Unser Fremdsprachenassistent Joseph Downsing
My name is Joseph Dowsing. I was born in Hastings and come from the small town of Rye, both in the county of East Sussex in South East England, where (especially in the summer months) it is not unusual to meet a friendly German family. I am the English Language Assistant at the MVLG until the end of May 2012. I arrived in Koblenz on the 2nd September and started work on the 12th. The programme is organised by the British Council and the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst. But there are also English language assistants from other countries in Koblenz and the surrounding area including from Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. This position allows me to assist teachers with all age groups from the Year 5 up to the last year of the Abitur. I often work with groups of pupils in conversation classes to practise spoken English, but I also get the opportunity to teach topics to whole classes under the supervision of their usual teacher. Although I may not necessarily become a teacher myself I believe that this gives me valuable experience in people skills, especially communication with the wide range of age groups. I first started to study German at Homewood School & Sixth Form Centre in the town of Tenterden in the county of Kent at the age of 12. I then chose to continue studying it through my GCSE exams (‘Mittelstufe’) and then as part of my A-Levels (‘Abitur’), as foreign languages are not compulsory in many British schools. I am now a student at the University of Kent where I study German and Business Administration. As part of my degree course I am required to spend a year in Germany, Austria or German-speaking Switzerland at a university or working in a school.
Englisch ist eine einfache, aber
schwere Sprache. Es besteht aus
lauter Fremdwörtern, die falsch
ausgesprochen werden.
Kurt Tucholsky (1890-1935)
My name is Joseph Dowsing. I was born in Hastings and come from the small town of Rye, both in the county of East Sussex in South East England, where (especially in the summer months) it is not unusual to meet a friendly German family. I am the English Language Assistant at the MVLG until the end of May 2012. I arrived in Koblenz on the 2nd September and started work on the 12th. The programme is organised by the British Council and the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst. But there are also English language assistants from other countries in Koblenz and the surrounding area including from Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. This position allows me to assist teachers with all age groups from the Year 5 up to the last year of the Abitur. I often work with groups of pupils in conversation classes to practise spoken English, but I also get the opportunity to teach topics to whole classes under the supervision of their usual teacher. Although I may not necessarily become a teacher myself I believe that this gives me valuable experience in people skills, especially communication with the wide range of age groups. I first started to study German at Homewood School & Sixth Form Centre in the town of Tenterden in the county of Kent at the age of 12. I then chose to continue studying it through my GCSE exams (‘Mittelstufe’) and then as part of my A-Levels (‘Abitur’), as foreign languages are not compulsory in many British schools. I am now a student at the University of Kent where I study German and Business Administration. As part of my degree course I am required to spend a year in Germany, Austria or German-speaking Switzerland at a university or working in a school.
I chose to work in a school in Rhineland-Palatinate, and was lucky enough to be assigned a placement in Koblenz.
I am particularly pleased to have the opportunity to work in the Max-von-Laue Gymnasium because Homewood is the MVLG’s partner school, during the recent exchange visit from Tenterden to Koblenz I had the opportunity to meet my former teacher who taught me for 6 years.
It also gives me the opportunity to discuss the differences between the school systems in the United Kingdom and Germany using my former school as an example, which is particularly relevant as many of the pupils at the MVLG have been or will go on exchange visits to Homewood.
Living in Germany not only gives me the opportunity to experience teaching in a school, but also is extremely valuable in helping me understand German everyday life and culture.
I am sure then when the time comes that I have to return to my home country I will miss Koblenz, which has already become a second home to me.
