German Days make learning German fun!

The ‘German Days’ 2011 kicked off recently with the prize-giving ceremony of an inter-school photo essay competition.

The competition targeted Sri Lankan students who were enrolled in the Global German partner-school program (PASCH) and had the opportunity to learn German as part of their school curriculum.

Sri Lanka has three German language partner schools: Royal College, Colombo, Musaeus College, Colombo and Jennings International School, Wenappuwa. Each school has about 100 to150 students in the German language programme.

Fifteen-year-old Ruwanthika Fernando from Jennings International school in Wenappuwa says, “German is a really interesting language to learn, because it is also a window to a completely different culture. Germany has contributed many things in the field of music, philosophy and science and technology. Learning the language also exposes us to these other facets.” Her team won the second place in the 15 and above age group category for a photo essay titled ‘I have a dream’ that shares the story of a teenager who has a passion for music, but is pressured by her parents and teachers to become a doctor.

“The photo essay was based on a true story of what happened to one of my cousins,” added Fernando.

“I felt that a lot of teenagers have to learn to balance their dreams and family expectations,” she said.

The photo essays at the competition focused on a variety of themes, including day-to-day issues faced by students as well as more imaginative themes like going on a treasure hunt. The PASCH programme also has a youth exchange component .

Tharushi Jayasekara, a member of the team from Musaeus College, that won the first prize in the above 15 age-category shared her experiences from her recent visit to Germany, for the annual Summer camp for PASCH students.

“I was really impressed to meet so many students from over 40 countries. What struck me most about Germany was how methodical and organised everything was,” she said.

PASCH students have also been sent to regional language learning camps in India.

The ‘Schools: Partners for the Future’ (PASCH) Initiative was launched by the German Foreign Ministry in 2008. It aims to build up a worldwide network of over 1000 partner schools to create opportunities for young people to learn about modern-day Germany.

The Website of the PASCH Initiative (http://www.pasch-net.de/, in German language only) offers multimedia content for teachers and students to improve their German language skills and has information on international German language competitions.