My learning path began back in elementary school in Moscow. From the 4th to 9th grade I’ve actively learned German and even had a pretty good average score. Oh, It was a sweet time. I remember that our class was singing the “O Tannenbaum” song on a school Christmas eve.
I also recall learning by heart “Die Loreley” by Heinrich Heine. I do think nearly every student in Russia who was learning German can pull from the deepest depths of the memory archives the first couple of lines from this beautiful poem.
In the higher grades, my attention shifted a bit towards translating Rammstein songs (instead of properly learning Partizip II and other grammatical wilds).