Learning the German way

A UNIQUE exchange programme organised by a unique Irish school has just celebrated its tenth anniversary. St Kilian's Deutsche Schule in Dublin recently sent 28 Transition Year students on an exchange programme to Hamburg where they spent three weeks working in local firms before heading home a few days later with their German counterparts in tow.

"By placing students in a working environment," says Joe Pleiner, head of the German department at St Kilian's, "this puts them in a position where they have to use German. We find that this increases their motivation to learn the language."

Students from St Kilian's worked regular hours at hotels, kindergartens, old folks' homes, record shops and technical universities around Hamburg. Those who worked in the old folks' homes would generally get up at 6 a.m., commute to work for 7.30 a.m. and work an eight hour day. Their work included preparing breakfast, clearing up afterwards, doing laundry and preparing lunch.

Pleiner says that, in addition to the language gains, students learn much about working life, how hard it is and how difficult it can be to earn money without proper qualifications. "They also make a lot of friends during their time abroad," he says. "It's not unusual to find that our exchange students return to visit their German counterparts at some future date."

St Kilian's, a private school on Roebuck Road in Dublin, began life in October 1945 under the auspices of the Save the German Children Society. More than 400 German orphans were brought to Ireland after the war - 50 of whom decided to stay with their Irish foster parents.

St Kilian's has grown to include a kindergarten, primary and post primary school. German is given a much higher priority than at other Irish schools - second level students have between six and 10 periods of German each week. However, all lessons apart from German are conducted through English.

"As a result of our approach," says Joe Pleiner, "all our students would generally be fluent in German by the time they take their Leaving Cert."