German

Vienna trip 2019

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Last summer (the summer of 2019), 6 Year 8 and 2 Year 9 German students went on an excursion to Vienna, the capital city of Austria. The trip lasted four days, from Wednesday to Saturday. After a plane journey and an enjoyable train ride, we arrived at our Viennese Hotel (Meininger Hotel). For the rest of the day we explored the city centre, visiting sights such as the famous Stephansdom and the Rathaus, and ended up in a nice restaurant where we dined on traditional Viennese dishes.

The next morning we headed to Kärrtnerstrasse, a large street in the city centre, to do some shopping. Then we went to the Haus der MUsik and spent a wonderful morning doing interesting activities- all to do with playing, composing or conducting music. In the afternoon we had lunch in the Burggarten Park, surrounded by beautiful greenery, which was lovely to experience on such a warm sunny day! Later on we had a splendid time at a dance school learning the Viennese waltz (We even danced to the HARRY POTTER theme song!) Afterwards, we went to the Prater Park and had a thrilling time on the terrifying rides.

On Friday, we went to the Belvedere Gallery to explore the wonderful art the gallery had to offer. We focused mainly on Gustav KLimt’s unique artwork, for example his most famous work ‘Der Kuss’ or ‘The Kiss’ in English. We also looked at works by other Austrian artists such as Schiele and Kokoschka. For lunch, we ate a picnic in the beautiful gardens of the gallery. For dinner we took part in a Viennese cooking course, where we went shopping in the market and made delicious goulash, spätzle and apple strudel.

Unfortunately our last day came. We went to the Schönbrunn Palast and learnt a lot about the history of the Viennese monarchy. We also explored the very extensive gardens and mazes (where we all manage to get lost in). We had a beautiful lunch in the scenic gardens and then headed off to the airport. Podcasts:

Coffee Break German is not a simple series of “listen and repeat” audio programmes: in each lesson Thomas explains how the language works, helping Mark - and you - to manipulate the language and use it in practical situations. As a speaker of several other languages and an experienced teacher himself, Mark asks questions all the time, so your own questions will be answered as you learn more.

This podcast does exactly what it says on the tin. Annik Rubens, a journalist from Munich, has casual conversations entirely in German about different themes. The language is authentic and everything is spoken in a slow and clear voice. Vocabulary lists can be found on the website, along with a catalogue of episodes and streaming services.

Film:

(in German with English Subtitles)

Year 9 very much enjoyed watching this film. The film is about the earliest days in the childhood of Lara who had a difficult but important task. Both her parents are deaf-mute and Lara has to translate from sign-language to the spoken word and vice versa when her parents want to communicate with other people. It’s really interesting and definitely worth a watch.

We had an extraordinary time in Vienna and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. Although I loved all of the trip, my favourite part was the Prater Park and the Cooking Course.

Isabella Stumpfle and Nancy Saville Sneath, Year 9