El Día de los Santos Inocentes

Christmas in Spain gets off to a rather peculiar and unofficial start on Dec. 22^nd with the Lotería de Navidad, which is likely the most followed Spanish lottery during the entire year. In Spain, when you hear the melodic sounds of the prize draw on the radio, you think: “Christmas time has arrived".

After the celebration of economic good fortune, Dec. 24^th is Christmas Eve (Nochebuena in Spanish), which is a family celebration in which Spaniards often gather around a table loaded with exquisite delicacies to have dinner together. Many Christians also attend the Misa del Gallo, a mass service offered at midnight on the 24^th during which Christmas carols are sung and accompanied by traditional instruments such as the zambomba (a type of seasonal drum), the carraca (a ratchet-like noisemaker), the tambourine, and of course the guitar. Contrarily to many countries, Spain do not really celebrate Santa Claus this day.

Another special day that comes around during Christmas time is Dec. 28^th, the “Día de los Santos Inocentes The Day of the Innocents observes the day when, according to the Gospel of Matthew in the Bible, King Herod ordered the baby boys under 2 years old in Bethlehem to be killed because he was afraid that the baby Jesus born there would become a rival. As it turned out, though, the baby Jesus had been taken away to Egypt by Mary and Joseph. So the "joke" was on Herod, and thus followed the tradition of tricking friends on that day. (This is a sad story to be sure, but according to tradition the babies murdered in Jesus' stead went to heaven as the first Christian martyrs.)

While Christmas Eve is a family celebration, New Year’s Eve (called Nochebuena in Spanish) is a time for partying with friends. It is a night for throwing fiestas called “cotillones” or for gathering in town squares under the old clock tower waiting in anxious anticipation for it to strike twelve. According to tradition, observers must wolf down 12 grapes at this time to guarantee good fortune for the New Year. Afterward, excited revelers often offer toasts to the New Year with glasses of cava. The festive spirit continues until the wee hours of the early morning and January 1^st is a day of rest for those who have partied away the last night of the old year.

On Jan. 5^th, many make their way to their favorite bakeries to order a Roscón de Reyes (a ring-shaped cake eaten on Jan. 6^th). Much more than a day for sweet traditions, the main focus here is on the kids, as parades roll through town in which the Reyes Magos (three kings) and their pages shower candy over delighted children. After all the high emotions, nervous kids will have a tough time falling asleep that night, particularly because the following morning is the feast day of the epiphany when the three kings will traditionally arrive from the east to leave gifts for the well-behaved.

Who is Christkindl?

Contrarily to many countries, Santa Claus does not bring the presents to German kids. The Christkind (sometimes known affectionately as Christkindl) is traditional German giver of gifts at Christmas and he is normally depicted as an angelic figure with blond hair and wings.If you are a German child, the 24th of December will be very exciting! The Christkind brings children their Geschenke(presents) on December 24^th and leaves them underneath the Weihnachtsbaum (Christmas tree). Parents tell their children that the Christkind won’t come if they try to spot him. He is not meant to be seen! Sometimes parents will secretly ring a bell to announce the arrival or departure of the Christkind, after which the children go running to find their presents.

You must be asking yourself why Germans do not celebrate Santa Claus! Here the explanation: Santa Claus originated as a Catholic figure while the Christkind was created by Protestants.

The Christkind was created during the reformation, in 16th and 17th century Europe, when Martin Luther wanted to de-emphasize the previous Catholic celebration of Saint Nicholas on December 6th, and invent a new celebration for the Protestants. This was because he did not want a Catholic saint (St. Nicholas – who we know today as Santa Claus) bringing Protestant children their gifts. Hence, the Christkind was born and would be in charge of bringing gifts on December 24th, the last day of Advent.

As Europe became more secular, the Protestant Christkind and Catholic St. Nicholas began to cross over. St. Nicholas became a secularized version of himself, now known in Germany as der Weihnachtsmann (“The Christmas man”), celebrated regardless of religion. Meanwhile, the Christkind transformed from a suggestion of Baby Jesus into a blonde, female angel.

