Classes offer rare op to learn Pennsylvania Dutch – Part II
Ken Stough, left, instructor for the Pennsylvania Dutch language classes, talks with Butch Reigart during a class at Providence Place near Dover. Reigart, formerly of York County, is teaching an upcoming Lancaster-based Pennsylvania German course. Background posts: Der Belsnickel of the Pennsylvania Dutch: ‘He looked scary and carried a sack of presents’ and Classes offer rare op to learn Pennsylvania Dutch and York County group preserving Pennsylvania Dutch language, heritage.
People are fascinated with Pennsylvania Dutch language, a dialect of German spoken for decades – centuries – in York County and other parts of Pennsylvania.
Today, the dialect is most prevalent among the Mennonite and Amish, the latter a growing population group in southeastern York County.
According to a news release, the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society is offering 10-week classes in the Pennsylvania Dutch language and culture… .
The new class for beginners with no prior background will be held Thursdays starting March 12. A class for those with one semester or more prior experience in Pennsylvania Dutch, will be held Wednesdays, starting March 11. Both classes meet from 7-9 p.m. at Society headquarters, 2215 Millstream Road, just off Route 30.
Cost is $100 for members, $115 for non-members. The series ends with a meal in an Amish home. Details: 717-393-9745.
Butch Reigart will teach the class.
“Butch’s interactive teaching style,” the press release states, “includes dialogues, songs, stories, history and cultural practices of the Plain People, for whom it is a living language.”
