Schull Community College

German is taught by Lena Tiernan and Nicola Mc Cormick. It is offered at both Junior and Senior Cycle. All first years take German as part of their core curriculum with second years choosing it as an option. At present 21 2nd years are taking german for their Junior Certificate examination.
First years use "Klasse I", a very student friendly book with lots of activities to encourage a rapid development in the spoken language.
'Deutsch ir Irland 2' is used to deepen this knowledge in 2nd and 3rd year.

Fourth years participate in an exchange with our partner-school in Freigericht, near Frankfurt. Our students visit Germany in October-November for a week, staying with host families and attending school with their partners. They also participate in a full programme of activities, including a trip to Heidelberg and ice skating. The German students come to Schull at Easter, where they sample the sights of West Cork and attend Schull Community College as well.
The exchange is an integral part of the fourth year programme; students experience the language in a real life context and learn about the German way of life, and the cultural similarities and differences between our two countries.
In fourth year, students also study contemporary German films, learn about the geography of Germany, the school system, leisure activities and much more!
They also complete a project on one of the 16 "Bunderslander'.

In fifth and sixth year, students concentrate on perfecting their skills in German, with a great emphasis on oral and aural work, writing letters, learning to tackle authentic reading texts and short pieces on topics relevant to the Leaving Cert programme. The text used is"Lernpunkt 3".

The German department in Schull Community College, recently had a language assistant from Flensburg in Northern Germany. Hannes Klotz spent six weeks at the college, on work experience. He participated in classes with students of all levels, from first year to sixth year.
Students in the Junior Cycle interviewed Hannes, in German, about himself, his hobbies etc., in fact on all aspects of his life, provided they could ask the question in German. They then wrote reports on him and displayed them on classroom walls.
With the senior students, Hannes taught individual and group oral classes, giving them a unique opportunity to have a "real-life" experience of talking German to a native speaker.
One of the highlights of his stay for them was the class he did on German rock music; students had to translate a text by "die Totem Hosen", and then listened to it on C.D. All in all, Hannes brought the language alive for the students.
In addition, he helped train Junior girls in soccer, with Marion Barry, and trained the first year boy's football team. Hannes also trained with Bunratty United! We wish him all the best in his studies in Germany.