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German as a foreign language

  • Film in foreign language teaching

    FILM AB! CAMERAS ROLL!

    Films offer a huge potential for the teaching of foreign languages. They have a motivating effect on learners.

    online video player © adobe.stock © adobe.stock

  • Practical tip

    Getting Started: Working Sustainable Development into Your German Class

    Climate protection, clean energy, responsible consumption – young people are taking to the streets nowadays to demonstrate for these issues, which are also economic, social and environmental development goals set by the United Nations. So let’s talk to kids about sustainable development in the classroom.

    Practising sustainability in German lessons © Colourbox © Colourbox

  • Practical teaching tips

    Experience DACH wherever you are: Cultural learning – virtually

    German learners want and should have contact with people and ways of life in German-speaking countries and regions (DACH). Learners all over the world can do that virtually now over the Internet, as well as getting a good look inside other cultures. Here are some practical suggestions on the use of digital media for cultural learning.

    A young woman with a knapsack on, climbing out of a larger-than-life smartphone against a monochrome backdrop © Adobe Stock © Adobe Stock

  • Artificial Intelligence in Foreign Language Teaching

    How is the role of teachers changing as a result of the application of artificial intelligence?

    Prof Dr. Torben Schmidt is an important voice in the field of digital foreign language learning. In an interview with Dr. Moritz Dittmeyer, he discusses the potential and the challenges of AI technologies in foreign language learning.

    Man with smartphone standing in front of a hologram, in the background are different symbols such as a plane or a computer. © Goethe-Institut/GettyImages © Goethe-Institut/GettyImages

  • Practical tip

    Learning scenarios to support future-oriented didactics of German as a foreign language

    Many students, and hopefully many teachers as well, will call 88/100 a nice result. The international team behind the Erasmus+ project ‘Learning Scenarios to Support Inclusive Language and Culture Teaching for Heterogeneous School Classes’ is particularly proud of the EU jury's assessment of ‘best practice’ for a website with dozens of exciting materials for modern GFL and GSL teaching at primary and secondary schools.

    Fünf Erwachsene um einen Tisch in einem großen, hellen Raum, Bücher auf dem Tisch, sie lernen © Getty Images © Getty Images

German as a second language

German as a Second Language (DaZ) qualification in East Belgium

Model East Belgium: Strengthening German as a Second Language Sustainably

Everyday life and the education system in East Belgium are traditionally multilingual. In recent years,more and moreimmigrant children have been living and learning here, many of whom are learning German as a second language. The German-speaking Community supports them — among other things by qualifying teachers.

DaZ in Ostbelgien quadratisch © Getty Images © Getty Images

  • An Interview with Gabriele Kniffka

    “Scaffolding is a linguistic framework.”

    When learning a specialist subject it is necessary to use specific language skills, alongside the specialist language content. However, children from educationally deprived backgrounds or those with German as a second language often have difficulties. Scaffolding is a good technique to make specialist subjects more linguistically accessible.

    Scaffolding Photo (detail): © danimages - Fotolia.com Photo (detail): © danimages - Fotolia.com

  • Didactics

    Multilingualism in teacher training

    How can teachers take advantage of multilingual potential in their classes? And how can trainee teachers best be prepared for linguistic diversity in the classroom? Theorists and practitioners in Germany and Europe are looking into these questions.

  • The importance of first and second languages in personal expression

    To express emotions, we mostly rely on our native language

    (Foreign) languages open up new worlds to us, but we generally feel most at home in our mother tongue. And yet, as Professor Thorsten Piske at Friedrich Alexander University in Erlangen and Nuremburg explains in an interview, our native language isn’t always the language we speak best.

    A teacher plays the guitar for his students © Getty Images © Getty Images

Multilingualism

  • Language learning and German education policy

    Bilinguals have better maths skills

    Language learning trains the brain. Learning two languages at an early age develops language skills in general. But bilingual kids also do better in other cognitive subjects – like mathematics. Professors Michaela Sambanis and Heiner Böttger explain why a paradigm shift is needed and how to make it work.

    Little boy in front of blackboard © Getty Images © Getty Images

  • Multilingualism and Foreign Language acquisition

    Making Assessments More Equitable for Multilingual Learners

    Teachers can take steps to make sure that tests only measure students’ content knowledge rather than their reading comprehension.

