American Association of Teachers of German

Jennifer Shirar (left) with her host sister Iris

Traveling to Germany invited rapid development of language skills as well as cultural understanding.  While learning new vocabulary and solidifying grammar techniques were to be expected, I did not anticipate the effect that culture has on speech.  German teenagers used many words in their speech that I had learned in the classroom; however, these words, when used in everyday speech, had an entirely different meaning.  It was an adventure to try out my German.  While almost nothing came out exactly how it should have, everything was interpreted with great patience and good humor. . . . Everywhere in Germany seemed to be incredibly rich with history.  It was sometimes eerie standing in places that I knew years before had been bombed into nothingness, but that now were symbols of life and prosperity.

Jordan Boggs (left) with his host sister Nora

My stay in Berlin is three weeks of my life that I will never forget. I did enough in those three short weeks to supply me with stories that I won’t get sick of telling any time soon – and hopefully my friends won’t get sick of hearing them. . . . I learned that making friends is easy no matter where I am and that where the friend comes from does not necessarily matter. I learned that cultural differences are not necessarily difficult to overcome. . . . Although my stay abroad was brief, it gave me a taste of something I truly enjoyed. I would love to study abroad again, for a longer period of time. In fact, I plan on doing so.

Megan Geiman playing Topwords with her host sister Hannah

I thought about the English class that I had gone to one morning with my host sister and how well the students spoke English. In her class, I observed the students having a theological discussion. Allow me to repeat that. A theological discussion in a foreign language! I was blown away. Seeing these students with such desire to learn and practice [a foreign] language was so refreshing, so inspiring. I attended several classes where the students were all very educated in world issues, in culture, and in politics. And thus, more than just language began to sink in. I began to see how concerned these people are with the entire world. They were concerned with the environment, world affairs, people, and culture. It was truly inspiring.