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Daniel Milde Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1103 08/29/13 The Lord Principle rom m! earl! !ears o" high school some o" the hardest sub#ects a$ailable %ere "oreign languages& or the a$erage teenager it #ust %asn't necessar! to learn a ne% language because e$er!one else in the %orld needed English to do business& (he o$erall apath! o" pre$ious students led me to belie$e that language studies %ould be a di""icult and boring path& )egardless o" %hether one deemed it necessar! or not though* it %as a re+uirement o" school to complete at least t%o !ears o" a language* a "act that the students resented and hoped to a$oid& ,tarting out "reshman !ear I had a choice o" -erman* ,panish* or rench* but at the time each option seemed pointless& .n a %ild "anc! I decided on -erman and enrolled in the course* completel! una%are o" the amount o" people "ailing the class& (he "irst da! o" class I arri$ed prepared to learn* but I %as completel! surprised b! the atmosphere the teacher created& /s I %al0ed into the room* m! teacher* a short man %ith a %ide grin on his "ace* e1pressed e1citement and enthusiasm* immediatel! li$ening up the classroom %hich I had e1pected to be dull and $oid o" interaction& .n the board he had %ritten his name2 3err 3ablut4el& I "igured it "or a strange sounding name* but I %asn't one to #udge* so I let it be& 53err6 had placed multiple di""erent pictures on the board %ith each one depicting some random logo or product& /s the bell rang I too0 m! seat and set m!sel" up "or the sheer torture that surel! a%aited me& ,hortl! a"ter 53err6 approached the board to introduce himsel"& I must not ha$e been the onl! one to +uestion the credulit! o" his name*

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because no sooner than he had spo0en his name had a do4en hands shot up& 7uic0l! reali4ing %hat had happened* 53err6 enlightened us& /s it turns out* 53err6 is the -erman %ord "or 5Mr&6* and his actual name %as Deron& (he unanimous 5ahhh6 o" understanding +uic0l! per$aded the room& ,ubconsciousl! %e had all agreed that 53err6 %as much easier to remember and "rom then on that's %hat %e called him& /n!%a!s* a"ter this moment o" con"usion he addressed the class and as0ed 5Class %hat do !ou see here on the board8 9hat stands out about all these images86 (he class ans%ered him %ith blan0 stares& I $entured to guess that each item had something to do %ith -erman* but I %asn't sure ho%& 5Each o" these images belongs to a -erman compan!6 he responded as i" in agreement %ith m! thoughts& 5Man! o" the e$er!da! items !ou use no% happen to be produced b! -erman companies&6 as he spo0e* the slide "lipped through page a"ter o$er"illed page o" images& Cars* shoes* planes* art%or02 more things than I had e$er reall! considered& :age a"ter page I sa% actors* politicians* musicians* and "amous historical "igures2 people and names that I had gro%n up hearing about& It slo%l! da%ned on me that this %hole culture and language encompassed much o" m! li"e alread! be"ore I had done an!thing& (his moment o" reali4ation struc0 me di""erentl! than it must ha$e "or m! classmates* because I "ound m!sel" as0ing more and more +uestions that da!& 9hat does 5;ol0s%agen6 mean8 3o% about the <re%eries in -erman!* ho% man! o" those are "amous8 <e"ore class ended* I learned some o" m! "irst -erman %ords& 3app! birthda!* and the months o" the !ear soon became the accumulation o" m! -erman $ocabular!* but that %as enough "or me& /s the school !ear progressed I began to loo0 "or%ard to -erman class* e1cited to see %hat I %ould learn the ne1t class period* %hat ne% statements and %ords I could add to m! arsenal& It became a sort o" game bet%een m! classmates and I as to %ho could use the most di$erse %ords in comple1 sentences& /s it turns out* the pet name %e had pic0ed "or our teacher

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%asn't original& In "act* most students had ta0en up +uir0 o" calling him 53err6* %hich he seemed to en#o! immensel! "or no particular reason at all& /s he later pointed out to me* 53err6 has t%o meanings& It means both 5Mr&6 as I had learned at "irst* but it also means 5=ord6& 3a$ing no particular a""init! "or the language* this tidbit o" in"ormation spar0ed m! true interest in the language* leading me to en#o! the subtle +uir0s o" %hat I "igured %as a guttural and disgusting language& /lthough I en#o!ed the language* I seemed to do +uite poorl! at "irst %ith the grammar and memori4ation& I slo%l! became "rustrated* constantl! %orr!ing about ho% I %ould pass each test and e1am& .ne da! I approached 53err6 a"ter class* deciding that I %as "ed up %ith tr!ing to impro$e b! m!sel"& 59hat am I doing %rong6 I blurted out& I %asn't impro$ing& I %asn't learning& I %asn't getting better& <ut secretl! I thought: I'm #ust a%"ul& I'm distracted& I'm hopeless& 3e #ust loo0ed at me %ith ponderous e!es at "irst* as i" to sa! 5I don't "ull! understand6* and sighed aloud& 5Daniel6 he said a"ter a moment o" silence& 5>our problem isn't !our %or0 ethic* or !our grammar issues&6 3e shu""led his "eet and then stared directl! into m! e!es* and %hat I at "irst thought %as con"usion I reali4ed %as understanding& 5>ou need to "ocus on pushing !oursel" Daniel& (he a$erage student #ust studies e$er! no% and again* but to reall! stand out !ou can't be complacent %ith !oursel"&6 5 >ou ha$e to set a goal "or !oursel"* and pursue it&6 I le"t "eeling %orse than %hen I had arri$ed& I "elt li0e the %orld %as turned around* and that e$er!thing reall! %as m! "ault& (his language %hich had brought me such #o! and e1citement had le"t me discouraged& I %anted to stand out "rom m! classmates& I %anted to get better& <ut %as that enough8 /t home I sat do%n and thought out m! priorities* a culmination o" e$er!thing I deemed important at the time& I 0ne% I had to set time aside each da! to practice m! $ocabular!* e$en i" onl! "or a "e% minutes 2 something that I %asn't doing at the time& I also

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started anal!4ing each %ord* tr!ing to de"ine it b! its roots and su""i1es be"ore "inding the actual de"inition& (his "ocused time period and %a! o" thin0ing %ould pro$e help"ul in m! ne1t "e% !ears o" -erman class* because it ga$e me time to appreciate this uni+ue language %ith its subtle Idioms and phrases& I soon "ound m!sel" remembering %hat I studied* and slo%l! m! grades impro$ed& It %asn't an altogether 5instant cure6* but it %as a start and a"ter some practice* I became signi"icantl! better at -erman* e$en earning an / "or m! "irst semester& /"ter this period o" enlightenment* I decided to stic0 %ith the language* going on to stud! the e+ui$alent o" "our more !ears o" instruction& (hroughout that time I embraced the languages distinct sound* soa0ed in the culture* and e$en #ammed out to some -erman pop music& (o this da! I still en#o! the -erman language and culture* "inding di""erent abstract uses "or m! 0no%ledge in e$er!da! li"e& In the "uture I %ant to tra$el to -erman! or /ustria as much as I can* and I e$en plan on earning a minor in the language in school& /nd it's all than0s to the little man %ith a grin&