    Four cheerful pupils © Getty Images © Getty Images

  • Practical tips

    Multilingualism – An asset in promoting literacy

    Multilingual learners consolidate reading strategies more effectively if they can draw on all their language skills – an approach that valorizes and makes the most of their previous knowledge.

    Four children sit at a table. © Colourbox © Colourbox

Didactics

Language and Movement

When Movement supports Language Learning and When It Does Not

For several years now, movement has been a central topic in educational discourse. In various education systems, such as the Finnish one, learning is increasingly viewed as a holistic process in which cognitive, social and physical dimensions interact (Castro-Alonso et al., 2024).  Interest in movement-based approaches has also been growing in the field of foreign language teaching. At the same time, many teachers are wondering what specific contribution movement can make to language learning. Is every form of movement automatically beneficial to the learning process, or can it sometimes distract from the actual learning objective?

Schüler*innen geben sich ein High Five © Getty Images © Getty Images

  • Pluricentric Cultural Studies in German Teaching

    The Goal Is Just One Possible Approach

    Moin, Servus or Grüezi (“hello!” in North Germany, Bavaria/Austria, and German-speaking Switzerland respectively)? Möhre, Karotte or Rüebli (regional words for “carrot”)? Is it die or das Mail (“email”)? All these words and forms are correct. And they are expressions of how varied the German-speaking world is, both linguistically and culturally – a reality that ought to be reflected in German teaching. But how to go about it?

    The words Hallo, Moin and Servus on a typewriter keyboard © Adobe Stock © Adobe Stock

  • AI in schools

    “Mistakes are now corrected by AI”

    Last year, teacher Hendrik Haverkamp explained in DIE ZEIT how ChatGPT is transforming teaching. What has happened since then? A discussion about the time-saving benefits of artificial intelligence and how it may spell the end of homework.

    Das Internet bringt die Welt an den Schreibtisch. © Colourbox © Colourbox

  • Practical tip

    Learning scenarios to support future-oriented didactics of German as a foreign language

    Many students, and hopefully many teachers as well, will call 88/100 a nice result. The international team behind the Erasmus+ project ‘Learning Scenarios to Support Inclusive Language and Culture Teaching for Heterogeneous School Classes’ is particularly proud of the EU jury's assessment of ‘best practice’ for a website with dozens of exciting materials for modern GFL and GSL teaching at primary and secondary schools.

    Fünf Erwachsene um einen Tisch in einem großen, hellen Raum, Bücher auf dem Tisch, sie lernen © Getty Images © Getty Images

  • Practical tips

    Using Digital Tasks for Action-Oriented Language Learning

    “Too complicated”, “too much lost time” or “I don’t have any control over what my pupils are doing there” – this is how some teachers spontaneously react to the idea of using task-based language learning in a digital context.

    A teacher supervises the digital learning of his pupils © Colourbox © Colourbox

  • Language Policy

    German Language Teachers Are Key

    Worldwide an additional four thousand German teachers are needed. Language skills are the key to successful integration for immigrant students and skilled workers.

    Speakers on a stage with an audience © Goethe-Institut / Bernhard Ludewig © Goethe-Institut / Bernhard Ludewig

  • Stress prevention in the teaching profession

    Achieving motivation and balance in your everyday life as a teacher

    Coping with everyday life as a teacher with highly diverse lesson requirements and student groups calls for secure structures and approaches to ensure teachers maintain motivation through the working day.

    Stress prevention in the teaching profession © adobe.stock © adobe.stock

Digital Media

  • Artificial intelligence in foreign language learning

    How AI software is making its way into language learning

    AI technology is now omnipresent and it’s hard to imagine teaching a foreign language these days without it. Here’s a look at the emerging field of natural language processing and potential uses (and abuses) of AI tools in language courses.

    Walls of binary codes forming transmission lines for impulses: digital information is represented as being analogous to a nerve cell. © Adobe Stock © Adobe Stock

  • Practical tips

    Using Digital Tasks for Action-Oriented Language Learning

    “Too complicated”, “too much lost time” or “I don’t have any control over what my pupils are doing there” – this is how some teachers spontaneously react to the idea of using task-based language learning in a digital context.

    A teacher supervises the digital learning of his pupils © Colourbox © Colourbox

  • Teacher Training Podcasts

    Learning on the Go with Podcasts in Your Pocket

    Can we learn new things on the go, whilst going for a walk, exercising or doing household chores? Yes, with podcasts! 

    Two people with headphones and a microphone record a podcast. © Colourbox © Colourbox