Ich kann Deitsch schwetze!

That means I can speak Pennsylvania Dutch.

After four hours of language class with Bob Andrews, I have more familiarity with vocabulary, traditions and history of Pennsylvania Dutch. Nowhere near fluent, I now know more than the “Can you catch a fly?” question and a few words that would get children into trouble.

Forty students recently spent two Saturday mornings in Hope Hall at Jerusalem UCC in Trachsville listening to Andrews teaching The Lord’s Prayer, Psalm 23, the alphabet, numbers, days of the week, nursery rhyme “Mary Has a Little Lamb,” and a couple songs in Pennsylvania Dutch.

“I thought it was a great class. Both my parents are Pennsylvania Dutch. My maiden name is Steigerwalt and it’s very common,” said Jennifer Lesisko.

Andrews provided a packet of handouts with the Pennsylvania Dutch above the English translations. He’d read or sing it first and then have the class repeat it with him.

For instance, the popular children’s rhyme “One two, buckle my shoe ...” goes like this in Pennsylvania Dutch: Eenz zwee, eischnalle mei Shuh, drei vier, mach die Dear zu, fimfe sexa, lese die Steche uff, siwwe achte, mach die Falder zu, neine zehe, en gross fett Hinkle.

The English version rhymes, but the Pennsylvania Dutch version does not. For this reason, “nine ten, big fat hen” has a better ring to it than neine zehe, en gross fett Hinkle.

A love for teaching

Though Andrews says being in front of the class these days wears him out and he gets winded quickly, teaching comes naturally to him. He would pause from what he was saying to hold up a reference book or answer a student’s question.

“You’ve been a really good class. Very attentive,” he said near the end of the second session.

Back in October, he had read the Lord’s Prayer in Pennsylvania Dutch at the church’s 175th anniversary celebration and Steph Anderson, church treasurer, asked him if he’d like to teach a course for some church members. He agreed, thinking there might be at least a handful of people interested.

“We had 60 people sign up,” Anderson said. “Due to illness or other commitments after we rescheduled the first session due to the snowstorm, we had about 40 people each Saturday.”

Andrews began his career teaching special education at Pleasant Valley. Then he taught special education for Carbon County. He retired from Lehighton School District in 1996, where he had taught special education at the middle and elementary schools.

Awhile back, he taught a 16-week Pennsylvania Dutch course for the community. It was held at Pleasant Valley Middle School.

Andrews’ dad was also a teacher.

“He never cursed. But he had ways he spoke in Pennsylvania Dutch that would sound like cursing,” Andrews said.

A fading language

It is an “American language that developed from the immigration of German speakers to colonial Pennsylvania. Many scholars and some speakers of the language call it Pennsylvania German in order to emphasize its historical connection with German rather than the Dutch (Netherlandic) language,” according to www.padutch.net.

Andrews told the class that William Penn visited Germany in 1671 and 1677 and invited Germans to settle in Pennsylvania. The first arrivals on the “Concord,” also known as the German Mayflower, settled in Germantown, six miles from Philadelphia in 1863.

A great majority came from the Palatinate area in Germany.

There are as many as 350,000 to 400,000 people today who can speak Pennsylvania Dutch throughout the U.S., Canada and parts of Belgium.

“When my daughter lived in Belgium, we went to visit her and heard it being spoken around the towns,” Andrews said.

It remains the primary language for the Amish and Old Order Mennonites. On the back roads near Lancaster, road signs are written in Pennsylvania Dutch. There are four major dialects, with many local and regional variations, he said.

“There’s a lot of stuff out there in Pennsylvania Dutch. It’s not a dead language, but it’s on life support,” he told the class.

Class member Irene Zacharias spoke of her grandfather, Alfred Hawk, who was a basket weaver. He and other family members talked Pennsylvania Dutch around her. She can understand it, but not read it, after hearing them and taking this class and others before it.

