BY SWANI VINTON swanivinton@csdecatur.net


Yet, students at Decatur learn a language in an American high school, completely away from the culture of the language they’re studying.


T Te language teachers have found a way


to get around the cultural problem. Recently they began using the Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling curricu- lum (TPRS). Te TPRS curriculum teaches the language without too much focus on hard grammar. Teachers who use TPRS tell


he best way to learn a language is to immerse yourself in the culture,” Spanish teacher Eileen Zack said.


Why teach or learn foreign languages?


Zack: [I learned because] I felt like it would be a useful language in the world. A lot of our closest neighbors speak Spanish. Eickhoff: Learning a different language allows you to learn more about your own language and culture.


What are the benefits of teaching through the TPRS curriculum?


Eickhoff: [Teaching TPRS] helps to put things in context, like, what would I need in a train station, or at a restaurant. What


“Learning a different language allows you to learn more about your own language and culture.


” –Brent Eickhoff, German teacher


stories and give out reading with vocabulary and grammar, but don’t put an emphasis on memorization. The Carpe Diem staff sat down with


foreign language teachers, Eileen Zack (Spanish), Brent Eickhoff (German) and Agnes Wells (French), who learned a second language in America and are now using the TPRS curriculum.


In your opinion, what is the best way to teach a foreign language in school?


Zack: Trough reading. Not only do you learn vocabulary but you learn about the culture. Eickhoff: Te best thing would be to take a group of kids over to Germany, but that’s not very possible.


kind of interactions would someone have? Wells: I think [TPRS] is good because if you go to another country, unless you’re planning on studying there, you want to be able to un- derstand and you’ll want to speak. You might have to read a few things but you’re really not going to be conjugating irregular verbs.


How have American schools changed in terms of teaching foreign language?


Zack: Now we have so many sources to learn about the culture, on the TV and music, and movies. Eickhoff: We don’t shelter the grammar, but we teach like we would to a small child. Wells: I started teaching in 1989 and it was totally book-based. You would do exercises in the book and supplementary worksheets.


Now it’s more vocabulary based. Grammar is important, yet if you get the vocabulary you’re able to communicate even if your grammar is incorrect.


What would help improve the way languages are taught?


Zack: It really helps as a teacher to go visit those countries because you know exactly what kind of things you’ll need to teach. Eickhoff: Te way to really make [learning a language] authentic is when kids walk into the room and you’re teaching literature. Once we make that the goal, kids are going to be basically fluent when they leave here.


What are some of the benefits you’ve enjoyed from of being able to speak a second language?


Zack: [I see benefits] all the time, like walking through airports or at restaurants, somebody always needs assistance. I did social work for a time and was able to use my Spanish skills there. Wells: Some of the experiences I’ve had. Travelling wouldn’t be the same if I had not known how to speak French. Tey would have been a lot more touristic.


What would be your final recommendations for a student to do in order to better master a language?


Zack: You really can’t fully learn a language unless you live in a country where that lan- guage is spoken and you’re forced to speak that language 24/7. Wells: Tere are plenty of language clubs around the city that you can join. Also just speaking with people who are from that country. Eickhoff: Travel. n


DECEMBER 2011 • CARPE DIEM 15


Map courtesy of http://www.mapearth.info


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