New Book Release - Losing My Voice and Finding Another

Sept. 12, 2013 - PRLog -- This morning my wife and I were married in the Standesamt, a municipal office on the main square in Nürnberg. It was a simple, formal process. At 2 pm, instead of going on a honeymoon, I walked across town and started a German course: Grundstufe 2, one level above absolute beginner, but still at the beginner level. I was in a class with fifteen other students. I didn’t see anyone who looked like me.

I didn’t understand what the teacher was saying. I didn’t have the words to say what I was feeling and thinking. Although I was the oldest person in the class— I could be the father or even grandfather of another student, I felt like a child again, as if I was just starting kindergarten in the United States. I was lost and wanted to go home.”

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Author: Cooper Thompson has been leading workshops, consulting, and organizing against sexism, homophobia, and racism for 30 years. Although he was born and raised in the United States, he has lived in Nürnberg, Germany since 2003. He is the author of many essays and educational materials on oppression and a co-author of White Men Challenging Racism: 35 Personal Stories (2003, Duke University Press; all author royalties go directly to fund antiracist work.) Most of his essays, as well as excerpts from his books, can be found at www.cooper-thompson.com/essays. This is his first work on his experiences in the area of foreign language acquisition.

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