Cool ideas for your GFL-classesIt is springtime

Learners of German as a foreign language often have a wide range of prior language skills: their native language, English or other foreign languages they’ve learnt at school, or expressions they’ve picked up whilst travelling or at work. A multilingual approach can take advantage of these various language skills to help German learners. 

Since 2020 the Goethe-Institut USA has been expanding its nationwide network to boost German teaching by working together with American schools. “SPARK for German” is a joint project of the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG) and the Goethe-Institut. The acronym stands for “Strukturiertes Programm zum Aufbau von Ressourcen und Kompetenzen” or “Structured Programme for the Development of Resources and Skills”.

Are routines boring? Not in the least! They can help structure our everyday language-learning efforts and are an important and effective process in natural learning. Working authentic materials into your learners’ everyday lives is the best preparation for the Goethe, telc and ösd C1-level exams.

Multilingual learners consolidate reading strategies more effectively if they can draw on all their language skills – an approach that valorizes and makes the most of their previous knowledge.