Bericht aus den USA
Der Bericht einer ehemaligen Schülerin unseres Gymnasiums aus einer bilingualen Klasse, die ein Jahr als Austauschschülerin in den USA verbracht hat.
Bilingual lessons and why you need them!
When I decided to take bilingual classes in seventh grade, I just knew that I loved the English language and I enjoyed speaking it. In fact I wasn't very good at pronunciation but I saw a good opportunity to improve my English with the help of bilingual classes.
It is true my English did improve and I think the Biology and Geography lessons would be a little less interesting if they weren't in English. I don't regret at all having had to go two periods a week more to school in order to get this experience.
Now, I am in the USA and I study Biology as well. The school system is very different from the one in Germany and in the first couple of weeks I couldn't understand my Economics and my US History class. It was very hard. Well, I made a lot of friends and I enjoyed myself but it is a lot more enjoyable when you feel that you are doing good at school. I was doing good in Biology from the beginning on. I was lucky that the first two chapters were about things we had already spoken about in Germany. In addition, I could participate during the periods because I knew the words from my bilingual Biology class in Germany. That made it so much easier for me. I could help other students if they had problems, which was good, because is there an easier way to get to know people than by offering help when they are totally lost?
So when I look back in time now I think it was the best decision I could have made to take bilingual classes at our school in Alfeld.
Now as I have been in the USA for two months, I understand what the teacher says and it is really cool when you speak about agriculture in Califonia at school and you, as the German exchange student, can say something about that subject because you learned something about it back in Germany.
Including all these aspects, you should really think about going to a bilingual class, even if you are not planning to go to an English-speaking country. You will have more knowledge in this language as others have at your age and this is quite cool, isn't it?
Best wishes from America,
Kristina
