The end of the German half of my German and Law degree has coincided with a suspension of the in-person Language and Culture Days as the OU tries to save every penny it can. Although a part of me is slightly relieved because I was going to miss the event now that I am starting my legal studies, I am deeply concerned about future LAL students because it was at these events that I found my OU family and got help at a time when I needed it most, whilst also getting to feel like part of a community. In this article, I will discuss the impact that these events have had on both my OU and personal life, and then discuss why they are a fundamental part of an OU LAL student’s education.
2024: finding the uni family
I started my OU journey in October 2023 and I didn’t have the best start. I have always found it quite difficult to make friends and the fact that I was studying online didn’t help matters. To make things worse, I had a tutor who was quite dismissive of my disability which made me avoid any contact with them, so I was basically teaching myself Intermediate German!
At first, I didn’t even want to go to the day but it was here that my OU journey would truly start! The first two people whom I met were Lilian and Kim, two associate lecturers in the German department. I had communicated with Lilian in the week leading up to the event to discuss how staff could best support me at the event; however upon meeting her, I was really struck by how kind her face was! Not only that but as she spoke to me, she was still trying to figure out how to help me get the most out of the event! Until then, my only experience with OU German tutors was with my own so I was pleasantly surprised by how much care she was taking! As I used my nose to type answers on my iPad in perfect German, little did I know that someone was on the other side of me, admiring the way I was communicating! When I turned and noticed Kim and the look on her face, I just knew that we had to work together! The first thing I noticed was that she had dark curls similar to mine but as time went on, I noticed that she was Scottish like me and we also had the same firey passion for the German language and wicked sense of humour! Why couldn’t I have tutors like these two?!
Not yet knowing that I had just encountered my tutors for the two remaining years of my German studies, the first game of the event began, speed-dating. After a few rounds of meeting and conversing with my fellow students, I was paired with a very confident American woman who, little did I know, had been sitting up the back of the room, admiring the silk scarf that I had tied around the headrest of my wheelchair to protect my curls. Almost as soon as she sat down in front of me, she excitedly asked me if we could be friends! I had spent the first 20 years of my life asking other people to be my friend and either getting outright rejected or getting really hurt in the so-called friendship, so at first I was a little bit sceptical. However as the conversation went on, it became clear that Chloe and I shared many similarities: we were both musicians, we both loved to wear dresses and, most importantly, she also used to have the same problem of not fitting in! Somehow I had just found another one of my kind, and I knew that the two of us would stick together and try to make the world a better, kinder and music-filled place!
I definitely met the best member of my new OU family last! In fact, I didn’t know how much she would influence and support my life when I met this force of a woman! An OU staff tutor named Sylvia was pottering about behind the scenes making the day run smoothly. In the morning, she has been watching me from a distance and was impressed with the way I communicated and the fluency of my German for a level one student. After lunch, she expressed her awė to my mum, who was in the corridor, giving me space but keeping close in case I needed anything. My mum explained that although I had studied German the previous two years at Edinburgh College and at school the year before that, I had been teaching myself my module material this year because I didn’t find my tutor very supportive and I was so uncomfortable that I wasn’t going to any tutorials! Upon hearing this, Sylvia went into action! A couple of days later, I got an email from Sylvia explaining that she would talk to my tutor about her behaviour and get me a new one. However, she didn’t stop there, when I wrote to her to thank her, I happened to mention that I got on particularly well with Kim, so she organised for Kim to be my tutor the following year when I did L223! Throughout my German studies, she has been a great point of contact when I have problems with my studies and she has recently told me that nothing about that is going to change when I start law school – she is still happy to help me overcome any barriers and will inform her colleagues about my needs. What a woman to have in your corner!
I might have gone to my first Language and Culture Day as a lone wolf but I was definitely leaving having found my pack, and I know that my life would be very different today if I had never gone!
2025: the light in the darkness
The start of 2025 did not go well for me! I lost a young friend but I was expected to give a presentation on the day of the funeral and in the interest of professionalism, I didn’t give myself enough time to grieve and travelled to my meeting straight from the girl’s funeral! If this wasn’t enough to mess up anyone’s emotions, things were happening in my private life which were difficult to deal with. By this time I was regarded as a brilliant student so I was trying to keep all the sadness about my friend and the anxiety about what was going on behind closed doors buried, and I was suffering ìn silence!
Sylvia knew about the loss but she didn’t know about everything that was going on and although I really wanted to share my other situation and how I was feeling with her, there was never a good time. It was the afternoon of my second Language and Culture Day and Sylvia and I had found ourselves alonė in a room when Sylvia asked me how my family was. I couldn’t stop the truth coming out and she soon learned everything! Although I was a bit embarrassed to let her see the vulnerable side of me, knowing what was going on helped Sylvia support me better and she even encouraged me to get professional help. My road to recovery was long (I’m still on it now!) but because Language and Culture Day got me a private moment with someone whom I fully trusted, I didn’t have to suffer in silence anymore!
