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In reply to the discussion: What was your Favorite class in Jr or HS school? We had the disliked, now let;s do the class you couldn't wait to [View all]Aristus
(67,660 posts)I took three years of German classes in high school. For a number of reasons. I was (and still am) a fan of Richard Wagner's operas; and I like listening to them in the original German. I also like and admire Germany, the German people, and German culture. Finally, since until 1,000 years ago, German and English were roughly the same language, there are plenty of similarities between the two to make it relatively easy to learn.
My German teacher was a brilliant educator whose love for the German language and love of teaching were infectious.
His brilliance at teaching us formal as well as idiomatic German paid off years later when I was stationed in Germany with the Army. I made a number of German friends who complimented me on my grasp of the language. I always made sure to credit my teacher for that.
I got back in touch with him on Facebook about ten years ago, and thanked him for helping me learn the language. I told him how much my German friends admired my grasp of the language, and that it contributed to making my time in Germany wonderful and memorable.
He died from Alzheimer's Disease a couple of years ago. His wife posted the notice on his page. I responded with a memorial to him mentioning all the things I wrote above. His wife thanked me for sharing.
He really was a life-changing teacher. I'll always be grateful.