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• Did you grow up speaking this language? Or were you inspired by a trip abroad, an individual or a certain aspect of the culture?

  German is my native language. I grew up in Eastern Germany, studied five years in the Czech Republic and then went back to Germany for more studies and work. While not living in Germany anymore, I'm still very interested in the cultural and political development in Germany and visit regularly to see family and friends.

• Can you name a living, historical or fictional character that you think is the emblematic representative of the language's culture?

  Not easy to choose! Maybe, for me personally, I found the author Hermann Hesse had a big influence on my love for language. I remember devouring his books as a teenager, fascinated by his way of storytelling and bringing a message across as well as the absolutely beautiful language.

• Is there a typical word, phrase, tradition or expression in the language that you particularly like?

  German has a lot of wonderful expressions, idioms and sayings, many of which are a regular discussion topic in my lessons. But a very typical one is the phrase "Alles in Ordnung?" which translates to the English "Everything in order?". We use this question to ask whether somebody is alright when we are worried about them. I find it a bit funny to use the word "Ordnung" here but it shows a traditional love for things being orderly resp. things must be out of order when something is wrong.

• Why does speaking this language matter to you?

  As much as I love living in Australia and exploring foreign cultures, my native language is part of my identity. I brought up my children bilingually, I enjoy reading books in German and watching movies and I'm genuinely interested in the evolution of the German language through modern influences such as migration.

• What is the main difficulty in learning this language and what can help the process of learning?

  German grammar is definitely a bit of a challenge and not using the right grammar can change the meaning of a sentence, so you will not be understood at all or people will misunderstand you. But learning the rules from the beginning in a step-by-step approach in the context of interesting subject areas will lay a good foundation and set you up for success.

• Provide a valuable anecdote related to your language learning or your days at school.

  I started learning Mandarin last year, partly to be able to better relate to my students. And it has indeed reminded me of how much repetition is needed to memorise new vocab, have me try out different approaches and apps, so I feel in a much more informed position to give valuable advice to my students.

• How has travel or a specific trip helped you to increase your skill and knowledge of the language?

  In the case of German, my regular visits to Germany help me to stay up to date with the spoken language, popular slang and recent developments.
  In the case of Mandarin, I recently took advantage of my location independence and spent three months in Taiwan. That gave me an opportunity to try out what I have learned so far and be immersed in the language. To be honest, quite a humbling experience 😅.