Goethe Institute – Against the current

The Goethe Institute wants to counter the trend of elitism among learners of German with its new projects.

By Julia Kersebaum / English version by Nancy Joyce

Latin – ancient Greek – German?! The past few years has seen the emergence of a trend toward elitism among learners of German. The Goethe Institute wants to counter this trend with its new projects.

The goal is to target a broad audience and motivate high school students into accepting the challenge of learning German. Providing students with language experience is the emphasis: films instead of textbooks, Internet instead of grammar – networking on many levels. The aim is to free German from the cliché of being a nice language, and this is to take place via social networks.

The showcase project in this area is the three-language, interactive online youth portal “Todo Alemán” (www.goethe.de/todo-aleman), presented by Goethe Institute New York last fall. Spelling, grammar, and punctuation are placed in the background – German here is learned like a native language: through successful communication. A continually growing community of fans from around the world attests to the success of the principle.

The American Association of Teachers of German (AATG) and the Goethe Institute San Francisco have created a different approach to the language. In tandem with the Soccer World Cup in South Africa, the organizations have joined forces to persuade soccer fans that German and soccer are an unbeatable combination. The project is called “Score with German” (www.scorewithgerman.org) and presents teaching materials that focus on soccer to introduce young learners via age-appropriate videos and podcasts to the German language. Also starting in California in the summer of 2010 is the pilot project “German & Soccer” – camps that will also be offered in coming years in other regions of the US.

Following the dual principle of the project camp residents will learn German via the website in the morning and play soccer in the afternoon. The first residential camp will be held July 4-17, 2010, in Moraga in San Francisco. (http://scorewithgerman.org/camp-locations/residential-camps/ )

The annual Award of Excellence, on the other hand, is based on a best-practice approach. Since 1991 a competition has been held in which contestants present a video edited for high school students on an aspect of German life. Whether German food, German fashion, or the fight against climate change – the themes are quite diverse. To ensure material is well learned a quiz is provided that can be submitted and used in class. Prizes are five language courses at the Goethe Institutes in Germany and material about German life, the German language, and learning German. Altogether, over 1.5 million US American students have participated so far, and the numbers grow every year.

The trend against the current – the Goethe language courses mirror this, revealed in an increase in numbers: Every year more than 2,000 learners of German participate in a total of 16,000 hours of classroom instruction. A wide range of German courses caters to learners of all age groups – from small children to seniors, there is something for everyone. German is taught at its six locations in the USA and thirteen in Germany. Especially the success of the German courses in Germany attests to an interest that goes beyond just acquiring knowledge of the language. The aim is to awaken and strengthen interest in the German language across the nation.

Elite is different – says the motto. German is for everyone – that is the mission!

Click here for the original text in German.

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