European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 26, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 2herr Schmidt spoke English the right Way Gerhard Treisser guest columnist y grand fat co this in his late 70s a when i first i n trod need my Macri can Fiancee of him. Although he had Moi spoken Ai Yord Preh Gli ii ii since his school Days lie insisted on addressing the Young woman who Speaks excellent German in her native language. A Good sport and polite by nature she replied with some a . And we All shared a few laughs. R _ some Days later when 1 saw him again without my Brianc tic present he confided in me that she. Was really a very Nice girl but her English Wasny to. All that Good a a maybe its because she Sacri Quot of course came from the same Man who would complain that every English letter he re a Cei cd from his grandchildren was a Riddle with these same children you guessed it were born and grew up indic United states. He would also insist that every american president heard on German television a talked so Why should 1 have been surprised. A. My Grandfather is not around anymore but his a spirit appears to live on happily in Many of my a. be fair most of them tire More prudent than lie was and will first warn their a. American vis a vis Quot my English is not very Good. In a sorry a what they really mean is a fall right so i May have a slight Central european accent but still speak Butler English than la Csc american soldiers who run Down our morning at 6, Yelling and shouting things that nobody can understand germans you see think very highly of their education and believe deep Down in their heart that their English teachers in school knew the language better than anyone else except per. Hapij Prince Charles. There Sii ply is no greater authority on proper English than Herr Schmidt that old teacher from decades ago who As every or on one spent three months of Ian Guage training in London. It is because of him that we Ger. Mans know what Good English is supposed to. Sound like and a sic a americans. Just done to talk right .1ust ask any englishman so when your neighbor once again counters your Friendly Quot Guton Morgen with the familiar a hello lets speak English i need to practice a a or. Done to believe of if. His English is prob ably better than yours even though you May not realize it. After All you never had the Benefit of being aught by Herr Schmidt who spoke better English than you know a you might assume that your neighbor out of the goodness of his heart simply wants to spare you the stress of expressing yourself in the most intricate language Europe has to offer a a and miss a perfect Opportunity to Correct your pronunciation. Think again. The truth is he will have a Friendly Chat with you go Home to his wife and children and Tel them what a Nice Guy you arc even though your. English some work he might also say that you arc Lucky to live with other americans who Don t mind know a that that you have this language problem. Perhaps he Wilt even Call up his old teacher Herr Schmidt and thank him for the wonderful Job he did 30 years ago. Gerhard or Cisser is command information officer for the Wiesbaden Public affairs office. Unday Magazine sets aside this space. Each week for guest columnists. If you have encountered anything amusing v j confusing frustrating or fascinating a about life in Europe in the military or in general we would like to hear about to get frustrated if you done to see your column for a while. We have quite a backlog but we like to hear from new people. If you include a re cent photograph of yourself for use with the column help Speed things up As we wont have to write Back to you requesting one. So Send in your thoughts in 500 less to be our guest sunday Magazine the stars and stripes Apo 09211 or Postrach 11 14 37, d-.6100 Darmstadt 11 Germany. Contents a moment of action caught on film. Page 4.sunday is a weekly supplement of the stars and stripes a Quot acting editor Sarah Hittorff Art direction Sharon Kilday. Production Kelly Quinn Lisa Williams editorial assistance i decl Smith Marian 1 la Milton trends. 4-5 a show and Teil from staff photographer. Emmett Lewis or. On How to shoot spoils from the cover .6 what Are they doing in the desert after the ceasefire. Middle East Bureau reporter Chuck Roberts found tiie answer Switer co\rjllusimtion-.by>$hiir0h Kilday and editing Aid by assistant City editor John Kominicki ,. Science h7iat�?Ts a big brain a sign of ? \ 1 the effects of jumping people in China Quot books and language 8-9 Bob Woodward looks at the american military. A Calvin and hobbs11 in Book form Odds amp ends. 10 Cindy Chambers on phones and the mail. A a miss manners and Horoscope a f to plus a is the networks unveil their fall stateside season _ _ television listings 12-14 a Tjai Cable and satellite schedules 1on video 16 tale of murderous twins comes to the Small screen on film 17 a commentary on Tom cd this weeks films 18-19 Quot one Good cop Quot is on Sihocky film Complete a a fes circuit listings classified ads. 20-23 last Lugii. 24 Dave Bank. Cartoons from around the worht the life and times of a brain collection. Page 7.�?~ Michael Keaton stars this week in a one Good Page 19,sunday May 26, 1991
