Hooray!  I started German class this week and it was quite a shock to the system.  Although I did German up to A-level, I haven’t spoken it for over ten years, so it was quite daunting to go back into the classroom with a group of “students”, who are actually German teachers at the public school I work in.  They have obviously had more contact with the language than I have recently and so were much more able to communicate their queries to the teacher.  I found that I could understand a fair deal, but struggled to formulate good structures.  However I do feel that I got my point across, so give me a “fantastisch” for communication!

I think the thing that I most enjoyed though was the sensation of being in a classroom where the only language being spoken by the teacher was the target language.  To be honest, I can’t remember whether the classes were like that at school but having since become a teacher of a foreign language, I can now empathise more with my students.  I feel I have a better grasp of what it’s like to sit in the classroom and to get that smile and nod of the head which says, “I get what you’re saying, but I don’t understand every word and I don’t have the language to interject and make comments.”

It’ll come with time…