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German Teachers Chatboard

why teach German?

by Pat

Mar 30, 2009

Our school has decided to phase out German from the curriculum. Instead virtual Chinese and Arabic will be taught in the middle and high school levels along with Spanish. In PA there are minimal language requirements for school districts, and they are within the requirements. I have been asked to find rationale as to why we need to keep the German program. If you have any sites that will lead me to information or can give me any rationale that you may have needed in your own districts, please help me to save our German program. Thank you in advance.

view previous comments

Art Lader at,

Your post breaks my heart. I will spare you my unhelpful opinions about your school district and simply say that I hope you save your German program.

Here's a link to our web site and why we think students should take German. -- [link removed]

Maybe there is some little thing in there that will be of use to you.
<...See More

Apr 9, 2009

Ich kann Deutsch On 3/30/09, Pat wrote: > Our school has decided to phase out German from the > curriculum. Instead virtual Chinese and Arabic will be > taught in the middle and high school levels along with > Spanish. In PA there are minimal language requirements for > school districts, and they are within the requirements. I > have been asked to...See More

Jun 15, 2009

John On 6/15/09, Ich kann Deutsch wrote: > On 3/30/09, Pat wrote: >> Our school has decided to phase out German from the >> curriculum. Instead virtual Chinese and Arabic will be >> taught in the middle and high school levels along with >> Spanish. In PA there are minimal language requirements for >> school districts, an...See MoreOn 6/15/09, Ich kann Deutsch wrote: > On 3/30/09, Pat wrote: >> Our school has decided to phase out German from the >> curriculum. Instead virtual Chinese and Arabic will be >> taught in the middle and high school levels along with >> Spanish. In PA there are minimal language requirements for >> school districts, and they are within the requirements. I >> have been asked to find rationale as to why we need to keep >> the German program. If you have any sites that will lead me >> to information or can give me any rationale that you may >> have needed in your own districts, please help me to save >> our German program. Thank you in advance. > > Why is one language more important than another? The question > is - do you still have students interested in taking German? If > not, how can you keep it? If so, how can they abolish it? > > I took German from the 3rd grade through the 12th - at the > time, German was the language of all scientific endeavor. > English has replaced it but the German language remains a > wonderful challenge for the mind. You might point out to your > administration that language has been treated in a very faddish > way. German, French and Latin in the 1950s - Russian was > introduced in the 60s during the Cold War. Spanish in the 70s. > Japanese kicked out Russian and then Chinese kicked out > Japanese. Now Arabic. > > We treat language in a very faddish way - French teachers are > struggling to find jobs unless they can also speak Spanish. > What other languages has your district abolished? Do we study > language to use it or for the academic endeavor that it is? > If German isn't useful, why ever do we have kids learning > algebra? I don't use Any of the algebra I learned and I don't > even remember the calculus. > Are they still teaching cursive? They'll defend that as useful > but German's not? > Viel Gluck.

Germany has one of the strongest economies in the world; recently dropped to number 4 because China has gotte stronger, but only beaten otherwise by the U.S. and Japan. For this reason, there a lot of German companies doing business in the U.S., and a lot of American companies in Germany. This often means that if you want to get high level jobs in business, German on the resume is a must! They actually look for it often. Viel Glück!

Jun 29, 2009

Bernard The best justification for keeping any program is demand. If kids are breaking down the doors tryng to sign up for German, then German won't be phased out. If kids want it, parents will demand it... and we all know what happens if parents demand it.

So the question is, how do we get students to break down our doors trying to get in? We cr...See MoreThe best justification for keeping any program is demand. If kids are breaking down the doors tryng to sign up for German, then German won't be phased out. If kids want it, parents will demand it... and we all know what happens if parents demand it.

