Toneatto
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German language student's article in HAWK EYE, Council Rock High School South's Newspaper:
German: Was ist los?
11/21/2015
Left to right: Bundespräsident Joachim Gauck, Frau Schaadt, Mr. Tony Michels (President of The German Society of PA), and Frau Toneatto at the German Society of Pennsylvania.
By Marissa Mangoni
Staff Writer
At the beginning of the school year, German classes received a shockingly low enrollment rate that sent a wave of panic through the community. Although the classes have recovered from it, the situation begs the question—why did German class have such a low enrollment?
“It’s too hard,” reported many students, intimidated by what German may hold for them, despite having never even pursued any form of German education. Many also claim that other language classes were easier, and, as a result, enrolled in said classes. It is further observed that many students enrolled in those classes to be with their friends rather than to absorb the benefits of the class itself.
Mrs. “Frau” Toneatto, graduate from Universität Bayreuth and teacher of German within Council Rock for 14 years, is a very well-known, hardworking figure within the local German language education community. As of recently, she won the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG) Outstanding Educator award.
“It’s really the students that make German class,” said Toneatto. “When you select German over any other language, you have to make it part of your life.”
Toneatto also believes that giving students language opportunities early on in their education will heighten their interests, and perhaps drive them to take their knowledge of their chosen language further than just school.
“It’s not just a language, it’s a lifestyle,” her students say, encouraging the idea that learning a new language should be done willingly and diligently, so as to gain the most from it, rather than for the sake of ease.
One may ask—how does this apply to me? How does German class apply to me? Might that be the case, one needn’t look much further, for the answer lies here.
Germany is one of the most successful and large business environments in Europe as well as one of the top places to receive a college education. In fact, Germany offers free college programs to American students, and holds one of the largest student exchange programs ever established.
Germany is also a very technologically advanced country and provides many extensive opportunities to pursue STEM careers. According to a study conducted by General Electric, Germany is the 2nd most innovative country in the world, the U.S. taking the lead.
On a smaller scale, English is a Germanic language. It is often so that a German student will learn more about the English language through studying German. Many English words are cognates of German.
German is not spoken in just Germany, but many countries, such as Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and even Italy’s South Tyrol—but it doesn’t stop there. It is estimated that around 55 million Europeans speak German as an additional language outside of these territories, according to Dartmouth College, a private university located in New Hampshire.
It is well known that speakers of foreign languages have opportunities at earning larger paychecks and lifetime earnings, but this graph provided by Dartmouth College puts it into perspective. Although it is in Euros, the calculated estimate into U.S. Dollars for the lifetime savings’ of the languages depicted on the graph would be as follows: German, $137612.50, French, $82567.50, the average speaker, $79264.80, and Spanish, $55045.00. $1.10 equals €1.
Germany also offers an entire spectrum of sports-related opportunities, ranging from commonly known sports such as basketball, boxing, baseball, and soccer to obscure ones such as fencing or even auto-racing. They also offer programs in law, finance, journalism, politics, medicine, art, music, film production, and more.
Many local colleges also offer special programs to bilingual students.
Source: Dartmouth College, "Why Study German?", 2015
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