So German!
Nov 16, 2021 - So German Team
In keeping with the theme of the video competition, “Overcoming Borders,” the Central Agency for Schools Abroad’s (ZfA) expert advisors in Toronto and Edmonton, who organized this competition for the tenth time, saw record participation this year. More than 200 students, from kindergarten to senior year, from a total of 15 PASCH schools in Canada put their creative ideas on film with the support of their teachers. In doing so, they demonstrated ingenuity, technical know-how and a good command of German.
The young filmmakers had a lot of fun with their projects and did not let the often difficult teaching conditions caused by the pandemic slow them down. Schoolyards and parks became filming locations just as much as their own four walls or the video conference staged with classmates. And when the script called for it, the students’ own family members were also used as extras to create the three-minute video required for the competition.
A total of 48 short videos were produced, which approached the topic of “Overcoming Boundaries” with creative ideas, in some cases at a high linguistic level, and in very different ways in terms of content: from overcoming fundamental problems or problems caused by the pandemic in school and everyday life, to dealing with personal emotional or psychological boundaries (blockages, fears, depression), to overcoming social boundaries caused, for example, by stereotypes, ingrained role patterns and social barriers. Overcoming historical and geographical borders or the cross-border spread of languages was also addressed in the student videos. A representative compilation of this year’s competition entries can now be viewed on PASCH-net: https://www.pasch-net.de/de/wettbewerbe/kanada-wettbewerb-2021-zfa.html .
The first prizes went to the second grade of the German Language School Ottawa, whose “student news” dealt with borders during the Corona pandemic, to the seventh grade of the German Language School Calgary for their successful contribution on the topic of “German knows no borders,” and to the tenth grade students of River East Collegiate in Winnipeg, who traced the history of German division up to the fall of the Berlin Wall with ingenuity and improvisational skills. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the participating students and the teachers who supervised their protégés’ film projects, sometimes under difficult conditions, and to praise them for their creativity and commitment. Through their voluntary work, they not only contributed decisively to the success of the competition, but also supported the networking of the German programs in Canada – and above all, vividly demonstrated how fun and motivation can be conveyed when learning German together.
The ZfA video competition in Canada is made possible by funding from the German Network of the German Embassy in Ottawa / the German Foreign Office.
Schoolyards and parks became filming locations just as much as their own four walls or the video conference staged with classmates.
We would like to thank Andreas Meckes, ZfA German Language Advisor for Western Canada, Edmonton for his input and support in creating this article.
