Joan Walley on how the efforts to promote the teaching of German in Stoke on Trent are bearing fruit. Plus letters from Veronica Hardstaff and Keith Hayward

The Goethe Institute is right to insist that the shocking decrease in the number of A-level students studying German (2,261 nationally) needs urgent remedy ( ‘It enriches your mind in every way’: the fight to keep the UK learning German, 17 August ). Thanks to my former visionary headteacher, Mr ES Kelly, we didn’t have to fight to learn German when his school opened its doors. As well as learning the language, we left school with a depth of understanding and opportunities to last a lifetime.

Back in 1960, I could never have dreamt that I would find myself listening to the historic address of the German chancellor Angela Merkel to our parliament as I sat next to the UK chancellor George Osborne, only to find that he needed a headphone translation while I didn’t.

Joan Walley on how the efforts to promote the teaching of German in Stoke on Trent are bearing fruit. Plus letters from Veronica Hardstaff and Keith Hayward

The Goethe Institute is right to insist that the shocking decrease in the number of A-level students studying German (2,261 nationally) needs urgent remedy ( ‘It enriches your mind in every way’: the fight to keep the UK learning German, 17 August ). Thanks to my former visionary headteacher, Mr ES Kelly, we didn’t have to fight to learn German when his school opened its doors. As well as learning the language, we left school with a depth of understanding and opportunities to last a lifetime.

Back in 1960, I could never have dreamt that I would find myself listening to the historic address of the German chancellor Angela Merkel to our parliament as I sat next to the UK chancellor George Osborne, only to find that he needed a headphone translation while I didn’t.

Joan Walley on how the efforts to promote the teaching of German in Stoke on Trent are bearing fruit. Plus letters from Veronica Hardstaff and Keith Hayward

The Goethe Institute is right to insist that the shocking decrease in the number of A-level students studying German (2,261 nationally) needs urgent remedy ( ‘It enriches your mind in every way’: the fight to keep the UK learning German, 17 August ). Thanks to my former visionary headteacher, Mr ES Kelly, we didn’t have to fight to learn German when his school opened its doors. As well as learning the language, we left school with a depth of understanding and opportunities to last a lifetime.

Back in 1960, I could never have dreamt that I would find myself listening to the historic address of the German chancellor Angela Merkel to our parliament as I sat next to the UK chancellor George Osborne, only to find that he needed a headphone translation while I didn’t.