It’s one thing to study a foreign language in class, but an entirely different experience when put in a situation you’re expected to speak nothing but that language.
For four days, that was how life went for ConVal seniors Rachel Cass and Alyssa Janoch, and juniors Finn Wegmueller and Max Heck. The four German Level 4 students were chosen to attend the PASCH Triathlon in Colorado at the end of September, put on by the Goethe-Institut, where more than 50 students from 13 schools across the country gathered for the German immersion weekend.
“I think the goal of the whole trip was for students to have a positive experience with German and we had that,” Janoch said.
The cost of the trip was entirely covered by PASCH – a program ConVal was accepted into in May. Hodgdon didn’t find out about the trip until August, but since the school district had not signed the contract with PASCH yet, she wasn’t able to check with any students until after school was back in session. And with the weekend planned for the end of September, she had very little time to determine which students should represent the school.
She brainstormed with ConVal’s other German teacher, Elizabeth Concannon, about which students would be great ambassadors for the school and their German program. Cass, Janoch, Wegmueller and Heck were the first four asked, and took little time saying yes.
“It was kind of a no brainer,” Janoch said. “Why wouldn’t you want to put yourself out there and try to speak German.”
From the moment the students got in the car to head to the airport, Hodgdon had an expectation that they would speak German. Once in Colorado, they’d have to do the same so why wait to begin what was an incredible learning opportunity.
“Considering there were 52 kids there that aren’t native speakers, they probably spoke about 90 percent German,” Hodgdon said.
Sure, the students speak to each other in German during class, in the hallways after and even to their families (Wegmueller’s father is from Germany and fluent in the language), but this would be something totally different. This would be every day life – they played mini golf, went hiking and roller skating, roomed with students from other schools and ate meals in big groups.
“We just talked about whatever,” Heck said. “The only difference was the language was German.”
The students competed in activities like an obstacle course that featured wheelbarrow races and the crab walk, while correcting German grammar and spelling at stations in between.
“You had to look for other ways to communicate too,” Wegmueller said.
And while the activities and challenges were a chance to learn, so was just being around other students learning the same language. Even teachers from the other schools presented new opportunities, as Janoch noticed different phrasing being used.
Cass also learned something new that she’s been using quite often: das ist komisch.
For those of you non-German speakers out there, the phrase translates to “that is weird.” Prior to the trip, Cass thought komisch meant crazy, so when she heads to Austria in April for a 10-day trip to connect with Austrian students who are actually visiting ConVal for more than two weeks right now, she’ll know how to use it correctly – and many other words and phrases she picked up in Colorado.
“It definitely gave me more confidence in my German,” Cass said.
For Wegmueller, since he has family in Germany, the more he learns the better.
“When I visit, I’d like to be able to communicate with them,” he said. “So I plan to use German somehow for the rest of my life.”
After the trip, Janoch is now thinking about continuing her German studies in college.
“Language in general is just a really cool concept,” she said.
There are 200 school world wide that are part of the PASCH program, which is funded by the German government and Goethe-Institut to “promote German language and culture around the world,” Hodgdon said. And with its inclusion, it allows ConVal students tremendous opportunities to make connections around the world.
“A lot of the trip wasn’t just about speaking German, but about making connections with students and schools from around the country,” Wegmueller said.
Being part of the program will let two students to take part in a three-week immersion trip to Germany this summer and another two to go to a week-long summer camp in Oregon.
“The opportunities it affords the students is incredible,” Hodgdon said. “And it’s an honor to be one of the schools accepted.”
On Dec. 5, ConVal will host a reception that will officially recognize its acceptance in the PASCH program.