Memories of my German Language Class!

Lynda Jensen Sobieski, Miss Scott, Chester Tom

We all had a language class that was part of our curriculum.  I remember it being in my junior year, most of us took spanish, french and there was also german. When I received my list of classes my language listed was german. That is great but I already spoke german. I wanted to change my language to french. I thought that would be an awesome language to learn and who knows I may go there someday. I had to go and see Miss Scott..does anyone remember Miss Scott?  She was the german language teacher in our school.  She was Scottish, but had an excellent german vocabulary.

So, here I am in her office and she asked me what I wanted to study instead.  I told her that I was eager to study french and she then asked me what do you plan to use it for?  I don't know..I just want to learn it and I may go to France one day.  She started to speak to me in german and I answered her when she came out very loudly, "you don't know the proper german, you speak low german:".  Wow!!..I got upset at what she said and found that to be pretty harsh words.  My pronunciation of some words were not correct as she later explained and felt that I would be better off in her german class where I will learn to speak "proper" german.  I walked out of her office so disappointed.

The class was almost full and I was surprised on how many were interested in german.  I felt good and thought I had one over on everyone since I already speak german.  Not so..whenever a new word was introduced, Miss Scott would call on me to pronounce the word to the class.  "Did you hear how the word sounds?"..class said "yes", then Miss Scott said  "That is not how the word is pronounced", ofcourse the class laughed.  This happened a couple of times until I told Miss Scott that it was upsetting to me.  When she explained to me why she was so rough was that she wanted me to improve my german and since I was speaking it at home, we were starting to include english words and losing the german I already knew

After some time, I grew to like my german class and Miss Scott and enjoyed the challenge.  Towards the end of school, an opportunity was brought to us to be an exchange student in Germany during the summer months.  We were to attend classes at a university and would stay at a host home for that whole time.  The cost was not that much but enough that we could not afford to send me.  It would have been a really wonderful opportunity.

After that conversation with Miss Scott, we got along very well.  Infact, she wrote in my yearbook in german and it says "The dear little Senaf, I wish you well in everything".I appreciated her concern and help because german has a proper and a lower vocabulary and to speak it correctly in business the proper is much needed.   (proper and low means regional language)

I am inviting everyone to share your story of your language class. You can comment your story below or if you are unsure about writing a blog, send me the information you want posted and I will post it for you. We all are interested in your experience.

Is Shorthand A Dying Art??

I decided to write about shorthand since most of us had taken shorthand in high school.  I am sure many of you will relate to this and recognize the script or may even be able to read it.

I was first introduced to shorthand in my junior year when I and a group of other girls entered into the Pre-Tech program which required us to take business courses and office skills.  The Pre-Tech program consisted of a 2 year study of shorthand, typing, and academic studies needed to complete in order to fulfill my grading requirements and continue to the next level of my studies. With the completion of the 2 year program we would be able to attend a 2 year community college. We were the first group to enter into this program. You might say that we were the ones that were the test group being the deciding factor whether this program was going to continue depending on the success of the program.

I can recall how exciting it was to learn shorthand.  I also knew that once I understood it that other people would not be able to read it.  Everyday we learned a new

consonant

vowel

punctuations. 

It was a fun class and I learned alot.  Here is a video of the introduction of Gregg Shorthand Dictation.  You will have to mute the music on the right side Ipod in order to hear the video.  As the man is talking, he or she is writing it all down in shorthand. 



Here is an article about a woman who translates shorthand from documents and it is titled Miss Stevens, can you take a letter? Shorthand skills dying out   Her name is Letha Sanders and she is a shorthand translator and she has turned it into a business.  Here is her website Shorthand Translation Services.


How many still use shorthand at your job or in writing your journal?  Has court stenography replaced shorthand? Would high schools bring this art back into their curriculum? For anyone who has been through this program and remembers shorthand, let us know what you think about this.  Are you or have you used shorthand at your present or previous jobs?  You can leave a comment on after this article.

References:
Gregg Shorthand - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregg_shorthand
Gregg Shorthand on Facebook "like" page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gregg-shorthand/106179482745866
Gregg Shorthand Dictionary - http://books.google.com/books/about/Gregg_shorthand_dictionary.html?id=J5kLAAAACAAJ

Class of 1968 43rd Reunion 2011

June 25, 1968 was the day of our graduation and June 25, 2011 was our 43rd High School Reunion.  What a wonderful day to celebrate that day. We had a smaller group this year and it was just as fantastic as it was the year before.  Our celebration started at Tosca Cafe which is located in Bronx, NY and ended at Sonia Peralta-Munoz house for a gathering. It was a wonderful reunion and we all enjoyed seeing each other again.

