German

German

Convenor
Contact No.
email
Mike Head
07963 904925 
mikehead48@gmail.com
Anyone keen to join should contact Mike Head

We meet alternate Tuesdays 10.30 to 12

The German group has been meeting online using Zoom during the current pandemic and this has worked well; six or seven members have taken part regularly.  Our latest thinking is that we will resume meeting in members’ houses fortnightly from 2nd November 2021, providing the incidence of Covid continues to improve.

We are a mixed group: from the recently self-taught to those who studied the language many years ago and some who lived in Germany for a while. However, our group would not suit someone planning to learn German from scratch.

The aim in meetings is to read, listen to and speak German as much as possible. We usually watch or listen to a broadcast recorded from the German TV station Deutsche Welle and sometimes work through a text together, for example, a short story, news report, poem or song. Material is sent by email to each member a week before meetings. An important part of our meeting is for everyone to say something in German. A theme is decided upon so that everyone can prepare.  More confident members will speak impromptu or from brief notes while others prepare a sentence or two in more detail.

German grammar is tackled from time to time, but only in the context of points that arise in the German TV programmes. These programmes are, incidentally, produced to help foreigners from various countries living in Germany improve their command of the language. They are thus entirely in German, there being no common mother tongue.

Our present complement is eight with a common attendance of six or seven, which is ideal in not being intimidating for less confident members.  Nevertheless, anyone keen to join should ring Ian Forrest on 01768 483526 or email ian.forrest1940@gmail.com