Learning Languages Newsletter November 2012

NEWSLETTER Vol-4 | 26. November 2012

Festivities around the globe

David wins Chinese Competition

French day at Sutton Park School

Farewell message by Bernd Schliephake

Heretaunga College in Germany

We will introduce you to some of the Christmas and New Years traditions around the globe.

David Tuipulotu will represent NZ to compete in the international semi-final and final competition in Kunming, China.

Sutton Park Primary school dedicates an entire day to celebrate and promote French language and culture

Bernd Schliephake is leaving New Zealand after six years as German National Advisor.

Students from Upper Hutt's Heretaunga College have recently been flying the flag for New Zealand on their trip to Germany

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New Years in China Chinese New Year is a very important festivity in Chinese culture and is celebrated all around the globe. It is based on the Chinese calendar (lunisolar), starting with the new moon on the first day of the new year (10. February 2013) and ending with the full moon 15 days later.

Traditions vary across regions and some can Wikipedia

even be experienced here in New Zealand, for example, the Lantern Festival. Have a look at this video to get an idea about the do’s and don’ts of Chinese New Years.

Families will clean and decorate their houses and meet on the Eve of Chinese New Year to share a festive dinner.

Children receive red envelopes or red packets with money. And firecrackers are commonly used during festivities.

According to Chinese Zodiac, 2012 was the

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year of the dragon and 2013 will be the year of the snake. You could build some origami snakes with your class. Or you could paint some Chinese New Years cards or build some lanterns for the February festival.

Families decorate their homes

Christmas in France

and put up a Christmas tree.

Many places will also display a

In France the grand feast of the Christmas season is

crèche showing the nativity

Le Reveillon, a dinner held with family held after

scene but also other traditional

midnight mass on Christmas Eve. Children leave their

scenes of a provincial village.

shoes around the Christmas tree to find them filled

The little figures used for the

with presents and sweets the next morning.

crèches are called little saints (santons).

Earlier in the month, on 8. December, the festival of

Wikipedia

lights is celebrated in Lyon, expressing gratitude towards Mary, the mother of Jesus.

New Years in France

And on 6. December Saint Nicolas is celebrated with small gifts, such as gingerbread men. However, Saint Nicholas is also ac-

New Year’s Eve in France is called Saint-Sylvestre,

companied by Père Fouettard, the whipping

named after a pope that was buried on 31. De-

father that spanks all the naughty children

cember. The day is usually celebrated with friends

who misbehaved throughout the year.

and family, serving special dishes such as foie gras, oysters and champagne. At midnight everyone kisses under the mistletoe with best wishes

Bûche de Noël is a log-shaped Christmas cake,

for the new year. Fireworks are also common and

made with chocolate, that is traditionally served in

people may sing New Year’s songs (Chanson du

France around Christmas time. It refers to the old

nouvel An, Choral des Adieux).

tradition of burning a yule log, of hard wood, for Christmas.

Wikipedia

During the weeks leading up to Christmas most German cities have a Christmas

Christmas in Germany

Market with stalls offering arts and crafts, baked items, roasted nuts, Gluehwein (mulled wine) and some form of entertainment like musical performers or merry

Christmas celebrations in Germany start early in

-go-rounds. Have a look at one example.

December. Streets and shops are decorated and children have an Advent calendar, counting down 24 days till Christmas. Have a look at this video for an introduction to German Christmas traditions.

Families decorate their houses, put up a Christmas tree and get an advent wreath with four candles, lighting one candle on the first Advent Sunday, lighting two candles on the second Advent and so forth, until all four candles are lighted for Christmas.

Early on 6 December

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(Nikolaus day), German

December 24th is Heiligabend (Christmas Eve). While it is not a public holiday,

children get up eagerly

most people finish work at around lunch time and make their way to their families

to check the content of a

or friends. In Germany, Christmas presents are opened late at night on Christmas

shoe they cleaned and

Eve. Many people (including those that are not religious) will attend a Church ser-

placed outside their door

vice in the afternoon and then go home to sing Christmas songs in front of the

the previous night. If

Christmas tree, or get the children to recite poems or perform a musical piece.

they behaved well

Families with smaller children will often get a visit by Santa Claus

throughout the year,

(Weihnachtsmann) who brings the presents in a big bag. Once all presents are un-

they will find their shoe

wrapped it is time for dinner, which can be quite simple, just potato salad and

filled with sweets and

Frankfurters. On the following Christmas Days families will visit each other, eat

toys by Saint Nicholas.

festive meals and share more presents.

