Sharing experiences from Germany

As a result of the positive experiences of previous participants of being involved in ambassadorial activities and the increasing demand in primary schools for ways to support intercultural understanding, our courses now include an element of practical outreach work for all German Pupil Course participants. The aim is for all course participants to share their experiences in form of a presentation and to inspire primary pupils.

About the project

Before travelling to Germany, our German Pupil Course participants went to their local primary schools in order to find out from the kids what interests them most about Germany. With the questions in mind, our participants travelled to Germany and prepared a presentation for the primary pupils, including all the interesting things they found out about. After their return, participants went back to the primary schools and gave fantastic presentations, sharing exciting stories with the kids. Here you can read what the participants said about their presentations. Some reported in English and some in German.

Topics and feedback from the presentations

Christmas

I decided to do my presentation on the theme of Christmas in Germany. I thought since it was close to December 25th it would be the best idea to focus on. The presentation lasted about half an hour. I dealt with mini topics including how Christmas is celebrated in Germany (24th December instead of 25th), the idea of Father Christmas in Germany and presents that kids normally get. I began with getting the kids to learn some German numbers and say them out loud together. I showed them pictures of some traditional German food and what Germans eat for breakfast.

Some kids were asking me if I was German! I would say they enjoyed the counting out loud the most and they seemed to find the pronunciation of German funny! Afterwards there were some questions about primary school in Germany.

I am really glad I did the presentation to the primary school kids. The preparation wasn’t too hard and the PowerPoint was fun to make. I think in my school German is sometimes not as favoured as French and Irish because of lack of understanding and unfamiliarity. Targeting young children and showing them a bit about the country can melt the ice a lot more and definitely eliminate any stereotypes or false conceptions the children may have about Germany.

Connor from Randalstown, German Pupil Course participant in Leverkusen

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