Magazin Sprache © Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio In the Magazin Sprache you will find current articles on learning and teaching German as a foreign language: practical tips as well as specialist articles for in-service trainers and teachers. © Colourbox 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. © Adobe Stock 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. © Goethe-Institut/GettyImages 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. © Getty Images 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. © Adobe Stock 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. © Adobe Stock 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? Top
