Precerpt from My 20th Language: L6, German

 


 

I was still in high school when I began the study of my sixth language—German. I did not choose German so much as following the only open path. Our high school offered only three languages. I was already taking classes in French and Latin. The third language was German, and being a future linguist—I knew that from a very young age—signing up for the German course was a no-brainer.

German was my first non-Romance language, but English is a Germanic language. So, much of the way German worked was familiar, at least on a subconscious level. My German was immensely helped by my 8th grade English teacher, who had been a stickler for grammar, especially diagramming sentences. Schools may no longer teach that, but they should. It provides a strong basis for both writing English and for learning other languages as it makes explicit the nature of grammar, and thus, the nature of meaning in all languages. I have always been grateful for that English class.

German may have started as the option of no choice. However, in my life it became an option that presented me with many choices—and opportunities.


For more precerpts from My 20th Language, click HERE.

For more posts about language learning, click HERE.


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