Do any highly rated DC public middle schools offer German?
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Anonymous
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Sadly, German is offered at fewer and fewer schools every year in the US.
I believe there is only one high school in all of MCPS that offers German at this point. The German International School (in Potomac) offers Saturday school if your kid really wants to learn German. |
Anonymous
| Appreciate this thread and wonder if there are any updates since 2019. Particularly with SWW. My understanding - Waldorf School (private) offers German starting in middle school. WIS allows one the option to study it via tutorial starting in 10th grade. I think Wilson with some permission and planning may allow a student to pursue it. Same with BCC's IB program (with permission). Any additional or updated information would be appreciated. |
Anonymous
Why not just sign up for classes outside of school? They’re probably better and you can tailor to your level/ what you need. (I’ve personally found high school languages classes to be unhelpful for actually learning to speak a language but learned two on my own as an adult…. but that’s just me) |
Anonymous
| I've asked at Goethe Institute in the past since our kid was interested in German, but they didn't have classes for children. I don't think that has changed. I still don't know of any place in the area with German for kids, aside from the Potomac option. |
Anonymous
| Spanish or Mandarin are more useful for their careers. |
Anonymous
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I’ve learned plenty of German and found I never had a use for it. I visited Germany where I have ancestry, Switzerland where I have family, and have never had any reason for it to do anything but atrophy after that.
In the end utility is the name of the game. |
Anonymous
So you briefly visited a couple German speaking countries and then ceased interaction with any German communities and have concluded there is no reason to learn German now? Okay. While I agree that Spanish and then French have more broad utility as second languages for Americans, there are lots of reasons to learn German, including any plans to work or study not just in Germany but also Austria or Switzerland. Others may want it to preserve cultural heritage or to pursue studies in German literature or arts. There are many people with German heritage in this area. Additionally, Germany is the de facto leader of Europe since Brexit and has major geopolitical significance, which only increases with Russian aggression and continuing disquiet in the Mid East. It also hosts the largest installation of US military troops outside the US. So while it is not a language everyone needs to learn, it is a language some people need to learn. I know more people who speak Italian than German and Italian is a beautiful language but less valuable than German. |
Anonymous
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The German school in Potomac, Maryland offers Saturday classes from 9-11:30. Most German families go there. I don’t know if any that use the Goethe Institut.
If your child doesn’t speak German and wants to learn, they do offer German for beginners and adult classes. The children classes are mostly geared towards native speakers or kids who have at least one native speaking parent looking for the Deutsches Spachdiplom (DSD). The website is giswashington dot org. |
Anonymous
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OK "search for German-speakers in the metro area who don't speak decent English" isn't a use case.
I would have loved my German to translate into something. I seriously have a German-speaking grandmother, another swiss-german speaking grandmother, did a semester in Berlin, have visited Switzerland multiple times, and even did a summer there during law school. It just doesn't help unless you keep it in active use. If you're planning on long-term travel to a German-speaking country, you've got a use case. It's hard to squint to see many others. |
Anonymous
| When your student is in high school you can look into dual enrollment programs that would let them study at a local college or university. Guidance counselors will have the info. |
Anonymous
| A few years ago Jefferson offered German. Not sure if they still do, or if you consider Jefferson "highly rated" by your standards. |
Anonymous
I don’t speak German but this. Also it’s much easier to keep abreast and use the language when you are exposed to it and hear it regularly in your town. In North America, except maybe Canada, that is Spanish. I don’t speak any Spanish but I can tell you just living in DC, I hear it all the time and being in a professional service industry, it would have been invaluable to learn and know it. DH’s stepmom is fluent in German. She lived and worked there for about 1/3rd of her life. Doesn’t use it at all outside of living in Germany. |
Anonymous
| No siree bob. German is a dead language my friend |
Anonymous
| I have to agree with PPs that the juice isn’t worth the squeeze with German. I worked hard to reach a high level of fluency and it hasn’t really been useful aside from a couple translation monkey projects at work. |
Anonymous
| Walls doesn’t offer German any longer. It was a few families who really pushed for it and the HSA paid for a teacher. But that was pre-pandemic and there just isn’t interest to offer German- or the funding/utility of other languages. |