Learning a Language! Necessity? Dream? Hobby? Passion?

Why do we Google on our search engines “Will learning Spanish/ French improve my resume”? Or “Looking for Spanish Classes around Indiranagar/Koramangala?

There has definitely been a steep rise over the past few years where in people from all walks of life have come forward and expressed a desire to learn a new language. Be it a 12 year old girl whose parents want her to start young or a 35 year executive who is getting a chance to travel abroad and needs to get in touch with his language side or a 65 year old man who wants to try something new and get back into action, everyone wants to learn and explore. And I was one of them, just out of college with a degree in computers and a job in the one of the top MNC’s, busy finding my groove. I did not want to get stuck in the 9 to 5 job so I basically never took up that offer and wandered around. As life throws various opportunities at you, it did, at me too. I joined one of the News channels in Bangalore but somehow that too did not last that long. And one fine day, going through the paper I saw an advertisement seeking young and dynamic people to apply as an Administrator at a Language School called IFLaC. And that’s how I bumped into this Language Institute and the relationship with them has lasted over the years. Run by two dynamic women, Mrs. Umita Melwani and Mrs. Sandy Mirpuri, IFLaC, Institute of Foreign Language and Culture, aims at providing an out of the world experience when it comes to learning European Languages. IFLaC had opened my doors to German, French, Italian and the one that I eventually picked up Spanish, and it was the first time I got to understand the true meaning of learning a language. The school boasts at providing the best, be it in terms of teachers and their study material or the ambience and their out of the box activities which makes learning all the more interesting and exciting. IFLaC, was also the first Institute in South India to introduce the DELE Examination (These exams are conducted by the Spanish Government and their certification is the top most for people learning Spanish). IFLaC was like a breath of fresh air for me, what started with administration later, under the guidance of Mrs. Umita Melwani changed into learning Spanish. As the years passed, I reached my B1 level and voila IFLaC arranged my first solo trip to Spain to pursue my Spanish studies further. Learning Spanish in Barcelona, well that was a different experience all together. IFLaC has tie ups with tops schools across Spain and offers custom made courses for each and every student which basically makes the whole idea of studying abroad like a walk in the park. Once back after soaking in as much Spanish as I could, IFLaC gave me the best opportunity, to teach Spanish at the A1 Level and to the little kids. Learning a language and then teaching the same, it’s no easy task. But thanks to the vast teaching material and support from my fellow colleagues Archana Gurumurthy and Dina Melwani, a nervous me stepped in to teach my first ever Spanish Class. And there was no looking back from then on. Mrs. Umita Melwani and Mrs. Sandy Mirpuri were always there at every step to guide me whenever I fumbled and encouraged me to do better in every possible way. There were ample number of new tasks that I got to witness at the Institute, from teaching, translating and bringing up IFLaC to well also partying. You cannot be surprised, having such spirited and zestful women heading us; we were always introduced to one or the other fancy places in Bangalore and treated with utmost care and love.

IFLaC really changed the way I was and has brought me to where I’m. After working for almost over a span of 5 years, it was time to bid Bangalore goodbye. But somehow I could not yet say adios to Spanish, therefore, yet again Mrs. Melwani assisted me and pushed me to get to New Delhi and pursue Spanish at Instituto Cervantes. It has been a privilege in being a part of IFLaC and yes to anyone who at this point, is trying to find a place where they can learn a new foreign language, I would personally advise to stop looking around and just get to IFLaC. The rest will be taken care of. I Promise.

Preeti Talwar, ex coordinator and trainer at IFLaC. 

What do you discover when you learn a new language?

In IFLAC, we want you to learn not only a new language but a new culture too. Our student Yashas answers some questions about why he is learning Spanish. There are many reasons to learn a new language and a powerful reason is getting involved in a new culture. Italy, Spain, and Germany have many stories besides their languages. One of them will take part tomorrow. Christmas is just around the corner hence Italians and Spanish people start to feel the atmosphere since late November, but the Christmas season officially starts on December 8th, the Day of Immaculate Conception. On this day many Italian families decorate their home and trees, bake cookies, wrap their presents, and schools and offices are formally closed. From this day on, up to December 26th, the holiday atmosphere gets bigger and bigger.

