Ursula Zdenkowski—Conversational German

Ursula Zdenkowski

Ursula Zdenkowski was born in the town of Luebeck, Northern Germany, in 1923 and grew up in the turbulent times of the 'thirties. After the war she married a Pole and migrated to Australia in 1950. Polish names can be difficult if you don't know how to pronounce them and when I stumbled Ursula explained that her name is pronounced sten(like a gun)-cough-ski. She is a charming lady with a gentle sense of humour.

Ursula has been with U3A since its inception. She attended the inaugural meeting (her husband called it "Freda Whitlam's School") with the intention of attending a class so that she could learn something new. When asked if she could teach anything she said that she spoke German and was immediately asked to be a tutor. That was in 1989 and she has been teaching German ever since.

Her first class was for beginners but since then she has also taught Intermediate and Advanced German. Her present course, Conversational German, is aimed at people who already have some background in the language.

Three years ago Ursula was made a U3A life member.

My own Creative Writing class was right across the hall at the same time as Conversational German and I was worried that the noise from our group might disturb the others. As it happened, the reverse might well have applied. Judging by the commotion and laughter from the VAD Room they thoroughly enjoy their sessions.

I had the good fortune to be invited to the class end-of-year picnic at Tench Park. I was wined and dined (it was a brunch) and made to feel thoroughly welcome; I'm sure all newcomers to this class are treated the same way.

Ken Salmons has been attending the class for the past two years. He studied German for three years at Sydney Tech High School (which later evolved into the University of Technology) situated down behind the old Technological Museum. With no more background than that he was able to find his way in the class.

Some of the conversation at the picnic surprised me. It was mostly English but with a good smattering of German thrown in—and I was surprised to learn that, like the "Oils Ain't Oils" commercial, German ain't necessarily German—well, Deutsch, as we afficionados say. I hadn't realised how different even simple words can sound in different parts of the country. "Ich" looks simple enough bvut I learned that Berliners pronounce it "ick" and in the East it's "ishe". We do the same thing with English, of course, as Fred Astaire pointed out in his "tomarto/tomayto" song, Let's Call the Whole Thing Off.

Would I recommend Ursula's class to you? Would you expect to learn something? Would you be likely to enjoy the learning process? All three questions can be answered with two simple words:  You betcha!

If you would like to discuss the course with Ursula you can get her phone number from U3A's Penrith office by CLICKING HERE.

Conversational German Class:  End of Year Picnic, Tench Park