German Advanced Conversation
Date: 01-29-2013
Class theme/topics discussed: Introductory small talk, Dialects
Goal of the class: Knowledge about the dialectal variety in Germany, Talk about and imitate sounds and patterns
Structure of the class:
– The class was asked about their experiences with dialects in Germany
– Dialect vs. accent
– What dialects are there in Germany?
– We focused on the following: Plattduetsch, Schwiitzerdiitsch, Bavarian, Saxon, and Swabian
– We watched a video about each dialect on youtube
– Students were asked to describe the sounds and think about possible problems for non-native and native speakers
– We repeated sounds and words not known in standard German
– Eventually focus on Bavarian
– We watched part of the show of a Bavarian comedian
– Students were asked to listen carefully and reproduce several concepts that the comedian explains in her show
– After that, students were given a paper with a dialogue in Bavarian.
– We read the text and students practiced the pronunciation by repeating
– Students were asked to act out the dialogue
– The teacher asked individual students questions in Bavarian and students answered respectively.
What technology, media or props did you use? (satellite tv, internet resources, playmobiles, etc.)
Paper, tv, internet, you tube
What worked well in this class? What did not work?
All worked extremely fine, students enjoyed themselves A LOT.
How could this class be improved/ modified?
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