But why is December 8^th so important to the Italians? December 8^th is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, so it celebrates the  Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. It is celebrated on December 8, nine months before the feast of the Nativity of Mary, which is celebrated on September 8 and in Italy, the feast of the Immaculate Conception (L'Immacolata Concezione) is a public holiday.

Since Italy is a religious country, the festival of Immaculate Conception Day is considered as an important religious day in their calendar. A day when many Italians attend a church mass to honor Mother Mary. In big cities, there are no processions but people go to churches to listen to a mass whereas, in smaller towns, the celebration consists of carrying statues of Mother Mary around the town as a procession along with street jugglers and street clowns.

Learn foreign languages to keep brain sharp

Learning foreign languages may sharpen your brain by enhancing its elasticity and ability to code information, a new study suggests. The more foreign languages we learn, the more effectively our brain reacts and processes the data accumulated in the course of learning, researchers said.

The neurophysiological mechanics of language and speech acquisition are underexplored when compared to the brain's other functions. The reason for such scarce attention is the inability to study verbal function on test animals.

Researchers from the Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Russia together with colleagues from the University of Helsinki in Fin land carried out experiments where the brain's electrical activity was measured with electroencephalography (EEG). Ten male and 12 female participants, with the average age being 24, took part in the investigation. The subjects had electrodes placed on their heads and then listened to recordings of different words in their native language, as well in foreign languages, both known and completely unknown by the subjects. When the known or unknown words popped up, changes in the brain's activity were tracked. Researchers focused on the spe ed at which the brain readjusted its activity to treat unknown words.

The ability of the brain to process information depends on one's “linguistic anamneses,“ experts said. The study shows that the brain's electrical activity was higher among those who knew foreign languages.

Brain perceives taste with all senses: Study

Our brain relies on not just one but all the senses to anticipate taste, a new study suggests. The study, by researchers from the Stony Brook University in the US, may change the way neuroscientists think about the role of the gustatory cortex -the part of the brain responsible for the perception of taste. “We found that the gustatory cortex receives information from all the senses, not just taste,“ said Alfredo Fontanini, from Stony Brook University in the US. Gustatory cortex's ability to represent stimuli of multiple modalities is greatly boosted by learning that they can predict taste, the researchers said. 

Smriti´s tryst with languages

We would like you to meet one of IFLAC´s qualified and much loved trainers, Smriti. 

My tryst with languages began over a decade ago. Reading travelogues had always been a hobby and the lure of foreign lands and languages was strong. It was always something that I'd wanted to do but it had been on the back-burner, and a break from work seemed like just the right time to start. 

Of course, at that time, I had no clue about what language learning involved, so I went in hoping for a short-lived fun experience. As chance would have it, I landed up learning German, and was exposed to a language and a culture that I was completely unfamiliar with until then. And what an experience that turned out to be! Never before had I sat in a class where this level of interaction was encouraged. Never before had I such an in-depth view into another culture. Never before had I paid such close attention to the workings of a language. I soon realized, as one would put it in German „Sprachen machen Spaß“ (languages are fun).

The pure pleasure of learning the language spurred me ahead and I spent two years doing so. At the end of those two years, a wonderful opportunity cropped up, to use both my skills in the language as well as my expertise in the technical domain, and I spent a couple of very interesting and productive years working as a technical translator. It was amazing how a course that was taken up as a hobby had transformed my career. All throughout, my philosophy in learning the language could be summed up with my two favorite German quotes „Übung macht den Meister“ (Practice makes perfect) and „Anfangen ist leicht, beharren eine Kunst“ (To begin is easy, to persist is an art). Also, an opportunity to spend a few months in Germany - using the language I had been learning, and mingling with the people who spoke it, was one of the most rewarding experiences in life.

