem Programm im German Learning Center die deutsche Heimat, Sprache und ihre Traditionen ein Stückchen näher zu bringen. —Gabriele Villiotis (FL)

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30+ years and I’m still loving it I first became acquainted with German in a summer intensive course at Bowling Green State University. For 10 weeks we met to parrot, play and practice German. I absolutely loved it.

In the evenings, we watched German films and got up the next morning to do it all over. A few semesters later, I did their Study Abroad Program for a year at the University of Salzburg.

Teachers, sponsors, and mentors were super. At semester, I had enough hours to transfer into a graduate program and so graduated with the first Masters of Arts in the Teaching of German the next Fall. I love everything about German! Currently, I teach German I and II at a small midwest community college. I try and take advantage of the AATG continuing education opportunities and went to my first ACTFL conference this past fall. I keep my enthusiasm working with other Kansas Teachers of German and enjoy our annual Immersion Weekend. Deutsch macht Spaß! —Rhonda Westerhaus (KS)

My mother was from Germany and married my father, an American, after the war. The first time I got to visit Germany and Austria was the summer after 8th grade. I just loved it: how beautiful it was, the architecture, public transportation. I knew I wanted to speak German. They offered it at the high school I attended so I signed up. But the teacher was soooo hard. There was so much grammar, it was all in English, and I had tons of grammar homework. So many times I almost quit! But I stuck with it out of loyalty to my mom. Finally, by senior year, I did know a lot of grammar, but I could not speak. I traveled to Europe almost every summer for the next three years and finally got over the hump (and had a major in German). I had always wanted to be a history teacher, but the thrill of learning a language changed my mind; and the innovative teaching methods of that era (which focused on speaking rather than grammar) really excited me. I taught for 3 years at my former high school, then went to graduate school in German where I taught college kids. I finally settled on middle schoolers, who have amazing cognitive abilities and still have the childish fun that is required to learn to speak a language. 30+ years and I'm still loving it!–Jo Garrison (NC)

Being able to speak, read and write German has been one of the things that has brought a great deal of enrichment and enjoyment to my life. Being able to experience the German-speaking lands, their rich history and culture and their people first-hand has been a great joy, so it was only natural that I wanted to share it with others. And now that Volkswagen and other German industries have located in our area, a knowledge of German certainly gives our students an inside edge on employment and career opportunities. My decision to teach German has been one of the best things I have done with my life. I started teaching 42 years ago. I am still teaching and still love it. It has been a wonderful way to spend my life.—Richard Daugherty (TN)

As a young child, my father, a high school German teacher, taught me German folk songs. When I was in high school, he promised me a trip to Europe if I would take German for two years. I did. Then after my freshman year in college, I spent the summer working at a Migros in Switzerland. I completed the language requirement for my major but kept taking German. After spending 18 months as a missionary in central Germany, I changed my major to German. I continued my studies with an MA in German Literature and a PhD in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching.

Throughout this time I was first inspired by my German 102 teacher (Connie Sellers), a graduate student whose love for German language and culture was contagious. As a graduate TA, I found that while I really enjoyed learning, I also loved teaching, and I spent every spare minute preparing to teach. I was also inspired by Professors Alan Keele, HansWilhelm Kelling, Michelle James, and Scott Abbott who taught me about Goethe, Schiller, Grass, Handke, and German opera. In the SLA world, Professors Renate Schulz and Mary Wildner-Bassett inspired me to become a better teacher by applying research to the learning and teaching of the German language and culture.—Teresa Reber Bell (UT)

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I couldn't wait to get my hands on Nutella I first started learning German as a high school student and liked it a lot. It was one of my favorite classes. The teacher was also the tennis coach, and would string tennis rackets while lecturing. When I went to college I decided to become a history teacher. I also continued to study German because I needed a secondary area of certification. When I started student teaching, I was placed in both a German and History class. I found doing German was way more fun than history. In German you get to tell stories, and do skits, and do crazy things. You also learn much more about the students. Because your curriculum involves talking with them about what sports they do, or their home lives. It is a good time. Plus you are with the same group for years, and can see them grow. Ever since graduating I have been employed as a German teacher. I am much happier that way.—David Milne (MI)

I grew up in Finland and studied various languages at school. As a teenager I saved my money for all year long so I could go on a youth-trip and visit Germany, Switzerland and Austria during the Summer. I absolutely loved the mountains and enjoyed meeting the people and learning about the culture. And I couldn't wait to get my hands on Nutella and some other foods, which I could not get in Finland then.

