The teacher of German in St. Stanislav’s Institution, the Diocesan Classical Gymnasium Irena Bolta participated in a course on methodology and German language teaching, which took place from 18th -29th August 2014 in Regensburg. The objectives of the course were to refresh oral and listening skills, update one’s knowledge in current German affairs, improve methodology skills and didactics in teaching German, and to benefit from the exchange and share best practice with colleagues. Six teachers had lessons from Monday to Friday (9.00 to 12.30 & 13.30 to 15.30), which included working with pictures, texts and films, talking about songs in the classroom and German products, thus getting acquainted with the youth and street speech. Besides that, there was additional programme in late afternoons and evenings in which we were expected to take part: a guided city tour, a Regensburg quiz, an excursion to Walhalla, a visit to a local brewery and the cathedral.
I benefited a lot from the course. I discussed different ideas with other participants and got plenty of useful teaching materials. I will try to apply these materials in the classroom as often as possible, especially with the advanced groups of learners. Some examples include various topics such as characteristics of the German language, healthy food, travelling, living in Germany as well as other useful materials for teaching grammar, vocabulary and idiomatic expressions.
I had a presentation of my two-week stay and the course in Regensburg at a teachers’ meeting at The Diocesan Classical Gymnasium in October 2014, another presentation followed in November 2015 at the International German Teachers’ Conference of Slovenia held in Rimske Toplice. Furthermore, I share my experience and the materials with my colleagues at my school and other German teachers in Slovenia I meet on different occasions. /Irena Bolta/