Modern Foreign Languages

German

Students enjoying the Easter sunshine at Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin

There are around 100 million native speakers of German in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, making it the most frequently spoken language in Central Europe. For many people in the new EU countries, German is also their first foreign language.

A knowledge of German is therefore important in the world of business, especially as Germany has the largest and most thriving economy in Europe. It also gives learners of the language access to one of the greatest cultures in Europe, for German is the language of Einstein, Freud, Goethe, Kant, Nietzsche, Mozart, Beethoven and Bach.

Every year, our students learning German have the opportunity to take part in a trip to Germany and to practise their language skills. In Years 8 and 9 we organize a trip to the Rhineland to immerse ourselves in German culture. For older students (Years 10-13) we offer a visit to Berlin where students are able to experience the recent history and changes in Germany at first hand. We now plan to establish a link with a school in the Ruhr area with a view to setting up an exchange.

German is offered from Year 7 and is taught in a very lively and communicative way. The emphasis throughout Key Stages 3 and 4 is on practical language learning with plenty of activities which enable students to use their language skills.

These include role plays, pair work, group work, short presentations, songs, plays, debates, discussions and the use of interactive whiteboards. We read authentic magazines, watch German films and generally encourage an interest in the cultural background of the German-speaking world, especially at Christmas and Easter when we celebrate German traditions. Our language assistants, who come from all parts of the German-speaking world, contribute enormously to our teaching.

Enjoying the Christmas Markets in Cologne

We also encourage cross-curricular activities. During the Football World Cup in 2010, we learned German football crowd chants and presented the outcome of the German team’s efforts in assembly. In the Sixth Form, we regularly discuss historical events in the foreign language. We will be following with interest the fortunes of the German team in the 2012 Olympics.

Girls from all year groups taste and make German food and the decorating of gingerbread houses – Hexenhäuser – in the run up to Christmas is extremely popular, as is the singing of traditional German carols and finding out about Christmas traditions. In November 2010 the Sixth Form, in conjunction with the Music Department, visited the Christmas markets in Cologne.

Typical themes covered in Key Stage 3 (Years 7 – 9) are: personal details, family, pets, home town, school, food, clothes, hobby and free time, health, environment and holidays.

For GCSE German we follow the Edexcel Examining Board syllabus. All the topics from Key Stage 3 are then revisited and expanded to a higher level so that pupils can talk quite freely about everyday themes and learn to express opinions in German.

Performing the Weihnachtsgeschichte - Carl Orff's 'Christmas Story' - at the end of term assembly

More emphasis is now put on written and spoken communication as well on reading. Pupils also have the opportunity in lessons to practise their listening skills in our state-of-the-art Language Laboratory and our German assistant helps them in groups or individually with their spoken German.

In the Sixth Form, students follow the Edexcel Examining Board syllabus for both AS and A-level German. With Sixth Form groups we continue our lively approach with role plays, discussions, debates, presentations, plays and songs to make language learning fun as well as thorough. The topics build initially on what has been learned for GCSE (e.g. holidays, free time and education) before embarking on more abstract themes like environmental problems, women in society, the media, crime and punishment, the Third World, global issues, discrimination and German history. The AS-level examination is taken at the end of Year 12.

For the A2 course, students also study a film in depth for their Research-Based Essay paper. Again, the German assistant plays a vital role in Sixth Form lessons as the students prepare for their oral examinations. To improve their listening skills, students attend weekly workshops in our Language Laboratory and also follow a self-study programme which enables them to progress at their own pace under the supervision of staff.

Enjoying making Hexenhäuser - gingerbread houses - in the run-up to Christmas