November 2022
Annie Gentil-Kraatz

My name is Annie Gentil-Kraatz and I am French. I am a language specialist and a photographer. My husband and I have our own limited company, AKCM Services Limited, and we are both Directors and Shareholders of this company. We specialise in Consulting and Media Services.

I have studied German at the Goethe-Institut on and off for at least five years now. Our teacher at the Goethe-Institut London was great, super punctual and professional and the lessons were still fun. He taught grammar very thoroughly.

We got so good with grammar that we even found a grammar mistake in the study book. He got us to give our first presentations in German and it was quite an achievement. My very first presentation in German was about contemporary art.

My husband and I really enjoyed the Christmas party we attended at the Goethe-Institut. It was the very first time I had ever sung in German: ‘Stille Nacht’.

Without the Goethe-Institut London, I would not be able to speak with my husband’s parents in Baden-Württemberg. I just wish they could also teach Schwäbisch, the local dialect.

In 2037 (the year of the 75th anniversary of the Goethe-Institut London), I will visit the Goethe-Institut London and thank them for helping me learn German. Surely in 2037, I will speak it perfectly. Maybe I will also teach it by then.