Meanwhile, I came across a really captivating book on the evolution and structure of languages called "The Unfolding of Language" by Guy Deutscher. This book inspired me further to learn more about languages and linguistics.

Marriage and foreign shores beckoned, and I found myself with a lot of time on hand in a place where Spanish is extensively spoken - California. What better chance would I get to learn Spanish?! The similarities to both English and German fascinated me, the differences excited me -- learning Spanish was an amazing experience. Then again, the beautiful beaches of Mexico, and the mystery and allure of both Machu Picchu and the vast Amazon jungle in Peru took on a fascinating dimension because of better connect I felt with the Spanish-speaking population. It was like a dream come true! In the words of Gabriel García Márquez, "No es verdad que la gente deja de perseguir sus sueños porque envejece, envejecen porque dejan de perseguir sus sueños" (It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams). 

The pursuit of languages to understand their workings is a pleasure in itself. In addition, the pure joy of being able to interact with different people all over the world is like no other. Since the past four years, I have been occupied in combining this passion of mine with another - imparting whatever knowledge I have of these two languages to a willing and enthusiastic audience. My association with IFLAC has given me this fantastic opportunity, and it is a pleasure to work in collaboration with a set of dedicated and enthusiastic teachers not only from India, but from all over the world.

As the Costa Rican life philosophy goes, "¡Pura Vida!" (this is the good life). 

Vamos a pasear en bicicleta con Shakira y Carlos Vives

      La bicicleta - Carlos Vives y Shakira

Nada voy a hacer
Rebuscando en las heridas del pasado
No voy a perder
Yo no quiero ser un tipo de otro lado 

A tu manera, descomplicado 

En una bici que te lleve a todos lados 

Un vallenato desesperado 

Una cartica que yo guardo donde te escribí 

Que te sueño y que te quiero tanto 

Que hace rato está mi corazón 

Latiendo por ti, latiendo por ti 

La que yo guardo donde te escribí 

Que te sueño y que te quiero tanto 

Que hace rato está mi corazón 

Latiendo por ti, latiendo por ti 

Puedo ser feliz 

Caminando relajada entre la gente 

Yo te quiero así 

Y me gustas porque eres diferente 

A mi manera, despelucado 

En una bici que me lleva a todos lados 

Un vallenato desesperado 

Una cartica que yo guardo donde te escribí 

Que te sueño y que te quiero tanto 

Que hace rato está mi corazón 

Latiendo por ti, latiendo por ti 

La que yo guardo donde te escribí 

Que te sueño y que te quiero tanto 

Que hace rato está mi corazón 

Latiendo por ti, latiendo por ti 

Ella es la favorita, la que canta en la zona 

Se mueve en su cadera como un barco en las olas 

Tiene los pies descalzos como un niño que adora 

Y su cabello es largo, son un sol que te antoja 

Le gusta que le digan que es la niña, la lola 

Le gusta que la miren cuando ella baila sola 

Le gusta más la casa, que no pasen las horas 

Le gusta Barranquilla, le gusta Barcelona 

Lleva, llévame en tu bicicleta 

Óyeme, Carlos, llévame en tu bicicleta 

Quiero que recorramos juntos esa zona 

Desde Santa Marta hasta La Arenosa 

Lleva, llévame en tu bicicleta 

Pa' que juguemos bola 'e trapo allá en Chancleta 

Que si a Piqué algún día le muestras el Tayrona 

Después no querrá irse pa' Barcelona 

A mi manera, descomplicado 

En una bici que me lleva a todos lados 

Un vallenato desesperado 

Una cartica que yo guardo donde te escribí 

Que te sueño y que te quiero tanto 

Que hace rato está mi corazón 

Latiendo por ti, latiendo por ti 

La que yo guardo donde te escribí 

Que te sueño y que te quiero tanto 

Que hace rato está mi corazón 

Latiendo por ti, latiendo por ti 

Lleva, llévame en tu bicicleta 

Óyeme, Carlos, llévame en tu bicicleta 

Que si a Piqué algún día le muestras el Tayrona 

Después no querrá irse pa' Barcelona 

Lleva, llévame en tu bicicleta 

Óyeme, Carlos, llévame en tu bicicleta 

Que si a mi Piqué tú le muestras el Tayrona 

Después no querrá irse pa' Barcelona

Just in case you need a little help: 

I'm not going to solve anything

searching in the wounds of the past.

