Every Monday at 10:30 a.m., Maring-Hunt Library hosts German Storytime, an event created by Melanie Hanser, who has taken a long journey to learn and teach the language.
In a store at age 6, Hanser asked her mother why she couldn’t understand what fellow customers, who were speaking a different language, were saying. Her mother explained what languages were, and Hanser became fascinated and decided she wanted to speak a different language.
As a 12-year-old, she took a vacation to France and Germany and decided she wanted to learn German. She took classes in high school and fell in love with the language.
After studying German for three years, she went to Germany for a month but discovered she struggled to understand what German citizens were saying. She took German all through college and became an exchange student in Austria. She understood more, but still wasn’t fluent and knew she had to return.
Hanser wanted to get a work visa in Austria, but she ended up marrying an Austrian man and moved there.
She returned to the States after divorcing the man, remarried in America and a had a daughter, Shadow, who is now 3.
“I knew I wanted to have my children be bilingual, so my plan was, had I lived and stayed in Austria, to speak English to them. But since I came back here, it switched around and from birth, I have spoke nothing but German to Shadow,” Hanser said.
Hanser will correct Shadow’s English and help her translate, but in public and at home, they generally speak German to each other. Hanser’s husband, Kent, has also been learning German and understands what Hanser and Shadow say.
In summer 2014, she got the idea to take the songs and stories she was teaching Shadow at home to Maring-Hunt Library and make it into a 45-minute program. She had previously volunteered at the library and was inspired by another storytime leader to make her program a German storytime.
“I had a strong desire to share and give Shadow other children who understand German words,” Hanser said.
January 2015 was the first month for the program, and it continues every Monday at 10:30 a.m. The program changes every three months, with the songs and stories corresponding to each of the four seasons. Parents get a pamphlet with the songs and translations so they can follow along with the program.
The program is geared toward ages 6 months to 5 years, but Hanser has found that children who are 4 and 5 struggle the most because of the comparison to words they already know.
“I sing the [German] numbers to the 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat' tune and they say, ‘But those aren’t the words, that’s not how it goes,’" Hanser said. "It’s like their mind is almost already closed when they hit 4 or 5 and they’re not particularly receptive to learning something else because they’re constantly comparing it to something they’ve already learned and it doesn’t match up.”
From other moms who regularly attend the storytime, the feedback has been positive, and Hanser wants to spread the joy she has of the German language with others who are interested in and value learning a new language.
Read More
Yorktown downs Delta 47-46 in thriller
By David Moore / YesterdayYorktown takes down Delta in rivalry thriller 47-46
The Muncie Area Career Center is working to better educate community members
By Trinity Rea / YesterdayThrough Adult Education and Career and Technical Education (CTE) based learning, the Muncie Area Career Center is looking to help educate members of Delaware, Randolph and Blackford country.
Ball State women’s basketball runs out of gas against Columbia in the Battle 4 Atlantis
By Elijah Poe / 2 days ago“As hard as we played, we literally were running on fumes,” Ball State women's basketball head coach Brady Sallee said about the 69-62 loss to Columbia in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
