As a German teacher at GJU University, I had the opportunity to complete a month of training at IIK Düsseldorf, a language school in Germany. This training report provides a brief description of and reflection on my training period. It includes general information about the internship location, my observation experience, and an evaluation of the learning process and also includes some photographs from the training.
IIK Deutschland is a nonprofit further education institute with a focus on language. The core of their work includes German as a foreign language, university preparation, and work-related German courses for professionals such as doctors and nurses, as well as integration and professional language courses.
During my first week, I got to know the entire IIK team. I also had a meeting with the director where we discussed what we could do at IIK during the month. Afterwards, he gave us the opportunity not only to observe German classes but also to participate in two professional development training, which allowed us to benefit from and meet teachers from other countries. On the first day, I had the opportunity to help the team with supervision. During this, we discovered that people can complete their residence examination there at the IKK. After that I began observing different courses so that I could have the opportunity to see different kinds of courses. For prospective German as a foreign language teachers, classroom observation is very important because it allows them to observe other teachers, reflect on what they have learned, and consider how they can apply, improve, or take into account what they have learned in their own teaching.
While I was observing the courses, I took notes on things I could engage in during my classes. The most interesting class was where the students were doctors from different countries and they learned German so they could have the opportunity to work in Germany. What was really interesting in this class was the kind of activities that were used. I felt like I was really in a hospital, not in a classroom. The students interacted with each other and played their roles really well, to the point where you felt like they were really professional. Also, I found it interesting that the other courses had heterogeneous groups of students. That was something new for me. At GJU, we have homogeneous groups. The activities used were a little different from ours because they had to deal with classes where the students did not have a mutual language.
The professional development training I took part in covered two different topics. The first one I participated in was called "Exploring Germany Culturally." Ideas for Culture-Centered Learning. We participated in a cooking class with the other teachers, which was really fun. We got to know German food, and we can also engage our students in it so they can learn about German culture through food. However, this training was not just about food. We also learned a lot of things that we can use in class to introduce our students to German culture so that they won't have a problem when they come here. My colleague and I also gave an example presentation on a German cultural topic at the end of this training, using a new tool that we had learned during the course. The second training I took part in was an intensive training that lasted the whole week. It focused on communication in German as a foreign language (DaF) using scenario-based didactics. I learned a lot of methods and tools that we can use in our classes to motivate students to communicate in German. In the end, my colleague and I presented a teaching outline for a scenario that we could use in our classes. At the end of these two training courses we received a certificate of participation.
This training was a valuable and successful experience for me, as participation in the program brought both professional and personal benefits.
