Foreign Languages Faculty

Dave Limburg name image

Dave LimburgB.A., English and German, 1984, Augustana College
M.A., German, 1987, Ohio State University
Ph.D., German, 1992, Ohio State University

When I was eight years old, my parents took our family to Germany for three months. We lived just down the road from Schwabenheimerhof, a tiny village outside of Heidelberg. Every morning my brothers and sister and I would walk past some fields to a little school in the village. Beyond the fields we could see the ruins of a castle up on a hill. Ever since then I've had what the Germans call "Fernweh." It's hard to translate: if you look it up you'll just find another German word as its definition. But here's a hint: it's the opposite of "Heimweh," which means homesickness. I've always got the next trip in the back of my mind--the summer at the lakes in Minnesota and Ohio, camping our way out west, maybe another drive up the Alaska Highway. Or back to Munich. I've lived there with my family and led our Study Abroad program there three times now. 

One of the things I love most about my job is the chance to see students become more and more motivated to learn about something that seems so foreign to them at first, but then gradually becomes a part of who they are and how they think. Initially your focus is on getting to the next level of language, then you realize you have the skills to explore further: to discover a new part of history through literature, or find a new way to understand a culture through film. Pretty soon you’re ready to pack your bags and experience that new culture for yourself, and try out your language skills. After that semester abroad, watch out, because the “Fernweh” might begin to set in. The nouns and verbs, the songs, the kids' books, the poetry, the novels, the crazy movies,  ... it all really leads up to one thing: that next big trip.

Dave teaches:

Contact Dave at dlimburg@guilford.edu.