I'm not going to lose,

I don't want to become somebody of other place.

My way is not complicated

On a bicycle that takes you everywhere.

A desperate Vallenato

A small letter that I keep

 where I wrote that I dream about you

 and that I love you so much

and that my heart is beating for you, beating for you.

 The one I kept where I wrote

that I dream about you

 and that I love you so much

and that my heart is beating for you, beating for you.

I can be happy,

walking relaxed among people.

I love you that way

and I like you because you are different.

My way is not complicated

On a bicycle that takes you everywhere.

A desperate Vallenato

A small letter that I keep

 where I wrote that I dream about you

 and that I love you so much

and that my heart is beating for you, beating for you.

 The one I kept where I wrote

that I dream about you

 and that I love you so much

and that my heart is beating for you, beating for you.

She is the favorite, the one who sings in the area

She moves her hip like a ship on the waves

She has bare feet like the child she adores.

And her hair is long, is the sun you crave for.

She likes to be told that it is the girl, lola

She likes to be looked when she dances alone

She likes more to stay at home, that time doesn't pass by

She likes Barranquilla, she likes Barcelona.

Take me, take me on your bicycle

Hear me, Carlos, take me on your bicycle

I want to travel around together that area

From Santa Marta to La Arenosa.

Take me, take me on your bicycle

For us to play ball and rag there in flip-flops

That if you show Pique someday the Tayrona

Later he won't want to leave for Barcelona

 My way is not complicated

On a bicycle that takes you everywhere.

A desperate Vallenato

A small letter that I keep

 where I wrote that I dream about you

 and that I love you so much

and that my heart is beating for you, beating for you.

 The one I kept where I wrote

that I dream about you

 and that I love you so much

and that my heart is beating for you, beating for you.

  

Take me, take me on your bicycle

Hear me, Carlos, take me on your bicycle

I want to travel around together that area

From Santa Marta to La Arenosa.

Take me, take me on your bicycle

For us to play ball and rag there in flip-flops

That if you show Pique someday the Tayrona

Later he won't want to leave for Barcelona

Italy, a country full of surprises

(Click on the picture for a bigger size) 

Discovering Pooja, our German trainer!

Heute sprechen wir mit unserer Deutschlehrerin, Pooja. Sie hat schon eine Weile bei uns gearbeitet und wir möchten jetzt mehr über sie erfahren, sodass ihr sie ein bisschen besser kennenlernen könnt.

Hallo Pooja. Zu allererst, vielen Dank für deine Zeit!

Du unterrichtest Deutsch bei IFLAC, richtig? Wie lange arbeitest du hier schon?

Hallo, Ja, ich arbeite schon seit 2 Jahren bei IFLaC

Und wie gefällt dir das Institut? Würdest du es empfehlen?

Na ja, es gefällt mir sehr gut und natürlich empfehle ich es und würde mich freuen, wenn viele mehr Studenten hier lernen können!

Jetzt reden wir ein bisschen über dich. Warum sprichst du Deutsch? Ich meine, wann hast du angefangen, Deutsch zu lernen? Und warum?

Ich wollte immer eine Fremdsprache lernen, ich war sehr neugirig, darum habe ich Deutsch gelernt.

Ich habe vor 4 Jahre angefangen, Deutsch zu lernen.

Warst du schon mal in Deutschland? Wie gefällt dir die deutsche Kultur?

Ne, leider nicht...aber ich will natürlich bald Deutschland besuchen. Die Kultur interessiert mich sehr. -besonderes das Essen und Oktoberfest....ich habe viel darüber gehört und gelesen und jetzt möchte ich alles erleben

Wir haben eine letzte Frage, und zwar warum glaubst du, dass Deutsch eine sehr wichtige und empfohlene Sprache ist?

