Category | Arts & Living

Sprechen Sie Lernvergnügen?

Published on July 21, 2009 by Laura Holmes

Day camp uses fun and games to teach foreign language

When most people think of foreign language instruction, they imagine a tweed-clad, monotonous octogenarian droning on about verb conjugations or the subjunctive mood.

But anyone who walked past room 1020 of the Social Sciences building July 13-17 saw firsthand that learning a foreign language doesn’t have to be tedious and tiresome.

Dr. Sabine Smith, associate professor of German and head of the weeklong program, believes summer camps are ideal for children who want to try out something new or continue with building skills in an area they enjoy.

“These kids truly loved learning about a language and culture while having fun-hence our motto “Lernvergnügen” (learning fun). We wanted to make it a fun experience for them. If they caught the bug of wanting to learn more from us who are enthusiastic about foreign languages and cultures, we have made an awesome difference.”

Smith, Peter Schultz and Susanne Kelley of the German faculty, as well as KSU students Tiffany Howard, Meredith Steinmetz and Jennifer Allen, made it their mission to introduce the 14 elementary and middle school-aged children to German language and culture as painlessly as possible through crafts, sports, music and other activities.

Douglas Howard, one of the young participants, said that each day was so full of fun activities and games, “You learn[ed] without really knowing it.”

The fun was not limited to just the children-Howard, Steinmetz and Allen said they had as much fun teaching German, if not more, as the children had learning the language.

Smith echoed the sentiment that the week was beneficial to those KSU students who participated. Aside from being so much fun, the program afforded the students an immersion experience.

“When they cannot afford to go abroad, an immersion experience is the next best thing. And we all know that you learn best if you teach someone else, right?” said Smith. “In addition, the KSU students bonded during this week’s experience and are, I think, more likely to continue with German in the fall with renewed enthusiasm, having had this experience of teaching summer camp.”

Because the week’s theme was travel, the children were introduced to relevant new words for clothing items, food, money and transportation. They played games to reinforce and solidify the new vocabulary. Friday afternoon, the final day of the camp, the children were able to exhibit to their parents all they had learned and retained in just one week.

The camp’s success is best evidenced by a conversation between Howard and two of her children, both of whom participated in the day camp. During the course of the conversation, she asked them to relate their favorite part of the camp. Their response: “Everything.”