AIRA has added the German class in Foreign Language Classes for the current fiscal year. (No 20-7)
Date & Time : Sep. 19 (Sat.) 2020, 11:30 ~
Venue : Meeting Room 1 of The Abiko Civic Plaza
AIRA has six Foreign Language Classes, adding the German class to the existing five classes, namely English, Chinese, French, Korean, and Spanish.
The German class was initially opened as “German Salon” because the number of applicants not enough to open a class. In April, 2014, an orientation meeting was held for those who were interested in studying German. A native German taught the “German Salon” from May 17 to the end of FY 2019. The salon was held 1 to 2 times a month during the period.
Starting the German class was delayed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The long-waited class was opened on July 18 on 3-times per month basis. The teacher is Ms. BILIK* Eva. On the day AIRA reporters visited the class, 10 out of 13 students were studying German, using a news article about the newly formed SUGA Yoshihide cabinet. They read the article and the teacher gave explanations and interpretations.
(*family names come first in Hungary, the same as in Japan)
The teacher, Eva is from Hungary, a German-Hungarian. She started to study German from the first grade of an elementary school. She studied German and Biology at university to become a teacher. She worked in Germany for 7 years after her graduation from university. Having got married to a Japanese man, she came to Japan in 2002 for the first time in her life with him because he was transferred back to Japan. She, who was a total stranger in Japanese at that time, has a good command of Japanese at present.
The students have their own motivations to study German: to want to make a trip to the country, to have stationed there in the past, to have lived there for 5 years and others. It is certain that all of them are keenly interested in German culture, society, and life.
Möchten Sie gemeinsam Deutsch lernen? (Would you like to learn German together?)
（ Translated by Ms.Hitomi Koyama）
