McConnell stepping down

Feb. 29—When Bradley K. Smith introduced Pennsylvania Dutch language classes at the Berks History Center two years ago, he was hoping for a dozen or so students.

"But suddenly, and much to our surprise, interest immediately skyrocketed," said Smith, associate director and curator of the History Center, 940 Centre Ave.

The more than 130 participants far exceeded his wildest expectation, he said.

Not only locals but people from more than a dozen states across the U.S. and abroad signed up. A total of 225 people have taken classes in the past 16 months, and about 270 already registered for courses beginning this month.

"To accommodate this interest, we developed beginner, intermediate and advanced level classes," Smith said, noting all are available in-person or online.

The center also hired two additional teachers and created virtual and in-person conversation groups, so students can practice what they learned.

Smith said the language classes were conceived as a way of helping to preserve a part of Berks County's local heritage.

Pennsylvania Dutch was once spoken by nearly 40% of the state's population, he said, and is still common among the Amish and Old Order Mennonite communities.

"It is otherwise disappearing rapidly," he said. "As such, we feel that we are engaged in an important act of historic preservation, preserving a cultural relic in the same way that museums might preserve a historically significant house, document or artifact."

Beginners learn fundamentals, such as pronunciation, vocabulary and common phrases, with each 90-minute session building on the previous lesson.

Intermediate and advanced courses provide higher levels of study and practice.

But the courses offer more than lessons in language. Aspects of the culture, such as music, food, decorative arts and folklore also are covered, too.

"The classes have evolved over the last four semesters," Smith said. "The beginner class has now settled to be probably about 40% culture and 60% language. That wasn't my plan, but the students have really enjoyed the cultural aspect of it."

Pennsylvania Dutch, primarily spoken by immigrants from the Germanic states and parts of France and Switzerland, evolved as a spoken language. Reading and writing were done in standard German, he noted.

"After the Civil War, there were people writing in Pennsylvania Dutch," Smith said, "but there was no orthography, so written Pennsylvania Dutch was a little hard to follow because three people might spell the same word three different ways."

A standardized Pennsylvania Dutch orthography, a system of spelling and phonics, was developed in the 1950s by Albert F. Buffington and Preston A. Barba and is used in all classes offered by the history center.

Despite the standardization, there are regional differences in pronunciation and word choices in the various areas where the language is or was spoken.

"I like to point out to people, these aren't barriers to conversation," Smith said, "but it's something to be mindful of. It's kind of like if you've ever met someone from Pittsburgh, and you ask them for soda, and they say, 'Oh, you mean a pop.'"

For many students, whose parents or grandparents spoke Pennsylvania Dutch, studying the language is a way of connecting to family heritage.

"For them, this is kind of a way to reconnect with loved ones who are gone," Smith said, "and in that sense, it really has been very special for a lot of people."

For others, the interest is of a more scholarly nature.

"Last semester, we had a college professor from Tokyo take our class," he said.

The professor, who has a sociology background, studies Amish and Mennonite groups and their culture.

"She spoke Pennsylvania Dutch pretty good," Smith said.

There is still time to register for upcoming courses, which begin the week of March 3.

For more information visit https://berkshistory.org/learn/pa-dutch-classes/.