Conversation Class Lesson Summary
Language Resident Name: Martin Siebert
Day and Date: Thursday, September 8, 2016
Language and Level (intermediate or advanced class): Advanced
Class theme/topics discussed:
German colloquial language/slang and its usage
Goal of the class:
After the lesson students should have learned basic ways to sound more German: basic shortenings of expressions, slang and alteration of sentence structures while speaking German.
How did you structure the class?
15-20 minutes: The students each receive one or two slips of paper with English expressions/filler words. They try to describe, what function the respective filler word has. The LR helps in explaining the German usage or word for it.
10-15 minutes: The students get in groups of two. They tell each other how their days of the week went (or what their last essay was about, what they learned in the last lesson) and use as much of these filler words as possible. They should also try to explain certain things. After that, they should present their “filler word”-stories to the class.
20-25 minutes: Idiom taboo. Students receive each a paper slip with an idiom (in English). They try to explain their idiom to the other person. They should also attempt to translate it as much as possible to see later if it matches the “official translation”. Quick groups receive more sheets.
What technology, media or props did you use? (internet resources, playmobiles, handouts, etc.)
Whiteboard to write down mentioned vocabulary, paper slips for the Idiom taboo, paper slips with the filler words.
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
Everything worked as expected. Students were very motivated to engage in class and were really interested about the colloquial sentence structures.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
I would keep it as it is.