Lessons in Culture

Ellie Saunders (Second Language Teaching MA 26) planned to spend the summer of 2025 in Germany, but she wasnt sure exactly what shed be doing while there. Her husband and sister had both secured internships in the country, and she had yet to land an internship of her own. After sending out almost two dozen applications, she received an invitation to interview with a small community college in Halle for a position teaching German to non-native speakers. The offer came with a unique request thoughthey wanted to interview Saunders in person.

Despite the uncertain footing on which she began her summer, Saunderss experiences in Germany taught her that language teaching is more than just grammar instruction: Its about exchanging cultures and building bridges.

This was not Saunderss first time in Germany. Two summers earlier, she secured a teaching internship in a different part of the country and had everything arranged before she left the US. As she travelled to Germany with no internship secured, though, she found herself confronting a far more uncertain reality, but she hoped her interview would prove successful.

When she arrived, her meeting with the college director, didnt even feel like an interview, Saunders reflects. She just met with me and said, Well, it looks like we have enough students to hold the class, so well have you start on Monday. Saunders left the interview with four days until her first lesson, a single textbook, and an entire curriculum to write.

I was actually given very few guidelines, she recalls. Saunders realized she would need to use the skills she had gained from teaching 100-level German classes at BYU. I feel like BYU helped me . . . become a really confident teacher, so I was able to transfer that over to Germany, Saunders says. She was well-qualified for the job, but that didnt mean the course would be free of challenges.

Saunderss class was a B1 course with low to mid-intermediate level students learning German. Many of Saunderss students were recent immigrants from a variety of home countries, working toward a B1 certificate, which would allow them to qualify for a job in Germany. Because no formal proof of prerequisites was required to enroll in the class, the range of skill among students was wider than Saunders expected, making it difficult to structure lessons effectively. She quickly realized that she would need to adjust her class to cater to the various ages, cultural backgrounds, and skill levels of each of her students. Her solution? Asking engaging questions.

Saunders started each class with discussion prompts encouraging her students to speak with each other in Germanan exercise she used while teaching at BYU. This time, she added a unique twist to the conversations. I tried to ask questions so that people could learn about each others cultures, she says.

Beyond helping the students practice their language skills, this exercise widened her own worldview. Saunderss students came to Germany from Africa, South America, and a variety of countries, including India, Canada, Ukraine, Russia, Morocco, and Pakistan, so their discussions often highlighted a wide range of experiences and backgrounds. I learned so much about different cultures, she reflects. One of her favorite topics to discuss was the different holidays each of her students celebrated. Id share about US culture or German culture, and then they would share about their cultures. She noticed these exercises helped create a little bit of unity and get people interested in each other.

These personal anecdotes fostered a sense of community within the classroom, and often made Saunders feel like she was learning just as much as she was teaching. I think it helped us all bond together a little bit more, she says.

During her summer in Germany, Saunders found herself learning not just how to teach a second language, but also how to cultivate an environment of acceptance and unity within her classroom, giving her a glimpse of a greater purpose behind language education.

Learn more about the Second Language Teaching MA here.