Earlier this evening I received the incredibly sad news that the man who introduced me to the German language back in those year 7 lessons has passed away. It has come as a shock to the whole community due to him being so young but it has also made me stop and think about the impact he has had on my life.
I distinctly remember being incredibly annoyed that I would be taking German lessons instead of French lessons (we had no choice) until I stepped foot in that classroom. As soon as I met my teacher I knew that it didn't matter what language he was teaching me, we would have fun doing so anyway. Like most people, my misconceptions that German is an 'ugly' language etc etc were strong, until he proved them all wrong. While he only taught me for a year, that year without a doubt had an impact on my perspective of German. He taught me that languages in general are, surprisingly, fun and that it doesn't have to be just sitting down and copying things out over and over again. Rarely a lesson passed by that something wasn't thrown across the classroom in some vocab learning game or another and, to his credit, we all listened because of his unique approach.
His time as a teacher was tragically short, but the number of people who are talking about him and are affected by his death speaks volumes. He impacted so many people, whether academically or through his ability to just understand people, and truly will be missed.
I'm sad that I never got to tell him that I am pursuing German to degree level starting in September, but I will always be thankful for the fantastic head start he gave me.
Lucy x
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