Using German Actively – Discussing, Asking and Understanding

Once again this week, our German as a Foreign Language lessons focused on not only learning German, but actively using it.

Grammar became a little more challenging this time as the students worked with sentence starters such as “Despite ...”, “Because of ...”, “Thanks to ...” and “While ...”. They explored how these structures can be used to connect information and express ideas more precisely and in greater detail.

The next task was all about one question: For or against? During reading comprehension activities, the students worked with different opinions and arguments. They read texts, identified important information and analysed which statements supported or opposed a particular point of view.

Things became especially practical during the following survey activity. The students developed their own questions on the topics of nutrition and digital media, carried out their surveys and engaged in conversations with others. German thus became a very direct means of communication: asking questions, listening, understanding answers and collecting results.

Once again, the week was filled with reading, speaking, discussing and experimenting with language. The students were able to show that learning German is about much more than grammar exercises in a workbook.