Between August 7 and 31, 2023, two four-week intensive German courses at beginner level took place at Aschaffenburg UAS during the lecture-free period. Once again, the focus was on the target groups of incoming TH AB students as well as non-student adult international learners who work in the Aschaffenburg area or visit relatives in the region over the summer for example.
25 German learners from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Mexico, Israel and Turkey acquired their first German language skills this August and benefited from an extended holistic supporting program with subject-related, social and cultural-historical program points.
Prof. Dr. Daniel James from the Faculty of Global and Community Studies and Director of the International Affairs Center at the TH-AB partner university Hiroshima Shudo University accompanied the Japanese participants to Aschaffenburg and gave two interactive guest lectures, which enabled the audience to experience real "intercultural co-learning". In addition, the learners of German were able to expand their computer skills in an SAP crash course.
During an afternoon at a nursing home in Aschaffenburg, the course participants were given the opportunity to get in touch with the local population and engage in social community work. The Asian language learners in particular introduced the elderly residents to the Japanese (origami) and Korean (jong-jeobgi) art of paper folding in a playful way and used their first German skills in the process.
During an evening at the vineyard on the Godelsberg, the students gained insights into the history and current challenges of viticulture in the region as well as the tradition of the Häcker farms. At this event, they were also able to exchange ideas with the locals as well as with lecturers, master's students and a cooperative doctoral student of Prof. Dr. Renate Link and to already demonstrate their first German skills.
In a festive closing ceremony in the Hock Hall on the campus of TH AB, the Vice President for Studies, Teaching and International Affairs, Prof. Dr. Holger Paschedag, presented the participants with their certificates of completion and was able to see for himself the progress they had made in learning German: under the guidance of their teachers, all participants had rehearsed a German statement in small groups about their experiences during the summer courses on the campus of TH AB and proudly performed it. Their unanimous conclusion in German was "Aschaffenburg ist fantastisch!”
The Vice Head of the Language Centre of TH AB and initiator of the course offer, Prof. Dr. Renate Link, is pleased about the sixth edition of the German intensive courses and in particular about the fact that after the Corona years, especially students from Asian TH AB partner universities (Hiroshima Shudo University in Japan & Sungshin University in South Korea), had made the long journey to Aschaffenburg in such large numbers to participate in the German intensive courses.
Further information and registration options (from spring 2024) for the next edition of the summer German courses in August 2024 can be found at www.th-ab.de/learngerman.
