Newsletter Fall 2003

1. Neuigkeiten und Initiativen

2. einen heißen Lerntipp für Eure SchülerInnen und StudentInnen

1. ‘Aus eigener Erfahrung’: Die Wunder von German TV

2. den Verantstaltungskalender fürs nächste akademische Jahr

Vergesst Ihr bitte nicht, Euch für das Immersion Weekend zum Thema Interkulturelle Vergleiche am 12. - 13. September am McDaniel College anzumelden! Wir sehen uns hoffentlich dann.

Mit herzlichen Grüßen und allerbesten Wünschen für ein produktives und erfolgreiches Jahr!

Deborah McGee Mifflin ,President

Neuigkeiten und Initiativen

Finally Linked. Thanks to our Webmaster, Maureen Helinski, our Website is actively linked from the national site. We have lots of new information. Let us hear from you to keep this page relevant and informative to our members. http://www.marylandnovadc.aatg.org

What’s in it for me? Membership Chairs take on this question...

We now have two energetic people ready to tackle recruitment & retention of our national and local members. Do you know someone who needs a nudge to become a member? Send in his/her name. Why are you a member? Send in your testimonials. Hal Boland lehrer9942@aol.com or Sarah Zaniello szaniello@yahoo.com. A selection of testimonials will appear in future newsletters.

WANTED: Willing Engineers from both sides !!!! Building Bridges Group has openings...

Most agree, our chapter is active and vital. But still, more can be done. For over a year, we have been planning and strategizing how to build real and meaningful partnerships between local high schools and local colleges and universities. Our goal is to address the national call to do all we can to retain interest and momentum among students of German as they transition from high school to college. Whether students study locally or in another state, we need to be part of this transition. We need EVERY German program - high school and college - to register at our website using the “Buddy Template”. Then join us for a hands-on, real working session in February to match up programs and get initiatives off the ground. Visit the link Building Bridges between High Schools and Colleges on our website.

What’s in a name? Logo-Contest

Our name has expanded but our Logo hasn’t. We love our Maryland crab, but we need our geographic diversity included. Rev up your creative juices and send in your entries for a new Chapter Logo by October 15, 2003, to mifflind@jhu.edu.

Student Congratulations!
Congratulations to Anna Friedman, a student of Sarah Daneker at Baltimore City College, who won the AATG trip to Germany for this year.

Congratulations also to Jason Bland, a student of Maureen Helinski at Anne Arundel Community College, who won the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Scholarship for Young Professionals. Jason will begin with 2 months of intensive language training at a Goethe Institute. Then he will study for a semester at a technical university and, finally, do a five-month internship in his chosen career field

Heißer Lerntipp

This is a new feature. If you/your students try a Lerntipp out, send in your experiences to be published in the next issue.

The Town Language Mnemonic (from http://www.academictips.org/memory/)
This is a very elegant, effective mnemonic designed by Dominic O'Brien.
The fundamental principle rests on the fact that the basic vocabulary of a language relates to everyday things: things that are typically found in a small town, city, or village. The basis of the technique is that the student should choose a town that he or she is very familiar with, and should use objects within that place as the cues to recall the images that link to foreign words.
Nouns in the town
Nouns should be associated to the most relevant locations: the image coding the foreign word for book should be associated with a book on a shelf in the library. The word for bread should be associated with an image of a loaf in a baker's shop. Words for vegetables should be associated with parts of a display outside a greengrocer's shop. Perhaps there is a farm just outside the town that allows all the animal name associations to be made.
Adjectives in the park
Adjectives should be associated with a garden or park within the town: words such as green, smelly, bright, small, cold, etc. can be easily related to objects in a park. Perhaps there is a pond there, a small wood, perhaps people with different characteristics are walking around.
Verbs in the sports centre
Verbs can most easily be associated with a sports centre or playing field. This allows us all the associations of lifting, running, walking, hitting, eating, swimming, driving, etc.
Remembering Genders
In a language where gender is important, a very elegant method of remembering this is to divide your town into two main zones where the gender is only masculine and feminine, or three where there is a neutral gender. This division can be by busy roads, rivers, etc. To fix the gender of a noun, simply associate its image with a place in the correct part of town. This makes remembering genders so easy!