“It’s the heritage of this area and our grandparents grew up with it. They didn’t think to teach it to us so we can continue to pass it on,” said class member Christine Meinhart-Fritz.

Not allowed at school

One reason the language is fading among younger generations is that after World War II, it wasn’t favored by the community, and they assimilated further into American culture.

“When I went to school, the teachers only wanted us to learn and speak English. Pennsylvania Dutch wasn’t allowed,” Andrews said.

But it was allowed at home.

“My grandparents spoke it. I was always told I would not have a problem speaking it. I took German in school with a teacher who had a Pennsylvania Dutch accent,” said class member Preston Beers III.

It is a language that many can speak, but few can write it or read it.

“Many Pennsylvania Dutch speakers have never learned to read or write it in their native language since their literacy needs have been met by English, German or both,” says www.padutch.net.

Several students shared how Pennsylvania Dutch was spoken when around the children - when the adults didn’t want them to know what they were saying. The kids caught on quickly that it was a conversation not meant for their ears. They figured out some of the words by the context and tone of the adults’ voices.

“All the adults spoke it. I basically learned it from my grandfather,” Andrews said. “Back then, you wrote it how it sounded. There was no standardization in the spellings.”

Over the years, Pennsylvania Dutch dictionaries have been published. He held up a couple to show the class. Preston Barba, Albert Buffington, Eugene Stine, C. Richard Beam and other scholars have made attempts at standardizing both spelling and pronunciation, and at providing more inclusive dictionaries.

He said these dictionaries and other resources are available for purchase around the area. He also mentioned the Kutztown Folk Festival, a nine-day event in July that provides insights about Pennsylvania Dutch traditions through music, entertainment, demonstrations, food and hands-on activities.

Grundsow Lodsch

There are 18 Groundhog Lodges in central and eastern Pennsylvania, which date back to 1934. Traditionally, only men gathered at these meetings. These meetings were an effort to keep the Pennsylvania Dutch language and culture alive.

Andrews is a longtime member of the Groundhog Lodge #6 of Monroe County. Its big events are the Groundhog Day ceremony at Cherry’s Diner on Feb. 2 and their annual banquet later this month.

Andrews explained what Groundhog Day is about to the crowd in 2013.

“It’s a lot more than fun and silliness perpetrated by a bunch of old men. It’s about a language, a culture, a tradition and a value system that is slowly but surely slipping away,” he said back then. “The Pennsylvania Dutch are a proud people who believed in respect, responsibility and common sense. They worshipped their God, loved their country, helped their neighbors and believed in being independent.”

This year, he was invited to give the weather prediction at the Groundhog Day ceremony.

The rule of thumb is if Sammi sees her shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. If she does not see it, the forecast is for an early spring.

Andrews has a sense of humor - in English and in Pennsylvania Dutch. He said Sammi, a stuffed groundhog, has been confused by this weather. Although she did not see her shadow, there’s still a lot more winter left. Andrews’ advice was to keep your shorts near your overcoat.

“At the banquet, we ask attendees how many can speak it. Only a few hands go up. A lot of the older people aren’t here, and you don’t hear this language as much,” he said.

These events are very important to Andrews and other lodge members.

“I go to six other groundhog lodges’ events to learn more about the heritage and see how each group runs their lodge,” said Barry George, member of Groundhog Lodge #11 on the Fireline, Carbon County.

George has a stuffed groundhog and a collection of booklets from Lodge #11’s banquets dating back to 1958. The booklets contain information about the lodge’s leadership, or “rawd” in Pennsylvania Dutch, that year and insights into the PA Dutch culture.

“We know the lodge formed in 1956, but I haven’t found the booklets for 1956 and 1957 yet,” he said.

To end with some Pennsylvania Dutch words of wisdom: Mit viela hend macht leicht (With many hands the work is light.)

With folks like Andrews, George and lodge leaders, the work to share the Pennsylvania Dutch culture is light, but necessary, to keep it from fading away.