It was very exciting to recently hear from Laurence Griffin, an ex-student of Shire Christian School and friend, who is currently in Belgium doing a study program with the Royal Belgian Military Academy and Global Governance Think Tank. After starting to learn German in Year 8, he went through to Year 12, and a year later he was living in Germany. Now he is visiting NATO HQ and the EU Parliament as part of his prestigious scholarship. Congratulations Laurence!
It made me reflect on where learning a second language can take you. Laurence’s story is similar to mine – I also started learning German in year 8 and decided to keep going to year 12. After Year 12 I was able to travel to Germany and meet many of my Croatian relatives who had also learned German as a second language. I don’t speak Croatian and they don’t speak English, so we all speak German together. Learning German opened that door to a depth of family relationships that I would not otherwise have experienced.
Knowing German also opened up the opportunity to work here at Shire Christian School, teaching German, which was a very unexpected turn in my life. I have now taught over 1000 students here and many come to mind as I finish my time at Shire. I have also made friends, received scholarships to study in Germany and met Albert Fiedler, who has visited the school each year that I have worked here. He has just turned 98 and he amazes the students each year, telling them about growing up in Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
So, where will learning German take you? Maybe it will be as simple as being able to authentically say “Danke schön” at a German restaurant. Maybe it will be cheering for your Bundesliga team in a stadium in Germany. Maybe you will meet your Year 8 pen pal. Maybe you will get to use your German at Oktoberfest, Karneval, the beautiful Christmas markets, on the slopes of Süd Tirol or the opera houses of Vienna. Maybe it will be remembering a funny German song that you loved and that will always remind you of gluing in sheets (the song is Traum by Cro, by the way), or hoping you will get “It’s Bundesliga Time”, “Was ist dein Lieblingsfach”, “Das kleine Küken piept” or more recently “Du bist gut genug” out of your head. Maybe you will move to a German speaking country. Maybe you will work for a German company here (Mercedes, Porsche, BMW, Audi…?). Maybe you will meet the love of your life and they are German speaking (if so, please let me know- you know how much Frau loves love!). Maybe you will read some of Luther’s works in his own language, or visit the famous Wittenberg Door where the Reformation began. Who knows where knowing German could take you?!
I never could have predicted the ways that knowing German has enriched my life. I want to thank the staff who are a kind and godly group of people to work with, and I want to thank the students who have shown courage in giving a new language a try. I also want to thank God, the giver of all good things – and many of those good things have come my way because I took a chance on a subject at school that none of my friends were doing, but has become such a core part of who I have become.
Now that my time at Shire has come to an end, I won’t say “Good Bye”- instead I will just say “Auf Wiedersehen” (Until I see you again).
Frau McWhirter
Head of Languages
