Prep always expects excellence from its students, but when students go above and beyond expectations, they deserve recognition. Three students in Mr. Daeschner’s German class have reached those expectations and surpassed them after taking the National German Test.
The National German Test has been offered at Prep for several years, and students taking German have consistently done excellent on it. This year, three students received scores worthy of recognition, scoring in the 90th percentile or above. Those students are: Evan Fritzke, 98th percentile; Nick Ng, 93rd percentile; and Noah Michaelson, 91st percentile. The test is composed of 45 oral questions and 55 reading questions, which are the raw score. That raw score is then made into a percentile. I was able to ask a couple questions to each of these students, in English of course, and see how their time in German has been.
Each student said that they knew about the German program beforehand; Ng and Michaelson said they were interested in German culture before taking the class, and Fritzke said his brother took it so he thought it was the “most interesting language offered at Prep.” Since taking German, each said that the class helped them out in other areas of school as well, from learning the roots of many English words to improving grammar. They are also able to converse with other German students and international students.
In addition, all three said that they were extremely proud of themselves and their classmates for doing so well on the test. In addition to getting this recognition, students scoring over the 90th percentile are eligible for a three-week trip to Germany. On this trip they would stay with a host family, attend a German school, and travel around Germany. Nick Ng was lucky enough to experience this trip last year after scoring in the 99th percentile, and this year Evan and Noah are eligible to apply for the trip.
Mr. Daeschner spoke highly of having Evan, Nick, and Noah in class. “Heaven,” is the first thing he had to say. He said that he doesn’t feel like he has to push them because each of them is self-motivated. On the flip side, each student said that Mr. Daeschner was the perfect person to teach German, and while he expects a lot, the level of education he gives to his students is unmatched.
While learning any language is not easy, Mr. Daeschner said the toughest part of learning German is the grammar. “German is a scientific language in that there are rules and formulas for the grammar concepts,” says Mr. Daeschner. However, it is one of the easiest languages to learn how to read because every letter in a word is pronounced. And just like learning any other languages, the person needs to have an open mind and have good memorization skills.
So, why should students should take German? “If someone is interested in really learning a language, German is their best shot,” said Fritzke. Both Mr. Daeschner and Ng brought up the economic power Germany holds and how learning German could be a benefit if a student is planning on working with international companies. Mr. Daeschner also said that German, after English and Spanish, is the third most spoken language in the United States.
Mr. Daeschner also would like to add that he is, “thankful for the 47 years of students I have taught that are willing to learn German. I am thankful for the wonderful groups of students over the years. Without them, the success on the National Tests wouldn’t be possible.”