So the question is, how do we get students to break down our doors trying to get in? We create demand. When I first began teaching German in a part time position - which was only offered at the high school level in my district, unlike French & Spanish - I tried taking my third year students down to the feeder middle school to promote awareness. I also met with the guidance counselors at both schools to let them know how eager I was to grow the program and that I was willing to take any and all students looking for electives. I then met with the principals to let them know how much I wanted to help students be successful. While these efforts may have met with minimal success initially, I found over the years that the best advertising was word of mouth. The more German we used in class, the more fun the students had. The more fun the students had, the more they learned. The more they learned, the more success they experienced. The more success they experienced, the more they told their friends and families - and then their friends and younger siblings signed up. In seven years, we went from one part time German position (3 classes), to two full time German positions at our high school of about 1,400 students. It can be done.

It just takes a lot of hard work and ingenuity to keep things fresh. Avoid the workbooks and tedious textbook drills. Try to only teach grammar in context. (When we were learning to speak English, did our mothers take us through verb conjugations and have us fill in the blanks with the right endings? - of course not.) Remember, the textbook is only a resource - it's not supposed to replace the teacher. We don't have to use it every day or even every week for that matter. Focus on real communication and lots of student interaction. Try to use German as much as you can right from day one. Shoot for 100% German usage and be thrilled if you hit 90%. If you're not already using them, experiment with various methods like TPR Storytelling, the Natural Approach and so on. Make use of the Web. In order to keep yourself from burning out, have students complete tasks that you used to do yourself - where ever appropriate. Use their talents and willingness to help out. If you aren't already a member, join the AATG which provides many resources. Viel Spass und viel Erfolg!

On 6/29/09, John wrote: > On 6/15/09, Ich kann Deutsch wrote: >> On 3/30/09, Pat wrote: >>> Our school has decided to phase out German from the >>> curriculum. Instead virtual Chinese and Arabic will be >>> taught in the middle and high school levels along with >>> Spanish. In PA there are minimal language requirements for >>> school districts, and they are within the requirements. I >>> have been asked to find rationale as to why we need to keep >>> the German program. If you have any sites that will lead me >>> to information or can give me any rationale that you may >>> have needed in your own districts, please help me to save >>> our German program. Thank you in advance. >> >> Why is one language more important than another? The question >> is - do you still have students interested in taking German? If >> not, how can you keep it? If so, how can they abolish it? >> >> I took German from the 3rd grade through the 12th - at the >> time, German was the language of all scientific endeavor. >> English has replaced it but the German language remains a >> wonderful challenge for the mind. You might point out to your >> administration that language has been treated in a very faddish >> way. German, French and Latin in the 1950s - Russian was >> introduced in the 60s during the Cold War. Spanish in the 70s. >> Japanese kicked out Russian and then Chinese kicked out >> Japanese. Now Arabic. >> >> We treat language in a very faddish way - French teachers are >> struggling to find jobs unless they can also speak Spanish. >> What other languages has your district abolished? Do we study >> language to use it or for the academic endeavor that it is? >> If German isn't useful, why ever do we have kids learning >> algebra? I don't use Any of the algebra I learned and I don't >> even remember the calculus. >> Are they still teaching cursive? They'll defend that as useful >> but German's not? >> Viel Gluck. > > Germany has one of the strongest economies in the world; > recently dropped to number 4 because China has gotte stronger, > but only beaten otherwise by the U.S. and Japan. For this > reason, there a lot of German companies doing business in the > U.S., and a lot of American companies in Germany. This often > means that if you want to get high level jobs in business, > German on the resume is a must! They actually look for it > often. Viel Glück!

