Work Experience for A Level German Students

The Year 12 Work Experience exchange is a fantastic opportunity, exclusive to very few schools in England. The 50 year-long special relationship between Pate’s and the Lina-Hilger Gymnasium in Bad Kreuznach is an invaluable asset to the German department at Pate’s. The two schools run exchanges every year, open to Years 9 and 10 students and, of course, our Work Experience Exchange for those studying German in Year 12.

It is said that the best and most rewarding way to learn a language is to be immersed in it, and all seven of us benefitted vastly from the ‘osmosis’ style of learning, greatly fostering new communicative skills and linguistic confidence in German. In particular, the integration into an authentic German household that not only trained our ears and tongues but was a fascinating insight into German culture and customs.

The work experience itself was a tremendous success.  We worked with a variety of primary school and pre-school aged children, helping them learn a multitude of subjects, such as the standard Maths and German but also Art, Science, Religion and PE.

Helping to teach little children is hard enough in one’s mother tongue, let alone in another language! Nevertheless, the experience of constant German communication was rigorously effective at training the ear but also terrifically entertaining, there’s no doubt that we learned from them just as much as they learned from us.

We also bonded with them over things such as football; I cannot recall how many times I was asked “Messi or Ronaldo”! The general friendliness of the children made the week very enjoyable and come the end they were very sad to see us leave. We were all very much appreciated and received many sweet mementos from the admiring children.

We also had the weekend to spend with the host families which was a lovely opportunity for local excursions in the wonderful weather. Some of us visited local beauty spots, watched football matches, visited nearby cities and went on walks. Overall it was a nice way to end the great week and get to know the families better. I for one had done the Year 10 exchange with the same family and was sad to say ‘auf weidersehen’ but very grateful for the opportunity to visit Germany on both occasions.

All in all it was a brilliant experience for us all and we hope that in the future, many more students will be able to enjoy it as well.

Thomas (Year 12)