For most American kids in the 1970’s, Saturday mornings meant eating Sugary Cereals while watching cartoons in pajamas. Not for me…every Saturday morning from the time I entered Kindergarten until I went to High School, I ate my Haferflocken (Oatmeal) or gekochtes Ei (soft boiled egg), then headed off to German School (Deutsche Schule).
You see, my parents came here from Germany, and they knew that in order to preserve their culture, and combat sugary American influences, my sister and I needed proper instruction. Besides, how on earth could I send letters to my relatives if I couldn’t write! (German kids learned cursive, and grammar comes very early in the education process).
My Love Hate Relationship with German School
At the time, I loved and hated it. While my friends watched television, played sports, and relaxed, I was reciting “Ich, du, er sie est, wir, ihr, sie…”
We declined sentences, learned grammar and sang songs. We studied the culture. Writing was important, and reading was Wichtig! (In fact, my mother made me read aloud to her in German for 15 minutes every evening). Learning the language so that we could speak to our Omas and Opas was imperative. There was no option.
And, believe me, there was no fooling around. The teachers were primarily German women who either knew my parents, or had no hesitation at all about calling my mother to tell her how I was goofing off in class. German School cost money, we do not waste money. There was no fooling around! It was three hours of “der, die, das, dem, der, dem, den” instead of Scooby Doo.
School on Saturday??
It ended up being one of the best things that could have happened to me.
This was a time before college resume building, so the kids at the school were all just children of immigrants like me. We had a secret language. It was the one place I wasn’t teased for wearing leather shoes instead of sneakers. It was a place where my bulky leather Schultornister (school bag) didn’t make me look like a dork. We had Christmas pageants that brought tears to our parent’s eyes.
So, while my American friends were playing in pee wee basketball leagues, my German friends and I were singing, “Mein Vater war ein Wandersman…”.
I think I came out ahead.
What a wonderful gift it is to have a second language. Vielen Dank Mama und Papa.
Check this list for a local German Saturday School or Immersion program–>German Schools in America
German Workbooks to Study at Home
German for Children with Two Audio CDs, Third Edition
Cool Kids Speak German – Book 1: Enjoyable activity sheets, word searches & colouring pages in German for children of all ages (German Edition)
German Grammar (Quick Study Academic) [5/31/2014] Ph.D. Listen PaulGerman Verbs: A Quickstudy Language Reference Guide (English and German Edition)
![German Grammar (Quick Study Academic) [5/31/2014] Ph.D. Listen Paul](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51RRpqcZJwL.jpg)
As a Cuban girl in America who arrived in1961,this site echoes many of the experiences I went through… with a German twist.
I currently have my younger son stationed near Nürnberg. He found out we actually have a few German ancestors from the Cologne area who wound up in Cuba. He has many wonderful German friends and a German girlfriend, so anything I learn is a bonus. I’ve visited Germany 3 times so far, and love it more every time I go!!
German School for me in the post-war 1950’s was the basement of a German Lutheran Church on Detroit’s east side. It was hit or miss but I gained the confidence to answer in German when spoken to in German. I learned to read German and and greatly expanded my “Küchen Deutsch vocabulary. I felt confident enough to apply to spending my junior year of college in Germany–talk about jumping in with both feet! But the best part was that every Saturday morning we gathered around the piano and sang German songs. Folk songs, occasional Schlager. Carols at Christmas, &c. We had a series of Song Books that I wish I still had today.
I have such wonderful memories… even if I may have resented it at the time
My father came over in 1925, he married my mom and brought her over in 1956ish. It was not popular to be German during WWII. They did not teach us German. I loved your article. I am now in my 50s and am trying hard to learn, so that I can talk to my cousins in Germany.
It is hard… but even a little is better than none.
It was the exception to go to German school at all, let alone on Saturdays while I lived on an Army post in Stuttgart in the ’60s, first through sixth grades, including Gymnasium. Now I am forever grateful, as I learned another language well, and the German culture alongside. To this day, I use the Handarbeit lessons: embroidery, crocheting and knitting. Handarbeit teaches patience, a project may take weeks. Fifty minute art classes in American school don’t. I had a great teacher in third and forth grade: Fraeulein Krell took us all over Stuttgart using public transportation to see many cultural and natural offerings. Thank goodness I can watch German television from the US: ZDF.de, u.a.
I wondered how it worked for kids on American military base… thank you!