Herzlich willkommen (Hearty welcome)
Mit Liebe aus Deutschland (With love from Germany)
These were some of the phrases that could be heard at Treffpunkt (meeting point) – a German fest organised by Modern High School for Girls recently.
The fest had quiz shows, skits, talent-hunt and an exhibition – events that are part of any fest – but one needed to be specially trained to understand what was being said. Because the spoken language was German.
Modern High had invited nine other city schools, which offer German as a second or third language, and a school each from Nepal and Bangladesh to be part of the festival.
It was a celebration of a language that is still not common in city schools though several schools offer German, French and Mandarin as second or third language.
Modern High started offering German as a foreign language in 2011. The same year, the school hosted the first German inter-school fest and “provided a platform for students learning German to come together and explore the language”.
“I am honoured to be at a meeting of students who have chosen German voluntarily as an additional language to learn,” German consul-general Olaf Iversen said. “More people speaking German will also help create a bond between our two countries. By learning a foreign language you automatically learn about the culture of the country from where the language comes.”
In one of the events, Licht, Kamera, Aktion! (Lights, Camera, Action!), students had to prepare a skit after being told about a person, a situation and a product.
Delhi Public School New Town got Beethoven as the person and students had to sell “popcorn” at cinemas. A couple of students would sell popcorn when “Beethoven comes and tell them that he ate jelly candy, and that’s what made him so popular”.
“All the children thought if candy made him so famous they, too, would have it,” said DPS Class VI student Yuvika Dwivedi.
The first Treffpunkt had four PaSch schools (Partner Schools of Goethe Institut) of Calcutta.
“The students are excited about the fest because they can apply the language outside their curriculum,” Anita Mitra, education cooperation officer of Goethe Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, said. “They make posters and jingles based on real life experiences… it makes them feel part of something that is unique.”
The excitement was palpable as students rehearsed and conversed with each other in German.
Modern High director Devi Kar said: “We find a population in school comfortable in German.”
The school’s German club meets every Monday to watch German films and discuss their songs and culture to help improve students’ vocabulary.
The school believes in celebrating the language in totality and not just by tucking in a German song or dance in the annual programme. “Students try to use German as a natural language… using extensively what they learn in class,” Modern High principal Damayanti Mukherjee said.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta,India / Front Page> Calcutta> Story / by Jhinuk Mazumdar / Thursday – December 31st, 2015