Now that I am back from my fantastic vacation from New York City, I was a bit saddened that I was not able to spend more time with friends and more time in the city.  Our reunion turned out FANTASTIC!!..I as well as classmates who were able to attend this years reunion had a time of our lives.  A big surprise was in store for us all which Sonia Peralta-Munoz planned out but did not tell anyone except we were going to have a surprise coming.  I wondered why Sonia put her bag on the chair next to her and said leave this chair empty.  Could it be Eric Estrada?????...or (Henry Estrada) as we knew him.  He is our famous actor of our time..OURS because he belongs to LDBrandeis HS Class of 1968. How can anyone forget CHIPS!!.  It was a much BETTER surprise (we love you Eric!!), it was someone we have not forgotten.

Sonia had left the room and missed what was about to happen, and  here we are all talking with each other and catching up on what has been going on in our lives when a surprise caught my eyes and I turned to my left as our beloved teacher Miss Libby Bleaman walked in.

Miss Libby Bleaman

We were totally surprised, so surprised that I have proof on pictures how we all were shocked to see her. As one of our classmates wife said "She came right out of a Vogue magazine", I do agree!!  Miss Bleaman looked fantastic.She was as surprised to see us as we were.  There was plenty to talk about and catch up on all these years.

From left, Nylsa Carrasquillo, Miss Libby Bleaman, Maureen Johns-Davilla, Kenneth Lattimore (sitting),
Sharon McIntyre-Marks, Lurlene Lowe (back) Millie Diaz, Alma Medina Fielder, Senaf Dillon-Pickhardt,
Sonia Peralta-Munoz, Jean Moriwaki (sitting)

.  

As last year, I will be posting videos of pictures that I am working on and videos which were taken by Angel Munoz who is working diligently on them will be posted here.  In the meantime, please leave a comment on how you enjoyed the reunion this year and what you might want to see happen next year.  I welcome each and everyone to leave a comment.  Look for the videos very soon!!

JUNE 25, 1968 - JUNE 25, 2011 (Same day as our graduation)

Class of 1968 42nd Reunion 2010

Harlem BBQ

(Photo by D. Bell) Courtesy of UptownFlavor

Last year on June 26th, 2010 our Class of 1968 had our 42nd Reunion.  It was our first reunion since graduation in 1968.  Here is a video of the day taken at Harlem BBQ, NYC

I was not able to attend our first reunion.  Leave a comment on the bottom and share your experiences on this special day.

(You can turn off the IPad on the right panel in order to hear the video and when done you can turn it on
again)

Thanks to Angel Munoz, we have live videos of everyone who attended the reunion.  It is a long video and comes in 6 parts.  Enjoy!

Planning our 43rd Reunion for Class of 1968

Hello All!

Here is our first step in having a successful reunion. As was posted on Facebook, we will be posting all the information on the website as well. Reservations will be for 50 or more. You can bring a guest.





Time:              Saturday, June 25 · 11:30am - 3:30pm

Location:       Tosca Cafe  
                      4038 E Tremont Ave  (Corner of Miles Ave)
                      Bronx, NY   10465

More Info:     Our graduating class of 1968 will be hosting our 43rd High School Reunion at Tosca Cafe
                     located in the Bronx, NY.

                     WE HAVE 2 OPTIONS:

                    1. PRIVATE AREA - Cost for one person $36.50 (includes taxes BUT NOT gratuities) w.      
                         guest $73.00

                    2. PRIVATE ROOM - Cost for one person $50.00 (includes taxes and gratuities) w. guest
                        $100.00

                    Option 1 is for a private area and
                    Option 2 is for a private room

                    PLEASE LET US KNOW IF WE WANT A PRIVATE ROOM VERY SOON!!!

                    We will need a deposit of $200 before April 22nd. So we will need everyone who will be  
                    attending to send a check to Sonia Peralta-Munoz
    
                    We will have a buffet style..here is the menu Toca Cafe Menu

More will be posted as we get more information. We are looking forward to seeing all of you who graduated in 1968. This is also a very special day for us since this day, June 25th, 2011 is the same date we graduated on in 1968.

     Tosca Cafe  Go here to view other rooms and events