Mine favorite teacher was Emma Jungton, although I usually got a "D" from her in German. She didn't care about our grades, she treated us all as adults. I just never did the work. She took us all over the place in German club, and especially her beloved home on Pewaukee Lake. Karen Krause and I threw her an 86th birthday party a week before she passed away as a result of ALS in, I think, 1995. Dispite having almost no control of her muscles she was writing her memoirs by dragging her hand over a simulated keyboard and then her daughter Jeanie would write the word. She hadn't been able to speak hardly a word for weeks. We put a party hat on her, sang some songs, even in German and made her a special cake ... which she really couldn't eat. Jeanie had to put her to bed for a nap (Emma was tied into a wheel chair and could only stay up for an hour or two at a time) but Emma made Jeanie call me to her bedside. She wanted me to lean down. Emma labored to faintly whisper in my ear, "I love you" ... maybe a few of the last words she ever spoke.
Garry, what a lovely tribute and commentary on Ms. Jungton! It brought tears to my eyes. How well I remember her lake home, and how she opened it up to us, the German Club, for picnics and gatherings. She was very special and a great teacher. I didn't do too well speaking German in her class. What I do remember is doing lots of verb conjugations and filling in workbook pages. I believe that's what comprised learning a foreign language then. I majored in German in college, and it pretty much followed that track at UW-M. Imagine my surprise when I taught it upon graduation. It was the ALM (I think) method where it was all spoken! Yikes. What I do associate with Ms. Jungton was her passion for Esperanto, an international language that was going to bring about global cultural understanding. She truly believed in that.
Garry Sellers
Mine favorite teacher was Emma Jungton, although I usually got a "D" from her in German. She didn't care about our grades, she treated us all as adults. I just never did the work. She took us all over the place in German club, and especially her beloved home on Pewaukee Lake. Karen Krause and I threw her an 86th birthday party a week before she passed away as a result of ALS in, I think, 1995. Dispite having almost no control of her muscles she was writing her memoirs by dragging her hand over a simulated keyboard and then her daughter Jeanie would write the word. She hadn't been able to speak hardly a word for weeks. We put a party hat on her, sang some songs, even in German and made her a special cake ... which she really couldn't eat. Jeanie had to put her to bed for a nap (Emma was tied into a wheel chair and could only stay up for an hour or two at a time) but Emma made Jeanie call me to her bedside. She wanted me to lean down. Emma labored to faintly whisper in my ear, "I love you" ... maybe a few of the last words she ever spoke.
Klara Ruppert (Grigg)
Garry, what a lovely tribute and commentary on Ms. Jungton! It brought tears to my eyes. How well I remember her lake home, and how she opened it up to us, the German Club, for picnics and gatherings. She was very special and a great teacher. I didn't do too well speaking German in her class. What I do remember is doing lots of verb conjugations and filling in workbook pages. I believe that's what comprised learning a foreign language then. I majored in German in college, and it pretty much followed that track at UW-M. Imagine my surprise when I taught it upon graduation. It was the ALM (I think) method where it was all spoken! Yikes. What I do associate with Ms. Jungton was her passion for Esperanto, an international language that was going to bring about global cultural understanding. She truly believed in that.