The lack of recent posts is indicative of a lot of work going on behind the scenes! I'm currently teaching myself how to create and run a database driven website and working on a complete overhaul of the entire content: almost 700 files of various types and well over 3000 links. In its current form, the site has become unwieldy to manage and that is the main reason that has prompted the change. In addition, the new version will have a number of additional features, and even more content. There's quite a bit more to do before it goes public, but I'm hoping to get most of it done in the next couple of months. I am of course still managing subscription requests for the German Exercises index and I continue to encourage you to contact me with feedback and suggestions. Happy browsing!

Labels: website, what-is-new

Interjections, the little words like 'oh' and 'hm', carry a lot of meaning in oral communication in all languages. How often do we focus on them in our teaching? For German, I recently read the poem 'empfindungswörter' by Rudolf Otto Wiemar. It impressed me with its simple juxtaposition of various interjections with the words 'the Germans'. It really has to be read aloud with appropriate intonation for full effect.

empfindungswörter
aha die deutschen
ei die deutschen
hurra die deutschen
pfui die deutschen
ach die deutschen
nanu die deutschen
oho die deutschen
hm die deutschen
nein die deutschen
ja ja die deutschen

Relevant links that might be of interest:

• Wiktionary has a collection of interjections in each language: German and English To find this in other languages, go to the main page of the Wiktionary in that language, and then look for an index of categories.


• The Canoo website has information and examples in German.


• The German Wikipedia site has even more information.

The Goethe Institute has a lesson plan on stereotypes that incorporates the poem by Wiemer.

Labels: all languages, English, german, inter-cultural language learning, lesson plan

The Goethe Institute has a simple boardgame using a number of Bauernregeln (farmers' proverbs). It is called Bauernrallye and the website has the gameboard as well as worksheets and other teaching suggestions.

My own Bauernregeln collection has over 800 proverbs arranged by months and other themes. They are great for cultural discussions in the classroom as they are short insights into attitudes and practices. Here are some more teaching ideas using Bauernregeln.

Labels: farmers' proverbs, games, german, links, teaching ideas, website

Looking for a entry point into the German music scene? The Step into German website offers videoclips, songtexts and extensive worksheets for many of Germany's current bands.

If you are a soccer fan, check the archive for materials from the World Cup in 2006.

Labels: german, links, promotion of languages

The main objective of this game is to describe an object, of which one does not know the name. Students are required to overcome the need to know exact words for the objects they meet in daily life. One student is given a familiar item and must convey what it is to the group, using only the target language.

It would be useful for the class to know words for "gizmo", "thingamijig" or "whats-a-ma-call-it" before they start. Questions like "What is it used for?", "Who would probably use it?" and "Is its colour important?" etc will also help the students with this activity. Students should not make use of their hands in their descriptions.

This activity offers various possibilities:

1. Students are in groups of 4 or 5. One student from the class is chosen and is shown an object outside the classroom. The student returns and describes the object. The other students may confer within their groups and either write the name of the object in English, or else draw the object.


2. Use objects that the students are likely to be unfamiliar with (e.g. typewriter eraser with a brush on the end, a bodkin for pulling elastic through a waist seam when sewing etc.). One student is shown the object and then describes it and the other students have to speculate on what it was used for.


3. One student pulls an object out of a bag and then has to convince other students to buy it.


4. One person from each of two teams is shown the object and must get their team to say the word in English, or draw it, before the other team works it out.

Here are some possible items to start with: plastic gizmo put in the middle of a large pizza to keep the top of the box from touching the pizza; plastic scoop from large box of laundry detergent; toothbrush handle with the head broken off; empty toilet roll; a house or hotel from a Monopoly game; emery board; refill for a ball-point pen; plastic bread bag closure; plastic loop that attaches the price tag to clothes; funnel; origami bird; plastic container for 35mm roll of film; name-tag from a conference; a plastic toy from a 'Kinder Surprise' chocolate egg; a staple puller/remover; plastic/card inner ring from a roll of sticky tape; styrofoam peanuts used for packaging; carbon paper.

Labels: all languages, teaching ideas

How successful are 'International Years of x'? What can one do to promote success for the International Year of Languages, both in 2008 and into the future?

Acclaimed linguist, David Crystal, wrote a thought-provoking presentation for the European Day of Languages on 26 September last year, in which he addressed these questions. His summary is that we need a LADDA: Locations (museums, places to go to find out about languages); Awards (recognising outstanding work in linguistics and the preservation of languages); Days (annual days celebrated as festivals: 21 February is International Mother Language Day and various dates are celebrated as World Languages Day); reliable Data (on language diversity and use); and Artworks (to commemorate languages). The full text is available at http://www.crystalreference.com/DC_articles/Langdeath20.pdf

Labels: all languages, promotion of languages

I find Sudoku puzzles, particularly the hand-crafted rather than computer-generated ones, to be an addictive form of intellectual entertainment. The delight of seeing a solution unfold can be comparable to seeing a new vista with each step in a Japanese garden.

Logic is the key to solving Sudoku puzzles, and hence they can be a good class activity to combine simple language with higher-order thinking skills. Project or draw one on the board and encourage students to suggest where numbers can be placed.

For German-only classrooms, the words Zeile (row), Spalte (column), Block/Bereich (3x3 block) will be useful, as well as oben/unten, links/rechts. Rules and tips in German are on Janko's excellent puzzle site. For hand-crafted puzzles, go to the Guardian newspaper's collection.

Labels: all languages, games, german, japanese, teaching ideas