The Intermediate Class by Sam Allingham

　　This is a story of a man named Kiril, who attends a German intermediate class. Since the students are not allowed to speak English, they try to communicate in simple German. Kiril feels a barrier in communication because of his poor German. The other students feel the same way.

But even if Kiril is away from the class, his English, which is supposed to communicate far better than his broken German, does not convey his true feeling. He feels irritated.

At the end of the last class, the German teacher plays Schubert: Der Erlkonig on the piano. As he plays it, he explains how the story develops by the sound of the music like: now he sounds frightened. And here is the father. You can hear he is strong, in his voice.

  As a whole, Allingham showed how inconvenient a language is. It is sometimes a hindrance for communication, while music is a better tool for communication.

 But a perfect commutation is after all impossible.