Conversation Class
Lesson Plan
Section: Advanced Conversation
Date: 17. September 2009
Class theme/topics discussed: Working on our class project
How did you pick this theme or topic? –
How did you present the material? (handouts, group work, general discussion, student presentations, etc.)
In this lesson we worked on the translation of the song the students had picked the lesson before: ‘Sweet Dreams’ by the Eurythmics. I had prepared copies of the English version and we read that version one more time. Then I asked the students to start translating it into German. I told them not to translate word-by-word but rather with regards to content. I offered them to ask me any vocabulary questions they might have. So occasionally, the students would ask me about certain words or to the paraphrase certain vocabulary. At the end of the lesson the students had translated the whole song into German and typed their final version on my computer, so that I could print out a copy for everyone (note: since I only helped the students with vocabulary questions, the German version of ‘Sweet Dreams’ – which they called ‘Süße Träume’ – is entirely the product of the students).
How did students react?
The students liked working on their German version of ‘Sweet Dreams’. They had fun translating and changing the song into the German.
Did they engage with each other and you?
Yes, they did, they talked a lot and asked a lot of questions about German vocabulary.
What materials or media did you use? (articles, satellite tv, digital projector, etc.)
My laptop
Copy of ‘Sweet Dreams’
Copy of ‘Süße Träume’ (written by the students)
Would you recommend this activity for a future class? Why or why not?