2026: finally part of a community
This year, all the language students had their Language and Culture Day together which meant that for the first time in my OU life I got to mix with the tutors and students from not only the German department but also the French, Spanish and English departments as well! As well as getting to catch up with Sylvia, Chloe, Kim, Lilian and a few other additions to my OU family that I had acquired over the course of my studies, I also got to meet people who were just as passionate about German as I am!
I often find that music reminds me of moments and I will never be able to hear the song ’99 Luftbalons’ and not think about Lilian again! This is because she held a music workshop as part of Language and Culture Day in which we all sang this song together! Even though it was just me, her, her colleague Sabrina and one other student in the room, this pretty much summed up the joy and celebration that Language and Culture Day brings, moreover, the activity of singing in perfect unison would be almost impossible to recreate in an Adobe Connect event such as Kaffeklatsch because of this difference between students’ internet speeds, and the program may not like multiple people using their microphones at the same time.
I spent most of the day sitting between Lilian and Kim and when I wasn’t, I was speaking German with really friendly students and feeling a strong sense of belonging to a community! The OU is a distance learning institution and because of this, it can sometimes be difficult for students to truly connect with each other and I feel that Language and Culture Day is a very good antidote to this problem! For me, this is the first time in my life that I have felt like part of something bigger where I truly fit in!
The lasting effects
I think it is safe to say that I have gotten a lot more out of my studies thanks to Language and Culture Day than I would have otherwise, and although a lot of it has been increased understanding and knowledge of German, it has been much more than just the academic things!
- At my first Language and Culture Day, Sylvia mentioned a summer German course that takes place in the German city of Jena. I have since taken part in this course for the past two years and I am just about to go for round 3! I am now part of the Jena summer school community and honestly plan to go for the rest of my life!
- During the summer break of 2024, Chloe and I wrote and collaborated on a song which we performed that October.
- Sylvia has fought to make sure that my education at the OU is totally barrier-free and suitable for my needs, therefore enabling me to thrive!
- I was invited to give a presentation at a teaching forum about the adjustments that the OU made in order to support my studies, thus equipping staff across the whole of WELS with more knowledge about how to ensure that people like me thrive at the OU too!
- Kim and Lilian were able to be the best tutors for me as possible thanks to the 8-hour introduction that they had to me.
- Sylvia has become a very dear friend as well as an excellent mentor for me, and we even spend time together outside of uni and I have even been introduced to her dog!
- Kim, Lilian and Sylvia want to keep in contact with me even when I’m at law school.
- I have a lovely photo of Kim, me and Lilian hanging above my desk that will help motivate me through law school!
I can honestly not imagine what my life would be like now if I hadn’t gone to these events. My support network would be much smaller and I have really been struggling with my mental health for the past 18 months so I hate to imagine what would have happened if I didn’t know my amazing uni family during this time! Language and Culture Day has opened so many doors for me and I wish next year’s students could have the same experience!
Why other people need these events
Although I found a support network and friends as a student who has a disability who attended Language and Culture Day, I believe that these events are important for students of any ability or background because of a number of factors.
Firstly, the OU language modules are now totally online which makes Language and Culture Day the only structured opportunity to meet up in person during their studies since the level 2 residential schools are now online. Language is an area of study that relies heavily on communication so it could disadvantage the language learning and confidence of students if the OU does not provide any opportunities to speak the target language in a real-life setting.
Also, not everyone can attend their tutorials because of their working hours, family commitments or even disabilities. Language and Culture Day provides these groups of people with alternative access to direct teaching which they would otherwise not benefit from. The OU prides itself on breaking down barriers and usually excels at it. However, it may be that the suspension of Language and Culture Day inadvertently creates a barrier for some students.
Thirdly, Language and Culture Day is something that both LAL staff and students look forward to all year,. Without the event, we may see a decline in motivation in students and tutors alike! Modern Languages are already an endangered field of study, so a decrease in motivation may be catastrophic for the future of MFL study and teaching, not only at the OU but possibly beyond. If a student who is hoping to become a high school German teacher loses motivation in his studies for example, then there may be one less German teacher at a school in the future, and because schools typically only employ one German teacher, this may mean one less school offering German as a subject!
In conclusion, universities across the country are having to make cuts in order to save money and unfortunately, that includes the OU. However, should our university make cuts so drastic that it harms the sense of community among its students and staff? Language and Culture Day is an important part of the life of an OU LAL student, not only because it supports them in their studies but also because it enables them to network with other students who love language and understand the unique experience of OU study. Last weekend Sylvia said that she was glad that I could have the benefits of Language and Culture Day, although I agree with this, I strongly believe that I should not be the last student who has such a benefit!