Ja, Meiner Meinung nach ist Deutsch die wichtigste Sprache Europas. Sehr viele Menschen dort sprechen Deutsch und darum glaube ich, dass jemand, der nach Europa reisen möchte, die Sprache sicherlich lernen sollte.

Vielen lieben Dank für deine Zeit Pooja!

Happy Diwali!

Learning a language means defeating ignorance, letting knowledge win the battle. So Diwali means for us to celebrate not only the literally meaning of the festival but also the importance in life of learning a new language. 

IFLAC team wishes you Happy Diwali!

Reminiscencias de Prabha Iychettira (Texto y entrevista)

"Se dice que los viajes se viven tres veces, cuando los soñamos, cuando los vivimos y cuando los recordamos.

Bueno, este viaje a WAYANAD con los compañeros de mi clase de español C1 fue así. Un viaje sin muchos planes y motivado sólo porque teníamos ganas de viajar y conocer nuevos lugares. Acabábamos de empezar el nivel C1 de español, los alumnos no nos conocíamos entre nosotros y el profesor era un recién llegado de España. Lo organizamos todo de una manera muy rápida y sin casi darnos cuenta llegamos a WAYANAD una mañana. Pero al llegar, descubrimos que nuestro profesor había olvidado su cartera en el autobús. Después del ataque de pánico por la perdida, miles de llamadas a la agencia de viajes y perseguir el autobús por WAYANAD, encontramos la cartera y nos fuimos al hotel muy cansados tras un inicio de viaje bastante ajetreado.

WAYANAD, la parte montañosa de Kerala, es un lugar precioso. Al principio, el verdor exuberante te choca, pero a la vez te hace muy feliz poder observar la naturaleza. El hotel en el que nos alojamos era muy bonito, situado en un valle rodeado por montañas y árboles. Queríamos disfrutar la vista aún más, por lo cual, desayunamos pronto y fuimos a las cuevas de Edakkal, una de las atracciones turístcas del lugar. De hecho, no es exactamente una cueva sino una gruta donde hay dibujos prehistóricos. Pero, desgraciadamente, no pudimos verla porque había una cola de espera muy larga y no queríamos perder tiempo puesto que habían muchos sitios que visitar. Disfrutamos un rato con los monos (había monos libres por las montañas) y luego compramos algunas especias típicas de Kerala. Más tarde comimos unos platos tradicionales de Kerala como Meen curry (El pescado preparado en salsa de coco), parota y arroz. Todo estaba delicioso.

Después, salimos hacia un lago que se llama Pookot. Es un lago muy grande rodeado por plantaciones de pimiento negro. El año pasado fue uno de los monzones más largos que se han visto por aquí. Una de las consecuencias de las lluvias fue la reproducción de sangijuelas. Tuvimos una experencia espantosa durante la visita al lago. Llovía a cantaros y, por ese motivo, nos refugiamos en una de las casas arruinadas que estaba situada en medio de la plantación. Parecía estar llena de fantasmas. Hicimos muchas más cosas como bailar salsa, pelear con los mosquitos e intentar no ser picados por ellos, etc..Todo esto sucedía en español porque fue un viaje dedicado para estudiar. Al llegar al hotel pasamos toda la noche charlando y dejando los estudios a un lado por un momento.

Al día siguiente, como hacía buen tiempo practicamos yoga en el jardín y luego fuimos a ver una de las muchas cascadas preciosas que existen en WAYANAD. Para llegar a verla y disfrutarla tuvimos que hacer un poco de senderismo. La cascada era pequeña pero magnífica. Algunos de mis compañeros se bañaron en la cascada mientras que otros disfrutábamos de la naturaleza. Volvimos al hotel y descansamos un poco antes de volver a Bangalore. La verdad es que la vuelta no fue tan buena como la ida, hubo retrasos y algunas personas se pusieron malas debido al cambio de tiempo, pero, a pesar de todo, llegamos a Bangalore a tiempo.