When I came to the US and started college, I decided to become a teacher. German was a natural choice since I enjoyed learning it myself. And I have been happy about my choice the last 20 years. I love seeing my students get excited to learn the language and the culture. I have been privileged to teach outstanding students who have touched my life in numerous ways.—Pia DeVries (NE)

I was born into a mono-cultural Dutch-American community in Iowa, and in the process of growing up I absorbed a great deal of the Dutch language without really learning to speak it, and without having been encouraged to value it. When at age 17 I began my post-secondary education I had to choose a modern language to meet a curriculum requirement. Given the seriousness with which I entered college, and having been given to understand that German would fit nicely with my academic bent, I naively chose to enroll. First-year German was easy for me to learn, and I probably floated near the top of the class—because of my childhood language experience. Toward the end of Deutsch Eins my professor took me aside and indicated that my progress in German was so good, and that I had such a knack for learning it, that next year I should skip Deutsch Zwei and go directly into Third Year. Which I, of course, did. I nearly was swamped with reading Lessing and Schiller and all the others along with the fluent speakers just returning to their home campus from their junior year abroad.

But I survived. Upon which Wallace Bratt naturally indicated that I should major in German— why not?—so I added it to my English major and philosophy minor. Following my junior year, I had the opportunity to study during the summer with Gustav Mathieu and with Menno Spann and others in an NDEA Institute for Future Teachers of German. So now there was no going back. That was a wonderful impetus at the right time, and a nice complement to my regular studies. It was then that I committed to becoming a college teacher of German. The graduate study I subsequently undertook at Indiana University under Frank Ryder's leadership and the teaching assistantship under Ferdinand Piedmont offered me a premier opportunity to prepare for college teaching. I have valued the encouragement and advice of my professors and hope that in my career I have demonstrated my gratitude for their tutelage.—Morris Vos (IL)

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My students are my greatest teachers Three things inspired me to become a German teacher. The first reason was my German heritage. I learned at the age of ten that my last name was a German name. It spurred a curiosity in me about where I came from—so much so, that when a new neighbor moved in who was from Hannover and asked me if I would like to learn German, I jumped on the chance! A few times each week I would go to her house after school for Teezeit and German lessons. She also taught me to play the recorder, to make Haselnussplätzchen, to appreciate Hagebuttentee, to enjoy an Adventkalender, and we even watched some of the 1972 Munich summer Olympics together on TV. Ute became my second mother, and she also became the second reason I wanted to become a German teacher, as she not only taught me German, but to love German culture. The third reason I became a German teacher was my own high school German teacher, Bruno Schwarz. He had immigrated from Braunschweig to attend the University of Pittsburgh and became a German teacher. He loved his language and shared that love with his students every day. One particular day stands out in my memory: Herr Schwarz was desperately trying to teach how two-way prepositions functioned in both the dative and accusative cases. Suddenly he leaped onto his desk and shouted: "Ich SRINGE auf DEN Schreibtisch!" and then "Ich BIN auf DEM Schreibtisch!"

Then he ran to the board and flattened himself against it and shouted: "Ich LEGE mich an DIE Tafel!" and so it went with "unter" and "hinter" and so on. He also spent extra time to prepare us for the German AP exam during our study halls. In my senior year I decided that what I wanted more than anything else was to share the same love of German language and culture that Ute and Herr Schwarz had with as many students as I could in the future. That's why I became a German teacher.—Pauline Spring (PA)

To be honest, I never wanted to be a teacher. I was scared to death to talk in front of people. I've always liked German because it is my mother tongue and I had studied German at the University of Cologne, but I saw myself as a writer, not a teacher. When I moved to the US in 1999, I was looking for a job and there was a demand for German teachers, so what choice did I have? I had a solid background in German literature and grammar but very little teaching experience. I was very fortunate to get hired, and to this day I am grateful for having had this opportunity because I discovered that I love teaching! Never in my life had I thought that I could stand in front of people and talk, but I did and the more I did it, the better I got. Of course, it helped that I loved talking about my country, my culture, and my language. I guess students could feel my enthusiasm and made teaching for me fun and easy. Although I discovered the joys of teaching, I won't lie. My first three years were rough and I made all the mistakes that a novice teacher makes, but I learned from them, and I'm still learning. My students are my greatest teachers. In 2007 I decided to get my teaching license with an endorsement for German—and nothing else—because I knew this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. After 16 years of teaching German I still love it! Teaching German allows me to keep in touch with my culture and to share it with others. It is also my creative outlet and my way of having overcome my shyness and fear of speaking in front of people.—Claudia Werner (OR)

Back in 1960 I was registering for my senior year in high school and had to choose an elective. After much thought about avoiding the hard classes, I decided to opt for a foreign language. Why? As ever red-blooded young boy knows, the ratio of girls to boys in language classes is about 10 to 1. French and Spanish were both closed so I opted for German and was pleasantly surprised to find myself with about 5 other boys and 20 lovely sophomore girls. It turned out, I was better at German than impressing the opposite sex. Our teacher, Mr. Albert Bartz, was pretty darned good and I learned a lot. After graduation, I tried to enlist in the Army but the recruiter told me that they wanted soldiers who could see well enough to differentiate between the good guys and the bad guys.

