Up until a couple of years ago the Turewicz family was a completely English speaking family.  Caroline has a German background, her husband Terry is from New Zealand and they have 3 children, Natasha (20), Miranda (7), and Klaudia (5).
When Caroline’s mother died 27 years ago, so too did the language. The culture has always remained with Caroline.  Her father is still alive but as he is from Poland, he speaks little German now.  Caroline still understands German and can speak conversationally, but she has forgotten a lot.  Terry has a soft spot for the German culture as he appreciates the good food, beer and also enjoys learning the language.

When Miranda started in prep at Deutsche Schule Melbourne she only knew how to count to 10 and a few colours in German. She struggled in the first few weeks but with a great deal of support from the teachers and other children, Miranda was speaking whole sentences in German after only 6 months.  She can now confidently speak, read and write in German.  So much so that she now often asks her mum what the translation of a German word is in English, as she can’t remember it in English!  Caroline tries to keep up with Miranda by attending German night classes at the German Language Centre in East Melbourne. 

The eldest daughter Natasha studied German from year 7 to year 12. She won a SAGSE (Society for Australian German Student Exchange) scholarship in 2007-8 to spend 10 weeks in Germany over the summer holidays.  This experience changed her life and reinforced her love of learning languages.  She received a scholarship to study at the College of Idaho in the USA in 2009.

The youngest daughter Klaudia will start at the Deutsche Schule Melbourne in 2011 and is really excited to be finally learning German.  The whole family has enjoyed the experience of being welcomed into the German community through Deutsche Schule Melbourne and loves being able to experience two cultures whilst living in Melbourne. 

Up until a couple of  years ago the Turewicz family was a completely English speaking family.  Caroline has a German background, her husband Terry is from New Zealand and they have 3 children, Natasha (18), Miranda (5), and Klaudia (3).
When Caroline’s mother died 25 years ago, so too did the language. The culture has always remained with Caroline.  Her father is still alive but as he is from Poland, he speaks little German now.  Caroline still understands German and can speak conversationally, but she has forgotten a lot.