German: The Evolution of German Language Teaching

Hi all, Chris here,

I just came across an interesting article on the Goethe-Institut site dealing with the development of German language teaching. It is definitely worth reading and contains a few funny videos as well. This is an informative article for those wishing to learn how German language teaching has changed and how German is taught at the Goethe-Institut. Check it out here. Comments and discussion welcome!

Useful Sites: German

Hey all, Chris here,

I have scoured the Internet for useful sites for German and German language teaching. If you have any more to add please feel free to comment or send us an email. Enjoy!

http://aatg.org/

http://www.edb.utexas.edu/fieldexp/SampleSeminars/SampleSeminar16.html

www.cal.org/resources/faqs/RGOs/methods.html

www.nclrc.org/essentials/index.htm

German Grammar and Language/Online Games/Activities

http://www.nthuleen.com/index.html

http://www.denksport.de/

http://www.quia.com/shared/german/

http://www.verbix.com/

http://lis.dickinson.edu/CourseSup/LangTech/resources.htm

http://eleaston.com/german.html

http://lang.swarthmore.edu/faculty/eplaxto1/

http://www.canoo.net/services/OnlineGrammar/Wort/Ueberblick/index.html?lang=de

http://www.grammatikdeutsch.de/

http://www.mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au/la/lote/german/materials/grammar/derdieds.htm

http://class.georgiasouthern.edu/german/grammar/grammar.htm

http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/rgshiwyc/school/curric/HotPotatoes/germanindex.htm

http://www.hfac.uh.edu/mcl/fll/Germ/home.html

http://www.goethe.de/dll/pro/weltreise/info/info.htm

http://www.goethe.de/z/jetzt/deindex.htm

http://www.geocities.com/kbulger/grmlit.html

http://www.mckinnonsc.vic.edu.au/la/lote/german/materials/grammar/gramlist.htm

http://german.about.com/

http://www.germanfortravellers.com/learn/index2.html

http://www.mud.de/DML/

http://www.uncg.edu/~lixlpurc/NetzSpiegel/Netzspiegel.html

http://www.ielanguages.com/German1.html

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/languages/german/subjects/people.shtml

German News, TV, and Radio

http://www.sueddeutsche.de/app/kultur/bundesdance/index2.html

http://www.sueddeutsche.de/

http://www.homecompany.de/

http://www.hse-massivhaus.de/web/haeuser/home_euro.asp?link=l0401

http://www.ulistein.de/

http://www.kauka.de/kauka/index.php?index

http://www.du-bist-deutschland.de/opencms/opencms/Home.html?connection=dsl&system=win

http://www.comicland.info/links.shtml

http://www.comicland.info/links.shtml

http://www.cartoonguru.com/cartoonsdeutsch.htm

http://www.toonfever.com/cartoonsaufdeutsche.htm

http://www.antenne.de/antenne/comedy/special/index.php

http://www.sowieso.de/zeitung/sommaire.php3

http://tagesschau.de/

http://www.bloomberg.com/media/tv/tv_index_germany.html

http://broadband-television.com/tv/german.html

http://broadcast-live.com/television/deutsch.html

http://broadcast-live.com/newspapers/german.html

http://broadcast-live.com/germany.html

http://www.bundestag.de/info/info/fern.html

http://www.zeit.de/

http://www.bild.t-online.de/BTO/index.html

http://www.euronews.net/create_html.php?page=home

http://broadcast-live.com/newspapers/european.html

http://newspaper-world.com/language/german.asp

http://www.3sat.de/

http://www.zdf.de/ZDFde/inhalt/25/0,1872,2381337,00.html

http://www.vivaplus.tv/

http://www.vokabel.com/

http://de.news.yahoo.com/

http://www.scola.org/eoneCommerce/Portal?DSP=140&ACTN=80001&channel=1&PCR=1:50&scheduledisplay=watch&R=7694

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,1595,265,00.html

Culture & Misc.

http://home.kc.rr.com/rmsweb/Festhaus/index.htm

http://www.geocities.com/kbulger/grmcuisine.html

http://www.geocities.com/kbulger/grmuseum.html

http://www.geocities.com/kbulger/grmusic.html

http://www.fln.vcu.edu/struwwel/struwwel.html

http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/

http://www.free-clipart-pictures.net/

Numbers: Bingo!