New Years in Japan

Christmas in Japan Christmas is not a public holiday in Japan, but it

Ōmisoka (New Years Eve) and

has become a day for couples to spend time to-

Shōgatsu (New Year’s Day)

gether, as the media has promoted it as a time for

are the two most important

romantic miracles.

days in Japanese tradition.

The commercial side of Christmas has also become

The Japanese New Year was

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popular amongst party loving Japanese, where

originally based on the lunar

Christmas lights and trees can now be found to

calendar like the Chinese New Year. But in 1873 Ja-

decorate the cities.

pan adopted the Gregorian calendar. As in all other countries, New Year’s festivities include special dish-

Christmas cakes made of sponge cake with cream

es and Japanese traditionally send New Year’s Day

and strawberries have become very popular.

postcards to friends and families. Originally, it was a Little Japanese girls love the nativity story, as they

taboo to cook during the first three days of the year,

love anything to do with babies. And the cradle

which is why Osechi-ryōri has become popular and is

with baby Jesus is especially fascinating to them as Japanese babies don’t sleep in cradles.

often prepared on New Year’s Eve. Wikipedia

At midnight on 31. December, Buddhist temple bells Wikipedia

ring 108 times to symbolise the 108 human sins and to rid citizens of their 108 worldly desires.

A successful advertising campaign by Kentucky Fried Chicken has led to a funny, new tradition. Japanese

Kagami mochi is a special rice cake made and served for New Years., the two layers

eat chicken at KFC for Christmas. They either make

are said to symbolise yin and yang.

reservations or cue for hours just to get their Many Japanese also like to watch the first sunrise of the year and visit the coast or

“sparkly chicken”.

Japanese KFC website

climb a mountain to do so.

On Boxing Day, children send their Christmas wish lists to the three wise men. In

Christmas in Spain

Spain these three kings are the gift bearers not Santa. Children therefore leave their shoes on windowsills on 5. January (Epiphany Eve), filled with straw and carrots for

Spain also celebrates Christmas, including all

the horses of the wise men. In exchange they will find gifts in their shoes in the

the common traditions of Christmas trees,

morning.

Christmas markets and decorations. However, On 28. December, día de los santos inocentes is celebrated, which can be compared

it also has a few unique festivities, such as

to April Fool’s day. People try to trick each other with silly stories and jokes.

jumping over Hogueras (bonfires) on the shortest day of the year as a protection against ill-

New Years in Spain

ness.

Wikipedia

Christmas is a religious holiday in Spain, starting on 8. December with the feast of the Immaculate Conception where ten beautifully dressed up boys perform a ritual dance.

On Christmas Eve families come together to celebrate and little oil lamps are lighted and placed on winwww.elaccitano.com

dow sills.

At midnight on New Year’s Eve, people in Spain will eat 12 grapes, one on each stroke of the clock to attract good luck for the New Year.

And it is tradition to listen to the clock from Puerta del Sol in Madrid, for example, via television. Many people stay at home for this tradition and head off to the parties afterwards. But in Madrid people meet on at the Puerta del Sol to

At midnight bells ring to call families to “La Misa del Gallo”, literally rooster’s mass, a

eat their grapes.

midnight services. The Spanish Christmas dinner is eaten late, either after midnight or just before the midnight service. Afterwards, people walk through the streets carrying torches and playing instruments such as guitars and drums, with celebrations continuing until the late morning hours. A Spanish saying is: “Esta noche es Noche-Buena, y no es noche de dormer”.

Another tradition suggests to wear new, red underwear for the New Year’s celebrations, as this will bring good luck.

Wikipedia

David Tuipulotu wins Chinese Speech Competition

French Day at Sutton Park School

Chinese Bridge Competition for secondary stu-

Sutton Park Primary school (decile 1, majority Pasifika

dents is an annual international event organized

students) recently dedicated an entire day to celebrate

by Hanban in Beijing, China. Each year Confucius

and promote French language and culture.

