German exchange program gone virtual
For 30 years, German 3 students have looked forward to the German Exchange Program. Due to COVID-19, teachers have now found another way to carry out this cultural exchange via GAVE.
December 12, 2020
Sabine Schafer-Mitchell, German teacher and former exchange partner in 2001, has taken advantage of the tools provided by the Goethe Institute, an organization that promotes German culture all over the world, to lead students in a virtual cultural exchange.
“They [the Goethe Institute] just started it [German American Virtual Exchange] this year due to COVID-19…Many exchange students could not go in person so that’s why the Goethe Institute started GAVE,” Schafer said.
Schafer and others were enthused about the idea of having an alternative to the usual exchange- a visit to Germany for three weeks during the summer while being taken care by a host family. However, the new and improved GAVE exchange provided a fair amount of obstacles.
“I had to get in touch with the teacher [in Elmshorn Germany]” and had to create lists and be exchanging topic ideas that the students would discuss with their exchange partner via Padlet”, Schafer said.
A key factor to the exchange program is having a partner. Therefore, both teachers had to gather information from all of the 23 students participating and pair them.
“I printed all the profiles and looked at the age and the interests” while laughing, she continued “I had all the profiles on the floor,” Schafer said.
Despite not being able to physically see their exchange partners any students have gotten excited about the common interest they share with their exchange partners. One of the students is junior Teagan Mills.
“We have a lot in common, we both play volleyball, ” Mills said. “It was very interesting to learn about the volleyball positions that were so different,” Mills said.
Physical or virtual exchange, partners will be able to have a cultural exchange to further motivate them to keep on learning the language and indulge in the culture as well.
“I think it’s such a great opportunity to actually give that [cultural exchange] to the students, to get in touch and have a cultural exchange with teenagers living in Germany…to actually use the language in real life,” Schafer said.
Students also value this chance to get to know someone across the world. They see this as a once in a lifetime opportunity.
“I want to learn… about the culture. I want to be able to travel there in the future..I just wanted to make a new friend. I wanted to step out of my comfort zone,” Mills said.
As many students take on this opportunity they have noticed the practical motivation behind getting to know someone speaking another language.
“I want to be able to talk to her like how she talks. I don’t want to sound like I’m new to learning the language” Mills said.
Schaefer also highlights that learning a new language is not only beneficial to students learning the language, but also provides them with a different perspective about life. She constantly reminds her students of a quote from Federico Fellini: “A different language is a different vision of life”
“[Learning a different language] opens up your mindset about the world…it helps you understand diversity. It helps you to understand yourself and others better, because you are not only focused on yourself and your culture,” Schaefer said.
