The individual that I chose for my interview is a 37 year old male who was born and raised in Germany, but presently resides in northern Indiana. He relocated to the United States for work-related reasons. His name is Michael Drue and he is, at this time, married to my first cousin Krisha, a native English speaker, having been born in the United States. I chose Michael as the person of interest for my intercultural interview not only because he is speaks English as a second language, but also because of the point of view he was able to give me regarding the difficulties that language and cultural barriers may present in an interpersonal relationship. When I enquired at what age he was when he started to learn English as his second language,
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When I enquired about what methods were utilized in instructing the German children in learning English as a second language, Michael replied that during the course of the one hour lessons every day, the teacher would talk to the students in English only. He also articulated that the students worked from English textbooks that had been designed specifically for foreign language learners. He said that they learned to become more proficient in English by practicing conversations with their classmates. He did note that their classroom exams over the English that they learned were written tests only and none of the tests were oral proficiency tests. I asked Michael what he felt took the most time regarding learning the English language for him, personally, and he stated that the most difficult concept for him was in learning English present perfect tense. I asked him if English, being rooted in Germanic language also, aided him when it came to comprehending the structure and orientation of words and he said that he was not sure how to answer that question because German and English sentence structure is very similar. I also inquired as …show more content…
He stated that he finds the lack of highly skilled workers in the United States to be one of the most difficult challenges to living in this country. He expounded that Germany is known for their highly skilled workers and that Germans strive for excellence at their jobs regardless of what that job is. He expressed his dismay that in the U. S., it seems to him as if anyone can claim to be “qualified” for a position. He continued on to contend that even American students who study at university do not create the impression that they have an education on par with what German university educated students gain during matriculation in German
When I enquired about what methods were utilized in instructing the German children in learning English as a second language, Michael replied that during the course of the one hour lessons every day, the teacher would talk to the students in English only. He also articulated that the students worked from English textbooks that had been designed specifically for foreign language learners. He said that they learned to become more proficient in English by practicing conversations with their classmates. He did note that their classroom exams over the English that they learned were written tests only and none of the tests were oral proficiency tests. I asked Michael what he felt took the most time regarding learning the English language for him, personally, and he stated that the most difficult concept for him was in learning English present perfect tense. I asked him if English, being rooted in Germanic language also, aided him when it came to comprehending the structure and orientation of words and he said that he was not sure how to answer that question because German and English sentence structure is very similar. I also inquired as …show more content…
He stated that he finds the lack of highly skilled workers in the United States to be one of the most difficult challenges to living in this country. He expounded that Germany is known for their highly skilled workers and that Germans strive for excellence at their jobs regardless of what that job is. He expressed his dismay that in the U. S., it seems to him as if anyone can claim to be “qualified” for a position. He continued on to contend that even American students who study at university do not create the impression that they have an education on par with what German university educated students gain during matriculation in German