Doors open to a whole new inner experience when the student steps into another language. The teacher is there to provide a dynamic, meaningful experience during each lesson with living pictures to convey the language.

The students’ feelings must be stirred so that they get glimpses of the genius lying at the heart of every language. For the younger grades, a sanguine menu will satisfy their appetites: song and poetry, movement and dialogue, gestures and drawings, puppets and drama. These same components make their appearance throughout the 12 grades, with a gradual shift to the written language, requiring a new range of activities: reading and writing, analyzing and explaining, forming and reforming the words in many combinations. In reading a variety of stories, descriptions, letters, plays, and excerpts of literature, the many faces of human experience are given expression.

This course will look to the anthroposophical view of the human being that underlies the rich language curriculum. Here we will find the guiding ideas to structure balanced and well-orchestrated lessons that speak to the students. Concrete examples spanning the grades will help us experience how the content evolves, from the lessons for dreamy first graders, at one end of the spectrum, to the classes for the more conscious high school seniors, at the other.

Even though demonstrations will include examples in French, Spanish, and German, we welcome teachers of other languages as well. There will be games, short skits, songs, dances, storytelling, and grammar exercises. We encourage participants to bring their own materials and gems from their classroom repertoire. We will allow ample time for exchanging materials, discussing ideas, and answering questions. Depending on the mix of registrants, we will divide into sections for part of each day according to grade levels, such as 1–5, 6–8, and 9–12. This is a hands-on course for all who teach world languages!

Lorey Johnson has participated in French studies at Middlebury College and in Strasbourg, France. She has taught French to grades 1–8 at Pine Hill Waldorf School for 23 years and offers workshops in teaching world languages. Lorey lived in France for two years and still returns there regularly to travel and to eat crème brulee.

Robert Sim has been a language teacher and class teacher in Europe, as well as high school and class teacher in the US. He brings an experienced grasp to both the “why and how” of language teaching, as well as an understanding of the anthroposophical foundations of this work.

Julia Nunez has been a Spanish and French teacher in Europe and in the US for many years, teaching all ages grades 1–12 at the Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner Schools and the Rudolf Steiner School in New York City. An experienced pianist and dancer, she brings lots of music and a special love of Spanish festivals to her teaching. Julia specializes in Latin social and folk dancing.

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