Reflection on Self as a Language Learner

Having grown up in Reading, Pennsylvania, which is near Lancaster in the heart of Pennsylvania “Dutch” (that is, Deutsch or German) Country, I was required to study German starting in seventh grade, continuing with the same teacher through my senior year.

Frau Braun taught us through a combination of methods. Given the era in which she was teaching, the audiolingual method was predominant in her class. I still often find myself thinking, “Mann kann den larm ja shon von der strasse aushoren,” or “One can hear the noise all the way from the street.” Needless to say, I have found that extremely useful over the years.

She also brought various other methods into her class, including grammar-translation and communicative techniques. We used oral repetition, studied the rules of grammar, and translated texts, but she also required us to bring new articles to class and report on them to the class. We also discussed everyday issues such as the success of the school sports teams. By senior year I was reading Goethe in the original and could carry on a decent conversation.

I went to Germany alone for a few weeks in my early twenties and knew German well enough to travel around the country, book hotels, order food in restaurants, shop, and have casual talks. I loved being able to use my knowledge of German in a real-life situation, although I was surprised at not being able to speak and understand more successfully given my relatively advanced reading ability. Working with ESOL students, I now understand that it is typical for some students (in my class, some Korean students) to be much better at reading and writing than they are at speaking as a result of the type of schooling they have had.