Institutes organize the NZ preliminary competition to select the top NZ students of Chinese to join the semi final/ final competitions in China, which are usually scheduled in October each year. There are 2 stages of NZ preliminary competition: regional competition and national one.

David Tuipulotu participated in the Auckland regional competition with other 100 plus local students from about 20 local schools on 9th May this year. He was selected one of the top winners to compete in the national competition on 26th May in Christchurch. At the national competition, David was one of the 2 top students who received the special awards to represent NZ to compete in the international semi-final and final competition in Kunming, China.

Jasmine Hanawy invited a wide range of guests from the French community in Auckland to present and contribute to this event. And all students in the school , especially year 7 and 8, were in in some way involved in organising and presenting the programme.

The programme included French pantomime performance, a French quiz, French folk dancing and French

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food. Further more, participants included a bilingual school, an exchange group from New Caledonia and a well known folk dance group who perform and teach dance from northern France.

It’s great to see David’s success! Congratulations David! We wish you all the best for the

This event was so special because it involved the entire school and built connections to

upcoming competition in China this month. Go get it!

the French language learning community in a very inclusive and fun way. This could be the reason why this school successfully presented year 7 to 10 candidates for the

Good news for Annelise Do you remember Annelise Posthuma? The Chinese Language and Culture Ambassadorto Schools for 2012? She has now successfully obtained a Chinese teaching position at Middleton Grange School. She will start her new role early next year and will simultaneously study for a teacher’s diploma. Congratulations, Annelise!

French speech competitions earlier this year.

Do you have similar stories to share? Please let us know at plc@ilep.ac.nz

Farewell message from Bernd Schliephake I was pleasantly surprised by the friendly

 Long black and coffee in general… and cafes everywhere in Wellington.  The coolest little capital on a windless day with blue sky, but also on many other days.

reception by border officials when I ar-

 The safety videos by Air New Zealand.

rived in Wellington in February, 2007.

 TUI advertisement.

And I continued to experience this

 Cuba street in Wellington with all its little shops and the best “Curry Laksa” out-

friendly attitude throughout my time in New Zealand. I also remember blazingly hot temperatures of 28 degrees on my arrival in Wellington, however these were not to be repeated in the following years.

I will take with me many fond memories of New Zealand. Especially, the little things and daily routines which made my time here very special. I shall attempt to list some of these “treats”, but won’t be able to cover them all.

Why I love New Zealand or what made New Zealand special for me:

side Malaysia.  The book by Anja Richter: “what do I care about sheep”  Kiwi-English: e.g. “sweet as”, “bring a plate”, “chilly bin”, “jandals”, “togs”  The “upside down” world map, showing NZ at the top.

Special memories from my role as German Advisor in New Zealand:  The way the German language teacher motivated her students, during my

 The bus driver having friendly conversation with an older passenger.

weeklong stay at a Wellington low decile school, straight after my arrival in New

 The “weather update” and “best wishes for the day” announced on the train from

Zealand.

Petone into Wellington.

 The student interviews for German scholarships.

 The view from my ILEP office overlooking Wellington harbour.

 The weekends in Wellington with the scholarship finalists.

 A concert by “Fly My Pretties”.

 The success stories of the award winners.

 Enjoying Christmas Eve outside in the garden, eating lamb roast.

 Travelling through New Zealand with the Deutschmobil and the lessons related

 Christmas Eve apples.  Emerson beer.

to the Deutschmobil. … continued on next page

My farewell from New Zealand after six years as a National Advisor will be difficult and

… Farewell message ‘Abschied’ continued  Driving a trabi to a West Auckland school during heavy rain, while being interviewed by a Radio New Zealand journalist. And generally the experience of driving through New Zealand with a trabi.

there will be many more memories I will take away. I would like to thank all German language teachers in NZ for their hard work and never ending efforts to engage students in this perceivably difficult language. Numbers of German language teachers have dropped in the last few years, but I believe German will still play an important role in the future of language learning in NZ.

