The Latest at Goethe

Only one thing has never changed over the decades: the language of instruction at the Goethe-Institut is German from the beginning. Yet, the days of a standard textbook for all are long past. And consumption of water in the shower is left to each individual to decide. By Ursula Quass

It began with a familiar sounding word. “Amerika,” “Europa” – often the terms in the German aspirants’ native language don’t sound all that different than in German. And off they go: “Hier ist eine Karte, das ist eine Landkarte. Wo liegt China? China liegt in Asien,” the lessons moved ahead. “And that’s how we scrambled forward,” is how Hans-Peter Apelt, who worked as a language teacher for roughly 35 years in Europe, Asia, the United States, Australia and Latin America, remembers the beginnings of German lessons, which were very grammar based.

It was 1953 when the first three advanced training courses were held for foreign German teachers. The first language courses were opened in the Federal Republic of Germany on 1 May 1953, in Bad Reichenhall, a frontier town on the way to Salzburg. Until the late 1960s the institutes were located mainly in small towns and villages in the countryside. The idea back then was that it was easier to learn in the country where it was quiet and undisturbed.

Lessons in those days: Who are the dirndl girls waiting for?

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They were also convinced that it would be easier for the students to make contact with the local population. It wasn’t always easy, though, if the local population spoke only the local dialect. The one toilet per floor and limit to one shower per week also sometimes were a cause for astonishment among the students from well-to-do families – the only ones who could afford a stay in Germany in those days.

It began with the eight-week standard course: lessons, accommodation with families and board included. Gradually, four-week courses were offered and later even two-week courses with a special programme. “Back then, significantly, they were still called special courses,” reports Apelt.

Unsuitable love

Just as the Goethe-Instituts gradually moved from the country to the cities, the rigid system that existed into the 1980s gradually loosened and the standard textbook, too. Until the mid-1960s one book was primarily used: “good old Schulz-Griesbach.” Generations of German teachers and learners will never forget the sentence it contained “Nein danke, Zigaretten schaden der Gesundheit” (No, thank you, cigarettes are damaging to health.) – a remarkably up-to-date statement these days, which was used to practice the dodgy dative case.

Otherwise, things were pretty old fashioned from today’s standpoint: male teachers wore ties and it was frowned upon for female teachers to wear jeans. They had to write up their own grammar tests as there were not yet any standardized tests available. “If you were to write ‘I love ...’ as an example for a fill in the blanks exercise, it was highly possible that the institute director, who had to approve everything, would ask whether that was really suitable for lessons,” Apelt says. Things changed radically again after 1968 when co-workers began being on first-name terms with one another. “These are just social fads,” Apelt muses, “the Goethe-Institut reflects realities in Germany.”

Of course, whatever was the latest technological advance also found a place in the classrooms. In the 1960s, language labs and electronic classrooms were all the rage. “Please repeat the sentences,” the tape announced to the room, “Es ist Frühling” the students repeated in chorus. Yet, according to Apelt, these “grammatical drills” had their advantages. “Today, pronunciation is sometimes not practiced enough and it is noticeable later on.” Hence, the pronunciation exercises on tape are still justified today, although they are found more in the self-study centres set up over the course of the institutes’ moving to the cities.

Communication is the primary aim

Today, in the classroom there is one primary aim: communicating with one another. Instead of up-front teaching, we find more one-on-one conversation, group work and exercises on individual initiative and the material can be practiced and examined in depth on the Internet. There is even suitable material for every possible specialized group, such as reading courses for archaeologists.

The German language was also seen as a means for integration early on, as the German courses for foreign employees offered since the late 1960s prove. This ultimately resulted in the development of the nationwide integration courses introduced in 2005 – even if they are not part of the Goethe-Institut’s programme. Since the mid-1970s, the Große and Kleine Deutsche Sprachdiplom have been crucial for overseas students enrolling at a German university. In 2000, a German language proficiency test (TESTDAF) was also introduced, with which participants with intermediate language skills can gain access to higher education in Germany.

Goethe-Institut today: Encounter with the Quietscheentchen

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Alongside the trend towards diversification of content, there is also a distinct trend to ever more standardization, which does not end at national borders. Since the early 1990s, Germany, Austria and Switzerland have together been developing material for language courses and since the late 1990s they grant the same certificates (Zertifikat Deutsch on B1 level).

No matter where, today everything centres on communication. Today, the 69-year-old teacher would begin a lesson by saying, “Guten Tag, mein Name ist Apelt” and not with an abstraction like “Europa” as the first courses did – notwithstanding the European ideal and cooperation.