Yorba Linda High School offers a wide selection of foreign languages to teach. The other languages that are chosen, but a good amount of people choose German. German is one of the only classes that has one teacher for the language. 

Ms. Picciotta (Frau) is the German teacher at our lovely school. Frau is engaging, fun, and helpful, which makes a great teacher. Frau makes the German class enjoyable and authentic. 

Ms. Picciotta has an exciting story about her life and how she became a teacher in America. Frau was born in Germany and grew up there most of her life. She started “learning English in the 5th grade and French in 7th grade” Picciotta (S).

Frau, from an early age, started to learn English, and it became her second language. In Germany, the school system is very different, and she did not have English class every day. While Frau was learning English from 5th to 13th grade, she was also learning another language. Without a doubt, Frau knew since third grade that she wanted to become a teacher. Being inspired by her parents who are also teachers and finding a love of learning languages in school, she then made a decision about being a foreign language teacher. 

While in Germany, she lived in a “small beach town where people knew each other” Ms. Picciotta  (S) explains. She loves the bakery in Germany and the chocolate produced in her country. Being a German teacher who lived in Germany makes the class better. The classes get to understand the culture and the way Germans live. Moving to America was quite the change for Ms. Picciotta. After living in Germany for 26 years, she decided to move to the United States and teach students German. 

She taught for 15 years at La Habra High School. After teaching there, she transferred to Esperanza for a year. Now she has been working at Yorba Linda High School for the past five years. Since teaching at YLHS, she loves it; her favorite part of her job is sharing her love for languages. To add on, she enjoys that she gets to have the same students for multiple years, which allows her to get to know them on a deeper level. 

It should be noted she cherishes her friendships and coworkers at YLHS. Ms. Picciotta (S) explains, “the staff is very friendly and engaged in school activities.” One of the most wondered questions of the world is whether people dream in their first language or second language. Ms. Picciotta says when she is in America, she dreams in English, but while in Germany, she dreams in German. To add to that, “sometimes it is a mixture of both languages.” 

German class at YLHS is a unique experience from other schools. The environment and Ms. Picciotta makes it a class to remember. While teaching about her home country, she does often miss it. 

She misses Christmas time the most, and she is not used to sunny weather in December. She misses the particular food, and when she visits, she comes home with a lot of food and German chocolate. 

Most importantly, she misses her family. Her parents live in Germany while she lives here. Her father died two years ago, and when she thinks of her mom, she wishes to spend more time with her. Her family here is her daughter, Alina, and her son Kevin. Kevin is 23, and Alina is a senior at YLHS. 

Frau has a story to share with her peers and students. A little glimpse into her life starts from German class. She makes an outstanding teacher for students to have fun while learning, which is not common. German class is memorable and holds a special place in people’s hearts. Frau is remarkable in every way, and her story is something worth sharing.