 The reply of a student on why he enjoyed studying German: “Because the grammar fascinates me.”  Special award for an NZ student at the German Olympics in Frankfurt “for being such a nice guy”.  Student submissions for the yearly film competition.  Conferences for German language teachers in Wellington.  All the Goethe Institute trainees that accompanied me on my various trips to schools and assisted me in the design of German language lessons.  The exhibition “Deutschland fűr Anfänger” in Wellington.  The concerts by “Kleingeldprinzessin” at various schools.  The successful partner school initiative  All German language teachers who permitted me insight into their world.  Working on the brochure “A Language with Heart” and the related movie.  An invitation to Christchurch shortly after the big earthquake.  Being a member of the jury for the Oskar theatre competition in Christchurch.  The yearly talk festival with students in Mosgiel and Raglan.  The sand castle cake competition during the language camps.

I thank everyone for their cooperation, warmth and friendliness towards myself and my work in the past.

Yours, Bernd Schliephake

In all three centres the students stayed with host families. They sometimes accompa-

Heretaunga College in Germany

nied their peers to lessons at the local schools and joined their host families on day trips to sites such as Martin Luther's historic home town of Wittenberg, enjoyed river

Flying the flag for New Zealand recently have been students from Upper Hutt's own

cruises, scenic tours, an ice hockey match and even popped across the border to Stras-

Heretaunga College on their trip to Germany. Visiting a myriad of magnificent venues

bourg, France.

including Berlin, Potsdam, Hamburg and Heidelberg, they did themselves and the rest

Deutsche Welle, the German cultural channel, interviewed some of the Heretaunga

of us proud.

students for their Discover Germany programme. Watch the footage here.

For many of the students this was their first trip overseas, for others their first time on

On the final night the Kiwi kids delighted their hosts by performing the waiata and

an airplane. Yet they took a total of four flights and 26 hours in the air like veteran fly-

haka, inviting the locals to join them after some tuition. The evening was the culmina-

ers.

tion of a highly enjoyable and successful trip, though everyone agreed it's also great to

During the first week they were based near Berlin, in Luckenwalde, home town of tour

come home to Aotearoa.

By Steve Andrews

leader and organiser Babette Moehricke, German teacher at Heretaunga College. From here the students had easy access to such iconic sites as the Reichstag, the Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie. The Cecilienhof, where the Potsdam Treaty was signed at the end of WW2, offered another opportunity for a photo-shoot as did their trip to Germany's answer to Versailles, the breathtaking Sans Souci Palace.

There was more lively entertainment in Hamburg during their second week with whiteknuckle rides at a theme park to rival anything on Australia's Gold Coast. Opportunities to practise their language skills, shop and enjoy German food and culture were plentiful, including a marzipan factory in the late-medieval town of Luebeck on the Baltic coast.

Then on to Heidelberg in Germany's affluent south west, an impressive city from where it is easy to explore numerous other beautiful towns such as Speyer and the Gothic, Baroque and Romanesque cathedrals and castles strewn along the river Rhine and its tributaries. Making their own chocolate at a factory in Stuttgart was, as one might expect for teenagers, enormously popular.

In all three centres the students stayed with host families. They sometimes accompanied their peers to lessons at the local schools and joined their host families on day trips to sites such as Martin Luther's historic home town of Wittenberg, enjoyed river cruises,

SEX SONG IN GERMAN EXAM – PART TWO The Goethe-Institut will give a free T-Shirt “DEUTSCH IST SEXY” to every student who

scenic tours, an ice hockey match and even popped across the border to Strasbourg,

manages to achieve the grade of Excellence in the NCEA Level 2 German examination

France.

2012. For more information visit the Goethe-Institute’s website.

“ I now know about earthquakes”

“I fell down a mountain and only broke my leg”

“I wish I had been educated

“8 of my students are study-

in NZ schools”

ing for scholarship in 2013”

“I survived in Kiwi land and saw “I am definitely going to be

an actual kiwi in the wild.”

a teacher” “I fell down a mountain and only broke my leg”

“I walked on a glacier”

“I will miss the open uncomplicated NZ students”

students with a school in Spain” “I lived for a year without asking my

“I will bring my family back to show them NZ”

I studied Maori at university”

“I set up an exchange for my

“I saw the All Blacks play twice.”

parents for money” “I am determined to stay in NZ and have already applied for my visa”

Anything else you would like to say? We really appreciate any positive or negative

Your feedback please

feedback. Thanks!

