Student Spotlight: ANDREW
ANDREW’S STORY
How a love of music motivated this local DJ to embark on a German language odyssey with Speak!
Since March, Andrew and his instructor, Stefanie, have taken to meeting at a local park for their lessons. “The pandemic has turned what could have otherwise been a purely academic exercise into a very human one,” Andrew shares.
Andrew, tell us a little bit about yourself. What prompted you to start a substantial one-on-one German course with us last fall?
I'm 35, and after graduating from UVA have lived and worked in Charlottesville exclusively since then. I also tutor English with Literacy Volunteers, and I'm the director of the Classical Department at WTJU (UVA's radio station) and host Classical Sunrise each Monday and Tuesday morning.
The music connection is a big reason I decided to learn German. After hosting a radio program for a few years I got comfortable with the pronunciation and started wishing that I could read what was written in librettos, liner notes, composer's letters, etc. My beloved hamster, whom Stefanie has heard probably too much about (!), is named Schubert. It was always a visually and aurally appealing language to me; contrary to what I assume is the popular conception I think it looks and sounds beautiful. I also haven't done much traveling in my life, and going to Germany, for the music and arts, was always a perfect destination, and once I decided to start planning for that, being a monoglot who would have to rely on others' ability to speak English wasn't going to work for me.
Andrew’s adorable hamster, Schubert, poses for a selfie with a Cheerio
What do you enjoy about learning German, in general, and with Stefanie, in particular?
I find many aspects of the language entertaining, even the parts that I think are particularly difficult, such as the three genders, word order, even using commas -- something Stefanie can tell you was a habit from English I had to unlearn. Because English is related, finding the overlap between the languages is always fascinating. German's extensive use of compound words to express new ideas brings me a lot of joy. "The veterinarian" is "der Tierarzt," literally "the animal doctor!"
Stefanie has been or given me a lot of things:
Confidence while I'm speaking, including the confidence to speak and keep speaking even when making errors. I can generally make myself understood at this point, and while grammar and vocabulary are important, language is about expressing an idea and being understood, which is something I've achieved now.
A stress-free learning environment. For me, it's generally hard to do anything without feeling like I have to do it perfectly, especially when there's another person present. But the relationship that Stefanie and I have means those things never cross my mind.
A really supportive teacher. Writing something in German to bring for her to read and correct has become the highlight of my week.
Background on Germany, being German, and German culture. And she's incredibly supportive of my idea of moving to Germany, and while of course, I'm going to go and check it all out for myself before making a permanent switch, I trust her assessment that it would be a good fit, and I appreciate the non-language insights I've gotten which also confirm the same.
Our lead German Instructor for in-person and online courses: Stefanie Parker
What do you find most challenging about the language?
Handling German's word order, especially in subordinate clauses where you need to remember to move the verbs to the end of the clause, is probably the hardest part so far. I'm certain learning any new language must force you to think very hard about your native language, but having to rearrange sentences to conform to German syntax has taught me how we can effortlessly form very complex sentences on the fly. The brain is truly an incredible machine. I also have a bad habit of using English constructions that either don't exist in German outright or would be clunky (Having had awoken from a deep sleep...).
Do you have a favorite exercise or learning strategy?
I enjoy reading, both in English and in German, even if the German text is very simple (as it has been so far). Feeling like you are reading a secret code that you can crack is extremely rewarding. I always read out loud, which I enjoy because the language sounds good to me and I'm happy I can generally get the pronunciation correct. And it feels the most authentic.
How do you feel your German has improved since you began your one-on-one course?
I had no ability to speak it at all prior to starting. Being entirely self-taught, and knowing nobody else I could speak with, made it difficult to put together any sentence, even simple ones such as "My name is Andrew." I can speak!
How has the pandemic changed things for you and Stefanie? Any silver linings?
I think the biggest one, frankly, has been the shared experience of it all. We can talk about how the US is handling the pandemic, how Europe and Germany have handled the pandemic, stress or anxiety both of us feel about the pandemic, etc. I think a lot of relationships of any nature have been made a lot stronger because we've all had to weather this together. I think Stefanie's approachable nature contributed as well, but the pandemic has turned what could have otherwise been a purely academic exercise into a very human one.
When you envision yourself speaking German in Germany, what do you see? How do you feel?
Well in my vision I'm fluent! I'm buying tickets to a concert at the Berliner Philharmonie in German, reading Goethe in a park in German, conversing with my seat-neighbors at Bayreuth in German, perhaps meeting and falling in love with someone German.
When you first registered, your plan was to relocate to Berlin. Is that still your goal?
Yes, definitely! The company I work for has an office in Berlin (as well as one in Cork, Ireland), and moving out of the country, for a variety of reasons, is definitely still a priority of mine.
