The first twenty-five years of Dr. Florian Gassner’s life were spent living in a small town in Bavaria. After several years in Canada and Eastern Europe, Dr. Gassner eventually settled at the Department of Central, Eastern and Northern European Studies at the University of British Columbia. Academically, one of his passions is the connection between music and literature. Outside of work, Dr. Gassner can be found hanging out with his biking and hiking buddies.
Dr. Gassner runs the CENES Department’s German Conversation Hour and German Singing Hour. While the groups are currently on hiatus, they typically meet once a week during the Winter terms.
CENES: What initially inspired you to start the weekly German Conversation and Singing Hour at UBC?
Florian Gassner: Communal singing is immensely enjoyable, and constantly meeting new and interesting people is a wonderful benefit of attending university. At the same time, any learner loves practicing their new skills in meaningful ways. Ideally, the Singing and Conversation Hours connect all these items.
CENES: What has your experience been like with students who participate in these initiatives?
FG: The Singing Hour and the Conversation Hour have always been the highlight of my week, simply because our students bring a great energy to the events. It has always been an inspiringly open and welcoming environment, and I am very grateful to generations of students for creating this space in our department.
CENES: What is one tip that you have for students as they embark on or continue their German language-learning journey?
FG: Never think of learning German as “studying the language,” but always as “spending time with the language.” It is not a linear process, but an exploration in which you create ever larger and more complex neural networks.
CENES: What do you hope to see in future iterations of these initiatives?
FG: A shortcoming of most universities is that they don’t create spaces dedicated to supporting extracurricular activities. It would be wonderful to have access to a music room for the Singing Hour or a Café-like setup for the Conversation Hour. But we will continue to do our best to improvise this infrastructure. As of now, we can at least serve free tea for the Conversation Hour.
