India

I started learning German in 1988, when I was a student of Photography at a Government Technical School in Kolkata, India. I just wanted to learn any foreign language and started with German. It was not compulsory to study foreign languages. However, I thought Germany is the country of technical excellence, and learning German would enable me to read German technical articles. I also had the impossible dream to go to Germany for further study in Photography, but I knew well the impracticality of the idea as my parents could never afford such an expense. Still, I continued with the study of the language.

Then in 1990, I got a job and moved to another city, where there was no opportunity to study German. To not being able to complete my German course was really painful for me. Almost 12 years later, I returned to Kolkata and immediately went to the Goethe-Institute to enrol in a German course. Now, at the age of 39, I am in the Oberstufe.

While I never really had a strong reason to learn German, I fell in love with the language. In the meantime, I also studied Journalism and Communication in India and I still dream of going to Germany one day, perhaps even working at Deutsche Welle. I don’t know when, but I am sure that one day this dream will come true.