Hey all, Chris here, today I will be sharing a fun activity that can be used in any language to help students with learning the numbers. I use this activity in lower level classes as a fun way to practice numbers with students. Directions are below. Enjoy!

 Mit Bingo Nummern (1-100) Lernen (Learning Numbers with Bingo)

    B              I              N            G             O

		Free

Directions: Before the game, students fill out their Bingo cards from a range of numbers for each letter. Students must write the number out – no numerals. The ranges are listed below. The instructor then calls out numbers randomly until a student has a Bingo. The student must read aloud his/her numbers to make sure that they match numbers called by the instructor. The instructor may call on a student to call out numbers as well.

B = 1-19

I  = 20-39

N = 40-59

G = 60-79

O = 80-100 

This activity is used purely as a teaching activity. No challenge to anyone holding the rights to Bingo is intended. 

Spanish: Refranes

Hi all, Claudia here,

A fun way to get your students to learn about Spanish culture is through sayings or proverbs. One activity I like to do with my students is to divide the class in small groups of 3 or 4 and have each group pick a random saying. Each group then tries to understand their saying and find an equivalent for it in English. They then explain it as a group to the class and share the equivalent in English as well, using only Spanish of course! This is really fun because sometimes they act out what they're trying to explain when the rest of the class doesn't understand.

A good wrap up for this activity I've done in the past is to play a song in Spanish that uses some of the sayings gone over in class and have the students identify it. A song I've used in the past is La Tortura by Shakira. This way they connect the sayings to real context and it even helps them understand the meaning of the songs a little better.

Here is a helpful site with a list of popular Spanish sayings and their meanings http://www.refranesysusignificado.com/

You should try it out and let me know how it works for you!

German: Grammar Puzzle

Hello all, Chris here,

today I have a short activity that I like to give students sometimes. This can be used alone or as a question on a quiz or test. Students are given a list of various grammatical topics which lists items such as Modal Verbs, Passive Voice, Future Tense, etc. The students will be asked to write a sentence using a certain number of these categories. This is just to see if they can combine the various features they learn into a single sentence and can be quite challenging depending on which categories they choose and how many you assign. Below is a quick example I would use in a German course:

Schreiben Sie einen Satz, der 5 der folgenden grammatischen Strukturen verwendet:



Modal verb, Dative verb, Subjunctive mood, Passive voice, Relative clause


Present tense, Coordinating conjunction, Present perfect tense, Infinitive clause, Subordinating conjunction

Questions and comments welcome!

Useful Links - Update

Hey all, Chris here,

I've re-added the useful link sections for ESL, German, and Spanish thus far. This was a necessary step after redoing the website template. All links should be in working order. I removed a few from the ESL section that no longer functioned or were redundant.

If you have any links you would like to add, for any language, or just general teaching related sites, feel free to drop a comment or email us! Enjoy!

Group Activities: Gossip Game

Hello everyone, Becky here.

Are you interested in some gossip? Read on...

Gossip is an AWESOME game that I use with many tenses and it is great for teaching any language. You will have to divide the class into 2 groups and have both sit in a separate circle. Group 1 will discuss as a group who from group 2 fits the description for each number (everybody in the group must agree upon the same person and avoid repeating the same name twice) and vice versa. (You monitor this, which is actually really fun, you're the go-between!) Then when all the blanks are filled on both sides, You will ask someone from group 1 to read number 1. Group 2 has to listen intently to what the student in group 1 is saying and for which name he/she says and then the group 2 person mentioned must say yes or no and use the first person in a complete sentence confirming or denying his/her accusation's correctness. Then I always engage students in more conversation about what they confirm or deny and tend to get some pretty funny stories once in a while. Afterwards, the student from group 2 who has confirmed or denied will read the first sentence about someone from group 1 and the activity continues that way. Insisting upon the use of complete sentences for this activity is crucial so that students actually get meaningful practice. Students everywhere love this one! Enjoy!

Group 1 talks about Group 2
1. In primary school __________________ always obeyed  his parents.
2. In primary school __________________ always received good grades.
3. In primary school __________________ always fought with other kids.
4. In primary school __________________ never arrived to class on time.
5. In primary school __________________ read a lot.

Group 2 talks about Group 1
In primary school ____________________ always had boyfriends/girlfriends.
In primary school ____________________ made friends with the popular group.
In primary school ____________________ played many sports.
In primary school ____________________ wore trendy clothes.
In primary school ____________________ fought with his/her parents often.