An, Auf, Hinter, In....

Working as the volunteer coordinator of ESL programs, I have had cause to reminisce on my own 2nd language experiences. Yesterday, one of the teachers was looking at some of the games available to use to help with certain particulars of a language (i.e., verbs, certain categories of nouns, etc.). The game that this teacher was getting excited about had to do with prepositions. She made the comment that she especially liked to use the ones that the students could act out.

Immediately I thought of my early years in German class with Frau Vickerman. She had actions for all of the prepositions, and she not only acted them out, but she had us do it too. She would first teach us the word in German and what it was in English, illustrated by her version of what it looked like acted out. Then, after a few repetitions, she would do one of two things. She would either act out the preposition and we would have to guess the word, or she would say the word and then we would have to do the action for it. Even though I was in high school, it was actually pretty fun, and sometimes funny. And though it may have seemed silly at the time, it was a good way to learn the prepositions. And let's face it, prepositions are an integral part of any language, so a strong knowledge of what they mean and how to use them is vital in learning a language. Looking back, I really appreciate Frau Vickerman's attempts to get us physically involved with learning German, not just with prepositions but with other parts of the language as well. Still, I can even know see her moving her arms at a 90 degree angle on either side of her body for "zwischen", or raising her arms up for "uber." As some of my siblings know, she could sometimes be harsh, but she really drilled the German language into us, and she had a way of making it enjoyable. The quote today is in memory of wonderful German classes and Frau Vickerman's strict yet effective way of teaching.

"Jesus Maria Mutter Gottes!"