FHS German Holds Its Own Against State Competion

Despite falling enrollment, German classes at are making their mark at statewide competitions.

The classes recently competed at University of Michigan’s annual German Day festivities and presented a series of skits. The German 3 class skit, a German-themed sportscast, won first place, while the German 2 class won second place.

It’s pretty typical for the German class to do well at the event, said German teacher Cathy Brady. She’s been taking her class there for several years and has it written into the curriculum, and gets funding from the for a bus to take the students there and back.

One big benefit is to get the whole class involved in a project. The U of M German department issues a theme or topic every year in December – this year it was sports -- and the students spend the next few months coming up with skits that reflect the theme and show off their knowledge of German. Some kids perform, some write the script, and some create scenery for the skit.

“It offers opportunities to kids to make a discovery about themselves or do something they maybe wouldn’t normally do,” Brady said. “It gives them a chance to be part of a team, fit in and really contribute – we try and tap into kids’ different talents.”

For student James Forsyth, just being on a  college campus was fun and worthwhile. “U of M is such a cool, giant, place to be and having to figure out where to go is a little difficult,” he said. “But that is just part of the experience, getting lost in town. It was really, really fun. I love the U of M campus and can't wait to go next year.”

U of M’s Department of Germanic Languages and Literature conceived German Day as a way to keep interest in German instruction alive and well – something that serves students of the language.

In Ferndale, interest in German and French is declining – this year there are only three levels of German classes and two levels of French. One reason for that while Spanish is offered starting in fourth grade, German and French are only offered at the high school level. That means many students choose to continue with Spanish instead of adding a new language when they reach high school. “I had to go to middle school and recruit,” Brady said. “It’s kind of a struggle to maintain numbers in the courses we offer.”

Incoming ninth graders this fall will need to complete two credits of foreign language instruction as part of the Michigan Merit Curriculum for high school. They can test out if they have had language instruction sometime in kindergarten through eighth grade. Stephanie Hall, director of community relations for Ferndale Public Schools, said world languages are not a requirement currently at Ferndale High School, although University High School students take four years of Spanish. They will follow the state guidelines when they kick in in the fall, she added.

Brady said that she would encourage any student to study German, although it can be a challenging language. English is a Germanic language with several similar words, so the vocabulary is easy to pick up, and it’s the most widely spoken language in Europe. “Germany and German-speaking countries are highly technically advanced in terms of the environment, so if they are interested in working on sustainability or energy, there are a lot of reasons why, for their future, they might want to study German,” Brady said.