Q: HOW DID YOU GET INTO GERMAN?

A: I studied in Germany and got my Ph.D. but in a related field in teaching. But when I met my husband we immediately moved to Mexico right after our wedding. When I finished my Ph.D. in Mexico I started teaching and I loved it. I didn’t know I would like it so much. I never thought I would be a teacher. I liked it so much that when we traveled to the United States I decided to go into teaching full time and decided to teach at the University of Richmond. And when I moved to New Jersey which was about 20 years ago, I decided to go to apply to high school secondary schools as well as a university so I’ve been doing both pretty much for the last 20 years full time at Churchill and at the high school.

Q: WHEN DID YOU LEARN ENGLISH?

A: In German schools, you start learning your first foreign language usually at the age of 10 and it’s great. And then we added more languages so I added French and Latin throughout high school. It is the idea of the European Union that every student living in the European Union becomes fluent in at least 2 foreign languages.

Q: WHAT ARE SOME STRUGGLES THAT STUDENTS ENCOUNTER WHILE LEARNING GERMAN?

A: English comes from German or German dialect originally, hundreds of years ago. This helps because the 2 languages being Germanic languages are related but I do think that the grammar can be challenging for students. However, I do think that that goes for every language.  As soon as you go through the first year or 2 you realize it’s much more complex if you really want to have a conversation now to express more complex thoughts.

Q: HOW CAN LEARNING GERMAN HELP STUDENTS IN LIFE?

A: I think German is a great pathway to many professions and many areas of many disciplines. It is essential for some studies in any stem area because there’s just so much engineering and research done in German-speaking countries that students who know a little bit of Germany will definitely have an advantage. There are also many different German-based companies or Austrian and Swiss German-speaking companies in this area having over 300 in just the metropolitan area where students could get an internship.

As one of the foreign language teachers here in East Brunswick High School Mrs. Franco is determined to teach students about German and the cultures that the country has, wishing that her students understands why learning a new language is so great while making the experience fun and enjoyable for all.