I have just got the school report card from my youngest (13). German law requires that I get this along with a report on how the children are doing. My ex-wife has managed to distill this down to a few legally acceptable lines, as I have reported before!

What is interesting are the marks for English and French. Just a quick reminder: I live in Germany, my Ex-wife is German, and never had any interest in speaking English, only French. Until the final break with the children, I always spoke English to them.

Now during the alienation process, it was clear from what the children said that not only was I a “loser”, but also by extrapolation anything English was also bad, and of course vice versa, something bad about the UK comes in the news “Yes well, of course, Dad’s British”. Bloody hell by this logic Brexit was probably my fault 🙂

Is it any surprise that the worst mark on the card by a mile is for English, and the best French?

Interestingly enough as a comparison on Friday, I had a wonderful confirmation of how it could have worked. I picked my step-son (8.5) up in the afternoon. For information: he started with English at school in September, and I switched to only talking to him exclusively in English at the start of the year. At home we watch some TV-series with him in English, as I did with my children. I speak German with my wife (his mother). He spoke to me in English the whole trip home, because he wanted to. Whole sentences, even with some sayings and British English usage (We nearly missed the bus: “That was close Daddy”, he wants to sell me something “Special Offer 600 quid”).

I was so proud of him, and nevertheless part of me was sad. This is what I could have given my boys. I would have cost nothing, and been so useful to them in later life.

Yet another small but relevant result of the abuse my ex-wife has committed.

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