mara
klein

ABOUT MY TEACHING

I've been a German language teacher for many years, and I never cease to be inspired by what emerges when people from different walks of life meet around the shared adventure of learning - with, and from each other. German can be a hard one to grasp, and my experience has proven to me again and again that it's about more than just the mind learning - it's about body, sensations, curiosities and shared explorations. Thus, I've developed a concept that brings together my two passions - art and language - to create a more wholesome experience of diving into language.

CONCEPT

I've dubbed my teaching method "Deutsch plappern" - plappern means to babble without thinking. And that is the aim of the course - for students to loose their fear of communicating in German, learning to feel comfortable with just going for it. The course is structured around curiosity, exchange and play, with a healthy dose of grammar to build strong foundations. Each week, students have the possibility to hold presentations on their own work and on the artists and locations of that week's excursion.

STRUCTURE

Each module runs for 6 weeks, four days per week.

- Mondays & Tuesdays in the classroom with focus on grammar

- Thursdays outdoors exploring exhibitions, events and performances

- Fridays online for discussions around the excursion and a recap of the week's topics and grammar.

The course is held in small groups for more intensive learning and focus on individual questions. Prerequisite is a completed B1 or B2 course, and regular attendance to keep group coherence.

The course is held at the Volkshochschule Neukölln. For me, it is a political choice to hold my course at a Volkshochschule - based on the principle of life-long learning, the school aims to be as financially accessible as possible. As a result, the course is a charming 210€ per six-week module.

WHAT THE STUDENTS SAY

"If you want something truly out of the box, if you want to learn with your body and mind, enjoy undiscovered parts of the city and improve your confidence in speaking German- there is truly no other course you should take, than Mara‘s Deutsch Plappern.“ – Grace, body worker

"Mara’s B2 Kunst & Kultur course is easily the most interesting and fulfilling German course I have taken. In fact it was so good that at first I didn’t want to recommend it to people because I didn’t want to risk there not being a place for me!“ – George, writer  

"I studied German for a long time, in many schools, with different methods, books, teachers. In a few weeks, this course gave me the confidence to be able to speak and communicate, to express ideas, to have conversations about complex topics. What I liked most about this experience is that thanks to Mara's teaching method and the creativity with which she approaches each proposal, we usually forgot that we were in a German course, because the objective did not seem to be the language itself, but to use the language as a means to think about the world in a different way.“ – Manuel, filmmaker