Aug 26, 2009

raman mishra On 8/26/09, Bernard wrote: > The best justification for keeping any program is demand. If kids > are breaking down the doors tryng to sign up for German, then > German won't be phased out. If kids want it, parents will demand > it... and we all know what happens if parents demand it. > > So the question is, how do we get students ...See MoreOn 8/26/09, Bernard wrote: > The best justification for keeping any program is demand. If kids > are breaking down the doors tryng to sign up for German, then > German won't be phased out. If kids want it, parents will demand > it... and we all know what happens if parents demand it. > > So the question is, how do we get students to break down our doors > trying to get in? We create demand. When I first began teaching > German in a part time position - which was only offered at the high > school level in my district, unlike French & Spanish - I tried > taking my third year students down to the feeder middle school to > promote awareness. I also met with the guidance counselors at both > schools to let them know how eager I was to grow the program and > that I was willing to take any and all students looking for > electives. I then met with the principals to let them know how > much I wanted to help students be successful. While these efforts > may have met with minimal success initially, I found over the years > that the best advertising was word of mouth. The more German we > used in class, the more fun the students had. The more fun the > students had, the more they learned. The more they learned, the > more success they experienced. The more success they experienced, > the more they told their friends and families - and then their > friends and younger siblings signed up. In seven years, we went > from one part time German position (3 classes), to two full time > German positions at our high school of about 1,400 students. It > can be done. > > It just takes a lot of hard work and ingenuity to keep things > fresh. Avoid the workbooks and tedious textbook drills. Try to > only teach grammar in context. (When we were learning to speak > English, did our mothers take us through verb conjugations and have > us fill in the blanks with the right endings? - of course not.) > Remember, the textbook is only a resource - it's not supposed to > replace the teacher. We don't have to use it every day or even > every week for that matter. Focus on real communication and lots of > student interaction. Try to use German as much as you can right > from day one. Shoot for 100% German usage and be thrilled if you > hit 90%. If you're not already using them, experiment with various > methods like TPR Storytelling, the Natural Approach and so on. > Make use of the Web. In order to keep yourself from burning out, > have students complete tasks that you used to do yourself - where > ever appropriate. Use their talents and willingness to help out. > If you aren't already a member, join the AATG which provides many > resources. Viel Spass und viel Erfolg! > > On 6/29/09, John wrote: >> On 6/15/09, Ich kann Deutsch wrote: >>> On 3/30/09, Pat wrote: >>>> Our school has decided to phase out German from the >>>> curriculum. Instead virtual Chinese and Arabic will be >>>> taught in the middle and high school levels along with >>>> Spanish. In PA there are minimal language requirements for >>>> school districts, and they are within the requirements. I >>>> have been asked to find rationale as to why we need to keep >>>> the German program. If you have any sites that will lead me >>>> to information or can give me any rationale that you may >>>> have needed in your own districts, please help me to save >>>> our German program. Thank you in advance. >>> >>> Why is one language more important than another? The question >>> is - do you still have students interested in taking German? If >>> not, how can you keep it? If so, how can they abolish it? >>> >>> I took German from the 3rd grade through the 12th - at the >>> time, German was the language of all scientific endeavor. >>> English has replaced it but the German language remains a >>> wonderful challenge for the mind. You might point out to your >>> administration that language has been treated in a very faddish >>> way. German, French and Latin in the 1950s - Russian was >>> introduced in the 60s during the Cold War. Spanish in the 70s. >>> Japanese kicked out Russian and then Chinese kicked out >>> Japanese. Now Arabic. >>> >>> We treat language in a very faddish way - French teachers are >>> struggling to find jobs unless they can also speak Spanish. >>> What other languages has your district abolished? Do we study >>> language to use it or for the academic endeavor that it is? >>> If German isn't useful, why ever do we have kids learning >>> algebra? I don't use Any of the algebra I learned and I don't >>> even remember the calculus. >>> Are they still teaching cursive? They'll defend that as useful >>> but German's not? >>> Viel Gluck. >> >> Germany has one of the strongest economies in the world; >> recently dropped to number 4 because China has gotte stronger, >> but only beaten otherwise by the U.S. and Japan. For this >> reason, there a lot of German companies doing business in the >> U.S., and a lot of American companies in Germany. This often >> means that if you want to get high level jobs in business, >> German on the resume is a must! They actually look for it >> often. Viel Glück!Teaching german also helps us in learning grammar fluently-raman

Feb 5, 2012

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