We would like this newsletter to be useful and interesting to you. This is our final newsletter for this year which gives us the opportunity to get your feedback before launching into a new series of newsletters next year.

It would be fantastic if you could quickly email or fax us any comments you would like to make.

How often do you think the newsletter should be published?

Monthly is great Monthly is too often, I suggest _______________ Monthly is not often enough, I suggest

I would like to see the following content: Success stories of other teachers Articles on pedagogy and academic journals Articles on culture, tradition and other country specific facts and figures.

Language specific tools and resources I can use in the classroom Articles in the target language to practice my language skills

Please email us on plc@ilep.ac.nz or fax this page back to 09 6238975

Coming Up ...  SEX SONG IN GERMAN EXAM – PART TWO The Goethe-Institut will give a free T-Shirt “DEUTSCH IST SEXY” to every student who manages to achieve the grade of Excellence in the NCEA Level 2 German examination 2012. For more information visit the Goethe-Institute’s website.  Award ceremony for German film competition The award ceremony for this year’s German film competition “Es war einmal” will take place on 7 December at the New Zealand Film Archive in Wellington from 12:30 until 14:00. There were 47 submissions from 12 schools and 3 universities. 

TPDL - (Teacher Professional Development Languages) Applications are due on 30. November for this Ministry of Education funded programme for language teachers throughout NZ (new and experienced teachers all welcome). Develop your teaching in ways that impact positively on student learning. Up-skill in the language you teach if you need to, learn another language if you are already fluent in the language you teach.

TPDL provides:  personalised support to develop an inquiry approach to teaching  Internationally recognized qualifications  a pedagogy course customised for busy teachers (revised for 2013) For further information and applications please contact: tpdl@auckland.ac.nz

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Key Contacts and Links Advisory Support National Advisers for Chinese, French, German, Japanese and Spanish provide language specific support and can also offer advice about foreign language assistants and scholarship and immersion opportunities for each language.

National Coordinators for Learning Languages, Secondary Student Achievement Contract, focus on effective implementation of the New Zealand Curriculum and the NCEA realigned achievement standards as well as the development of literacy and language practices.  

Northern & Central Regions please contact: Dee Edwards.

Southern & Central South Regions please contact: Jo Guthrie

NZALT The New Zealand Association of Language Teachers offers a nationwide network to support language teachers, including regional meetings, professional development, awards, newsletters, conferences and advocacy on key issues.

Professional Development Opportunities

iCLT French language workshops There will be up to 8 iCLT French language workshops in March 2013, held mostly in the regions and combined with Spanish. These will be facilitated by the French and Spanish National Advisers. The theme will be iCLT in the classroom. An exploration of culture and its place in the French/Spanish language learning classroom using the 6 principles of intercultural communicative language teaching and learning. More information coming soon.

TPDL (Teacher Professional Development Languages) is a Ministry of Education funded programme aimed at developing teacher language proficiency and second language teaching capabilities in order to improve student language learning outcomes. TPDL is available to beginners as well as language experts.

Stage de Noumea 2013 Teachers participate in a 3 week (21 Sept—12 Oct) immersion and study experience in Noumea led by ILEP and TPDL staff. Accommodation will be with a family, study time will be divided between school observations, intercultural inquiry and formal language classes at the University of Noumea. 13 places are available in 2013. Deadline for applications is 29 March 2013, 5pm. Please go to the ILEP website for more information.

Language Immersion Awards are provided by the Ministry of Education for teachers of languages to undertake immersion experiences overseas. Further details are available at the AFS website.

STANZA Immersion Weekend 2013 is taking place in March. Have a look here for more information.

ILEP (International Languages Exchanges and Pathways) supports schools and teachers to implement the Learning Languages curriculum area, particularly at Years 7 and 8.

Don't forget! Check out the Learning Languages Website for regular updates and more information.