Goethe Institut reaches young learners through arts

They were all young people and they gleefully sang, rapped, recited poems, danced and acted in dramatic sketches to demonstrate their proficiency in the German language at the 11th National German Cultural Festival held recently at the Goethe Institut in Accra.

In the end, the students from seven senior high and two primary schools proved that learning a new language could be much easier when some fun is injected into the process.

Maybe the topic for the event, ‘Superstar-Show Us What You’ve Got’, energised the students to put more vim into their performances.

They were all keen to demonstrate the superstar traits in them and that resulted in a fiercely-fought three-tier contest graded as Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced.

“In the past we chose texts, songs and poems for them to rehearse and perform but this time round, it was free rein. We didn’t restrict anybody to any specific artistic output and the results were fantastic,” said Mrs Eva Maria Asante, Head of Language Department at Goethe Institut.

“We have German clubs in some secondary and primary schools and we just want to make it interesting for the students to join the clubs. We realise infusing the arts into the learning process raises their enthusiasm,” Mrs Asante added.

Students from the Cradle of Grace at Ablekuma in Accra came up tops in the Beginners category. The same school produced winners in the Intermediate stage while students from College St Pierre Claver at Kaneshie in Accra won in the Advanced category.

Opoku Ware Senior High was given a special prize, probably for the infectious ‘German jama’ piece they did to entertain everyone. All the winners received German books as prizes.

Apart from the contest, the students also engaged in face painting, drawing, reading and skipping rope sessions. They all had individual photos taken and printed for them on the spot. It was generally a fun-filled programme.

“It takes a lot of time and effort to prepare for the programme but everyone eventually has a good time and the students now constantly look forward to the next one,” the Goethe Institut Head of Language Department said.