ELT World » germany Your local friendly TEFL blog Fri, 04 Jun 2010 05:32:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 en hourly 1 Germany: Non-traditional names linked to teacher ‘discrimination’ /2009/10/germany-non-traditional-names-linked-to-teacher-discrimination/ /2009/10/germany-non-traditional-names-linked-to-teacher-discrimination/#comments Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:51:55 +0000 david /?p=937 Halten sie kinder. Wie heissen sie? Apologies for my crap German, but if the answer is Charlotte or Chantal, you could be in trouble. From the moment they first read the school register, exclaims The Local (Germany’s news – in English!) teachers could already be unfairly prejudiced against certain children, a new study from the University of Oldenberg revealed this week.

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]]> /2009/10/germany-non-traditional-names-linked-to-teacher-discrimination/feed/ 0 Germany: No foreign language… No job! /2009/07/germany-no-foreign-language-no-job/ /2009/07/germany-no-foreign-language-no-job/#comments Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:44:15 +0000 david /news/?p=418 In Germany it seems that, increasingly, many small and midsize businesses are certain: English is a must. Eleven percent of 1,000 small and midsize businesses surveyed by the EU Commission stated that they had lost orders because of inadequate foreign-language skills; 26% of those businesses specified English and 13% mentioned German as the most important languages for export commerce.

The Hamburg Express notes that, although German is widely spoken among the 370 million people who reside in the 15 member states of the European Union (EU), the English language still predominates. Approximately half of all Europeans can communicate in English, which is spoken by circa 340 million people native speakers throughout the world.

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]]> /2009/07/germany-no-foreign-language-no-job/feed/ 0 German troupe brings English plays to Japan schools /2009/03/german-troupe-brings-english-plays-to-japan-schools/ /2009/03/german-troupe-brings-english-plays-to-japan-schools/#comments Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:20:20 +0000 david /news/?p=357 Germany and Japan: Yomiuri notes how ‘The White Horse Theatre’, a theatrical troupe based in Germany but specialising in English-language theater for students, will make its third tour of Japan this autumn.

Established in 1986 by British playwright and drama teacher Peter Griffith, Europe’s biggest educational touring theater performs annually for 40,000 people learning English as a second language mainly in schools in Germany.

The theater group has seven troupes comprising native English speakers and has performed in seven other countries, including France, Denmark and Poland. “Our plays work mainly because of people’s motivation [to study English],” Griffith said during his recent promotional visit to Osaka.

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]]> /2009/03/german-troupe-brings-english-plays-to-japan-schools/feed/ 1 Germany to consider scrapping English lessons /2009/01/germany-to-consider-scrapping-english-lessons/ /2009/01/germany-to-consider-scrapping-english-lessons/#comments Sun, 25 Jan 2009 10:00:50 +0000 david /news/?p=295 Germany: The country is among many in the world which adopted the mantra of ‘the earlier the better’ when it came to teaching pupils English, notes the Telegraph. However, research by the Catholic University of Eichstaett has thrown the educational authorities into confusion. An unpublished study of schoolteachers shows that 95 per cent of sixth formers who had primary school English lessons were no better at the language than children who did not.

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]]> /2009/01/germany-to-consider-scrapping-english-lessons/feed/ 0 The German Online Casino Experience /2008/10/the-german-online-casino-experience/ /2008/10/the-german-online-casino-experience/#comments Wed, 22 Oct 2008 10:48:12 +0000 david /news/?p=167 Casino.de is the premier online German language casino experience. At www.casino.de, you have access to the whole array of online gambling games, including all of the favourites such as baccarat, blackjack, craps, keno, poker and of course the slots, not to mention video poker.

casino.de

The problem with many such websites is that they seem to forget that gambling is primarily a form of entertainment and most people really don’t want to have to read a heavy manual about how to go about playing video poker before getting down to business. This is one area that sets www.casino.de apart from similar sites, as it offers easy to follow instruction videos and examples of how to get started. You’re not sure how to play blackjack? Watch the blackjack training video. The same goes for the free game rules/ instruction roulette video.

Other aspects of the website which make it instantly appealing are the fact that you can learn for free, and even have the chance to win for free in their free slots with cash prizes area. Many are still skeptical about enjoying the fun of playing online casino games, which is why it’s reassuring to be able to browse through the reviews of the site. All in all, www.casino.de offers a great German language online casino experience.

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]]> /2008/10/the-german-online-casino-experience/feed/ 2 Germany and Sweden: How Good Is the English Written by Swedish Advanced Learners? /2008/10/germany-and-sweden-how-good-is-the-english-written-by-swedish-advanced-learners/ /2008/10/germany-and-sweden-how-good-is-the-english-written-by-swedish-advanced-learners/#comments Sun, 05 Oct 2008 10:21:46 +0000 david /news/?p=141 Monika Mondor describes what is characteristic for the written English of advanced learners and examines how students of English at university level use phrasal verbs in written English. Mondor’s study reveals three principal differences between Swedish learners and native speakers.

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]]> /2008/10/germany-and-sweden-how-good-is-the-english-written-by-swedish-advanced-learners/feed/ 1 ESL Blogger /2007/11/esl-blogger/ /2007/11/esl-blogger/#comments Thu, 22 Nov 2007 11:29:00 +0000 david /2007/11/esl-blogger/ Kip Boahn (AKA Kip Yellowjacket) is the creator of numerous ELT related blogs. As well as using song lyrics to teach, there is also what looks to be the very interesting Second Life English Blog. Kip describes it thus:

Second Life English is an attempt to move beyond traditional approaches to language learning/teaching. By making use of innovative platforms like the 3D world of Second Life, we aim to empower people with the English language. We believe that sound knowledge of English can lead to communication and understanding. We also are of the opinion that access to language learning is a “right” and not just a privilege. We plan to leave the door open to the idea of remunerating the teacher monetarily or suggesting alternative methods of payment which allow the student to “give back” in a chosen way. Individual teachers will be responsible for deciding and communicating their desired method of remuneration. Second Life English does not represent a traditional business model. It more accurately represents a movement driven by a love for teaching and learning.

Sounds like my kind of place. I have to admit that I’ve only really just started investigating, but it looks like a very cool project. The blog itself started out as a way of supplementing his classes in Germany, so a lot of the comments are in German, as well as some translation.

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