So I enrolled in college. I was faced with the same choice: elective classes. I again chose the easy route: Having one year of German, I figured I could take it easy and, as it turned out, I got 12 hours of A's. After a summer in Vienna with the Oberlin College program, I returned and aced German 2. In 1962 a German major was 34 credit hours so I finished and got a job in northern Minnesota. It was a small town and I loved it: the kids, the subject, my colleagues, the community. I stayed around through three generations and when I began to see the grandchildren of my first students, I decided it was time to retire. Teaching German is a lifetime experience and the kids become "family". A few of them became German teachers and I'm still in contact with a couple of them.–John Ingersoll (WA)

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A career that is a life-long adventure In teaching German, what inspires me the most is the process of learning. Even after all these years, I never get tired of facilitating my students reaching their own conclusions. These learning moments can happen at any time, which keeps teaching exciting. It can be the instance when students grasp any part of the systemic nature of German. It can happen when a student successfully answers his or her first whyquestion thus gaining a whole other level of analysis. Or sometimes the learning can be a general realization, for example, when they understand that sometimes it is worthwhile to do something as absurd as carrying a ship over a hill in the jungle to create something beautiful like in Werner Herzog’s Fitzcarraldo. It is true that most all of this could also be achieved in English, too, if, for instance, you insert Jane Austen, Shakespeare and Bob Dylan in the tasks described above. But not completely or in the same way, as there is the very nature of German itself. And in contrast to what Mark Twain bemoaned as a sign of the awful German language, namely the long compound nouns, they are to me a key element of what makes German so awesome. How else would you otherwise explain a word like Sanftmut, which in its combination of seemingly contradictory elements reveals the often-overlooked quality of courage in gentleness. Or the word Geheimnis which expresses the notion of secrecy by connecting it to the notions of daheim and privacy. Or a related expression mit der Tür ins Haus fallen which not only denotes an element of surprise, but also reveals the value of privacy in German captured in the image of the door, which in English would require another metaphor, because in most likelihood the door would already be open. Analyzing words like these gives students more in-depth access to German culture, teaching them to not simply take words at face value, but ask what values and norms are encoded in them.—Isolde Mueller (MN)

My Mother and my Oma were my inspirations to teach and share German with students. I was so proud of who they were and admired their strengths and all the good that they represented. Teaching the language and about the culture keeps me close to them everyday. I hope to spark some interest and passion in my students as well.—Janet Antonucci (MO)

Instead of taking art in ninth grade, my best friend insisted we take German. That led to a six-week intensive German program in Kansas after German two. At age sixteen, I decided to become a German teacher. Full speed ahead. A one-year scholarship to study in Berlin allowed me to live as a giant sponge absorbing the German language and culture.

Exciting! My first teaching job led to my second, which spanned thirty-eight years. It was only during the last thirteen years that I taught full-time German. I taught five classes of German, and taught AP German instead of having a planning period. What was the secret to enduring for such a long time? Teaching German was never boring. Our active German club took field trips and had frequent fun activities. Most importantly, we had a German exchange program every year. We hosted German students for three weeks around Easter and spent that time together in classes, at parties and picnics, on the beach, canoeing the Florida springs, and at crowded local theme parks. Friendships were begun in 1975 that still exist today! We may have only hosted three hundred and fifty German students, but those students interacted and had a blast with thousands of my American students. My students wanted to complete the exchange. Thus we began traveling together every two years to Germany. We spent one week living with German families and ten days traveling by train. We stayed in youth hostels, rode local buses, walked, hiked, ate fabulously well, and saw as much as we could each time we traveled. We planned everything ourselves, never took a group tour purchased out of a catalog. It was a daunting endeavor, but successful and oh so much fun. When I completed my career, I was able to hand the reigns over to a young enthusiastic teacher and walk out the door, leaving a fully supplied classroom for the next generation of German students and their new “Frau”. I had a career that was a life-long adventure!—Peggy Boekhout (FL)

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