Hi I'm new here and this forum is great

[chocolate]

Hi guys!

I'm new here. I'm from Germany and this forum is wonderful.
Excuse my probably bad English - I've never spoken English since school, and this is long time ago ;-)
But I'm going to improve my English (I have to do it by necassary - I've a new job in which speaking english is very important) so I hope soon you don't have to bear my broken English any more :)

This forum is great - we haven't such a forum in Germany. Although there are stuttering forums, too. But there is so little movement in these forums. There is only one thread/post a week...

So let my introduce myself:
I'm female, 26 years old and I'm from Bavaria (Germany). I'm studying industrial engineering, but I'm going to finish my studies in two month. Then I start a job as a senior research assistant at university. This job is a big challenge for my speaking. I have to give lectures for students and I have to travel in foreign countries and give lectures about my researches at conferences or meetings. And this lectures must be in ENGLISH - a forgeign language. And when I'm speaking a foreign language I stutter more than twice as much as speaking German!!!:eek:
But I'll try it because this job is exactly the thing what I always wanted to do. It's my dream-job and I don't wont to give up my dream because of my stuttering.

I'm in therapy at the moment and I'm very motivated to work on my speech. I don't know if I manage this, but I think this forum helps me a lot not to give up :)

Best wishes from Germany!!
Susan

[AMANS]

Guten Tag, Susan! Willkommen...

[3FingerBrown]

Welcome aboard Susan!!
Your unbridled ambitions and determination will serve as a great inspiration to many people on this forum.
Sorry to hear that no such forum is around in German but I am very pleased that you found us. :D
You have found a place where people share and understand your anxieties and concerns.
Keep chasing those dreams!

You are not alone.
Ari

[Standingtall]

Welcome Susan, good to meet you. Have you brough some of that German Chocolate with you to the forum? :D

[divisi]

Hi Susan!

I think your English is excellent, but I'm from Spain, and my native tongue is Spanish, so my feeling isn't necessarily accurate.

I also stutter, and I'm also a university professor. This is my first year, and I'm very happy with this experience. I really wish to make a career as professor.

Fortunately, my classes are in Spanish (if they were in another language, it would be much more difficult... like you, I also stutter a lot more when speaking English).

Welcome to the forum!! Your contributions are going to be great!

[chocolate]

Hey=)
I'm very pleased to get so nice replays from you.
It's nice to be not alone with that stutter-problem.

@Standingtall: German chocolate is great, it's nearly the only thing a would miss when I would leave my country:) (Which perhaps I'm going to do if I can manage speaking English whithout too much stuttering..)

@divisi: hey great, you are a professor? That's wonderful! So you have achieved the graduation and the postdoctoral lecture qualification in spite of stuttering? That motivates me a much!!
And now how do you come to grips with giving lectures for students? How do they behave when you are stuttering?
I'm so afraid of the reaction of the students when I must give my first lecture...Well nobody is perfect but I think the students expect a lot...Perhaps I'm too concerned about this:confused:

[divisi]

hey great, you are a professor? That's wonderful! So you have achieved the graduation and the postdoctoral lecture qualification in spite of stuttering? That motivates me a much!!
And now how do you come to grips with giving lectures for students? How do they behave when you are stuttering?
I'm so afraid of the reaction of the students when I must give my first lecture...Well nobody is perfect but I think the students expect a lot...Perhaps I'm too concerned about this:confused:
Well, no, I didn't complete (nor start) the doctoral path yet. However, I'm already a professor (although still in the lowest range in the hierarchy, but I'm already responsible of my own class). I'm the only professor in that class, and I like that.

Regarding students reactions, they're very nice people. I'm very happy with them.

I must add that I use to be quite fluent in class. Yes, I do stutter, but somedays I'm almost 100% fluent, while other days I stutter more frequently. Yes, when in class, I sometimes suffer one of those long blocks. That's an annoying moment, but my students know I stutter, so no problem about it.

I didn't tell my students about my stutter in my first class. However, one day, I got into a long block, so I decided to tell them that somedays my stutter is worse than others. No problem, they're very nice people.

Usually my fluency is better when I sleep more, when I'm more confident, and when I've less worries

I wish you have an experience even nicer than mine!!!

[3FingerBrown]

Susan,
Just to take the pressure off yourself and ease your mind of these worries just tell them. You probably are too concerned about this but its only natural and we've all been there dozens... ok... thousands of times.
When my brother first anounced his engagement to get married my first thought was a fear that I'd have to give a speech. Forget being happy for him, what if I have to give a toast or something? And who wants to see all those people?
Its a never ending endeavor of course but I've grown a lot since then.
Also consider this...
Even if your students aren't nice people like divisi's, don't they have to be nice to you? I know I never got a good grade when the professor didn't like me.
Now I know what you're thinking here...
"Ari... a professor not liking you? How is this possible?"
Well... its true... You can't always account for taste ya know. :cool:

Where do you want to move with your soon to be improved qualifications and language skills?
I was just reading about a brain drain in Germany like last week! Worst in Europe. They have a television show about it right?

[Standingtall]

Hey=)
I'm very pleased to get so nice replays from you.
It's nice to be not alone with that stutter-problem.

@Standingtall: German chocolate is great, it's nearly the only thing a would miss when I would leave my country:) (Which perhaps I'm going to do if I can manage speaking English whithout too much stuttering..)

I have had a few samples of your German Chocolate from a Friend. I got an weakness for Chocolate. :D

[chocolate]

@divisi: I'm very pleased for you that you have so nice students and that you are so happy with your job:-) I think it's no problem when you stutter sometimes. If you have many fluent parts in your speech I guess the students are not disturbed because of stuttering. But I can understand that you are afraid of that long, nerv-racking blockades...Although they appear very seldom.
@3FingerBrown: Cheers for your encouraging words. You are so right! I'm like you as you have heard about the engagement of your brother. I'm not able to look forward my new job, I'm just being concerned about my stuttering. Oh and I think it's really a good idea to tell the students about stuttering before starting a lecture. My therapist gave me that advice, too. That can take a lots of pressure away.
Oh right, we have a huge brain drain in Germany. You have to pay so many taxes (50%) when you are earning good money. That's really unfair and drives many people away from Germany. But I don't want to leave Germany because of the taxes. I want to see a new country and want to live at a new place, want to learn a new language and so on...:-)

[Marrow]

Hey Susan, hope your well.

Industrial engineering, thats sounds cool. Glad to hear your going to be doing your dream job and hope it all works out well. I'm still trying to hang on to being a student for a long as possible and havent got a clue what i want to do after i leave uni :eek: .

Look forward to to hearing your opinions and views on the forum.
Nick.