Fue un viaje inolvidable a pesar de los contratiempos, pero lo mejor de todo fue que nos convirtió en un grupo más amable y abierto y que, además, nos permitió relacionarnos más y mejor con los alumnos de la clase." 

Prabha Iychettira, Spanish teacher at IFLAC

Bailando con IFLAC

IFLAC welcomes you to the world of languages!!!

Introduce yourself in Spanish! An interesting poster created by a student of the level A1

Never too old to learn a new language

Three years ago Anuradha came to our institute to learn German. That time she had just retired from her job as a banker at the State Bank of India and was very excited to now be able to dedicate her free time to learning a new language.

By now she has completed three levels of German and just joined our faculty of teachers.

We asked her to share her experience in learning the language and what her motivation was.

1.       Tell us a bit about yourself

I am Anuradha and at present I am a 63 years old retired Banker. After graduating in the commerce stream, I worked for about 40 years in Bank of India, specializing in Foreign Exchange. I have always been very much interested in literature, philosophy and in learning different languages. Due to my love for Rabindranath Tagore’s work, I learned Bengali, to be able to appreciate the beauty of his writing in the original and to sing Rabindra Sangeet with authenticity. My hobbies are music, painting and trekking to exotic places, like Valley of Flowers. I love to travel a lot and I can never resist the call from mountains and oceans. My last favourite expedition was the island hopping cruise in Greece, exploring the archaeological wonders of many of the idyllic Greek islands. My future plans include Norwegian Fiords and Antarctica…

2.       What motivated you to learn German?

In the pre-internet days having pen-friends was the most favourite hobby. And I used to have many pen-friends scattered throughout the world. My interest in German was sparked by a very close friend in Stamburg and my early foray into the language was during my college days. The rich cultural heritage of Germany and its profound contributions in the artistic, musical, literary and philosophical fields drew me into its magnetic folds. Learning German allows me access to the works of these great writers in the original language and fully experience the cultural ethos. Germans have also been in the forefront as innovators in scientific research and development and learning German helps me in expanding the horizon of my knowledge.

3.       Who are your favourite German authors? And why?

Philosophy and the sciences have had remarkable contribution from German thinkers. The philosophy of Immanuel Kant, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Karl Marx and Friedrich Nietzsche have been path breaking in the field of human thought and have always remained my favourite. The literary works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Thomas Mann, Franz Kafka and Hermann Hesse have always been cherished by me for their depth and profound intensity. The world of classical music is enriched by the exquisite contributions of such well-known German composers like Ludwig van Beethoven, Johann Sebastian Bach, Richard Wagner and Johannes Brams. My favourite also includes the Austrians Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Schubert. I also love the paintings of such famous Germans artists like Anselm Kiefer, Gerhard Richter, Matthias Grünewald and Paul Klee (a Swiss German).

4.       What advice would you give people of your age who would like to learn a foreign language?

Each new language is like an open window with a new outlook on the world and expands the horizon of our knowledge. As we explore through its enchanting maze, it gently unveils its splendour, treasures and of course its mysteries too. Learning a new language, sets free a spirit in us, that was hitherto bound and lends wings to our soul. And it is never ‘too old’ to learn a foreign language. Research has shown that learning a foreign language in old age avoids cognitive decline, stimulates the brain functions and delays significantly dementia and other mind-related diseases. It allows us above all to experience the ethos of an exotic land even without having to travel there in person.

5.       Now that you are teaching German, how are you enjoying the experience?

As ‘German’ is my passion, teaching it to eager, receptive minds is extremely satisfying and every moment is an ever enjoyable experience. This also helps me in furthering my own knowledge as the famous quote of Benjamin Whichcote “There is no better way to learn than to teach.”!

6.       Having learnt German do you understand the books better?

Ja, the knowledge of German has enabled me to savour the words of such great writers like Kant and Hesse after understanding them in the original and appreciate their beauty as there is no incidence of anything being “lost in translation”! As quoted by the famous Robert Frost “Poetry is what gets lost in translation”…