Aus eigener Erfahrung: Die Wunder von German TV

na, hat euch das GermanTV auch so gepackt wie mich? Wenn nicht, dann schreibt euch bitte Folgendes hinter die Ohren : Ihr verpasst was echt Wertvolles! Gönnt euch etwas wirklich Lohnenswertes für Schule und Privatleben und klickt sofort die Leitseite vom GermanTV an, um euch über das derzeitige Jubiläumsangebot dieses hervorragenden Gemeinschaftsprogramms von ARD, ZDF und Deutscher Welle zu informieren!
www.german.tv/

Noch nicht überzeugt? Worauf wartet ihr? Verpasst habt ihr sowieso schon einiges. Heute zum Beispiel die Diskussionsrunde bei Sabine Christiansen mit Angela Merkel und Hillary Clinton als Gästen. Vorher gab es einen Film über eine in New York lebende ältere Jüdin, die sich auf den Weg nach Berlin macht, um der Beerdigung eines alten deutschen Bekannten beizuwohnen, der ihr während der Judenverfolgung geholfen hatte, Nazi-Deutschland

mit gefälschtem Pass zu verlassen. Und morgen gibt es wie jeden Tag die laufenden Soaps proppenvoll mit den gängigen Sprüchen der Jugendlichen einer Großstadt. Am Wochenende gibt es tolle Kindersendungen, die sogar für uns Akademiker ein Erlebnis sind und für die etwas Ernsthafteren unter uns laufen mehrmals am Tag die Nachrichten. Ich gebe zu, die anderen Talkshows, Musiksendungen, die tollen wöchentlichen Serien und sogar die Kochsendung habe ich vergessen, aber GermanTV ruft mich wieder. Also, nichts wie hin, meine lieben Deutschkollegen!
Hal Boland, Leesburg, VA

Fall-Winter Chapter Events
2003-2004 VERANSTALTUNGSKALENDER

September 12-13 Immersion Weekend:

"Typisch!? Deutschland und Amerika im interkulturellen Vergleich mit Anregungen für den Unterricht" Mc Daniel College, Westminster Maryland
This opportunity is sponsored by the AATG Maryland/DC/NOVA, McDaniel College, and the Goethe-Institut Inter Nationes Washington. If you haven’t signed up yet, contact mesa@mcdaniel.edu Registrations are still being accepted on a space available basis.

Registration forms are available on our website: www.marylandnovadc.aatg.org

October 10-11 MFLA Annual Fall Conference

"Building Bridges to Excellence: Language Teachers Leading the Way" at the College of Notre Dame of Maryland 4701 North Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21210 Registration information at http://research.umbc.edu/~mfla/index.htm

There will be a pre-conference workshop on using Film & Video in the German Classroom and the AATG will sponsor an information exchange session on professional programs for German teachers & activities for German Clubs. Come & inform your colleagues about programs you’ve attended / initiated!

October 14 9am-1pm German-American Day 2003
Mc Daniel College, Westminster Maryland
Join us for this annual event celebrating the rich cultural exchange between the German speaking countries and the U.S. Cost per person is $13 and the fee includes lunch and a T-shirt commemorating the day. Contact Dr. Mohamed Esa at mesa@mcdaniel.edu to learn more about this event.

November ,7-11 pm. Awards Banquet of the German Society of Maryland

Potomac Room, Towson University. The event includes an elegant dinner, an awards ceremony, dancing, and door prizes. Cost: $48.00 for German Society members $28.00 for students. For further information contact Art Nieberding, (410)893-9542.

February, 2004 Mid-Winter Workshop

"Building Partnerships between High Schools and Colleges"

Johns Hopkins University For information contact Deborah McGee Mifflin at Johns Hopkins University: mifflind@jhu.edu

Board of Directors

Officers

President

Deborah McGee Mifflin, Johns Hopkins University

Vice-President

Carolyn Ostermann-Healey, Robinson Secondary School

Secretary

Haley Crittenden Gordon, Lee HS & Key Middle School

Treasurer

Shirley Santora, Chesapeake High School

Membership Chairs

Hal Boland, Heritage High School and

Sarah Zaniello, Lake Braddock Secondary School

Testing Chair

Dorothy Louks, Century High School

Newsletter Editor

Maureen Helinski, Anne Arundel Community College

OTHER BOARD MEMBERS:

Sally Cranston, Woodrow Wilson High School
Mohamed Esa, Mc Daniel College

Katrina Griffin, North County High School

Kerstin Hopkins, German School Washington, DC (GLC)

Uta Larkey, Goucher College

Ulrich Levi-Goerlich, Jefferson Junior High School

Janette Patterson, Washington Waldorf School

Alfred Schneider, UMBC

Mary Upman, McDaniel College

John Williams, Herndon Middle/High School

Jeffrey Wheeler, Annandale H.S. and Woodson High School