von Volker Schlieske
We are back! Back to the Future! In the fifth year of the Philippine German Teachers' Conference (DLT), the annual DLT (May 12/13) could finally take place face-to-face. In the past two years, this conference could only be offered online. The title of this year's event already suggests "Back to the Future - Teaching German after the pandemic" that the pandemic has left its mark on teachers and learners. While we were able to expand the repertoire of digital tools during the online period, teachers and learners simply missed the personal contact that is so important for language learning.
The nearly 60 language teachers from different language institutes in the Philippines who participated in this year's conference were all the more delighted. Finally, "real" people! For the participants, it was not only about the numerous workshops offered, but also about expanding their professional network. There was also a publishing fair featuring major German textbook publishers who traveled from Germany specifically for this event.
The German European School (DESM) was also involved in the planning of this German Teachers' Conference and also offered workshops. For this conference, which took place at the University of the Philippines (UP) this time, we were accompanied by experienced teachers from the German as a Foreign Language (DaF) department of DESM: Ms. Elis Choi, Ms. Demet Üngör, Mr. Christoph Felberbauer, and our DaF coordinator, Mr. Volker Schlieske, who also co-organized the online DLT last year.
This year, our DaF department offered a workshop on "Action- and Communication-Oriented Teaching" in which the participants not only gained insight into the history of teaching methods in foreign language instruction, but also actively put themselves in the shoes of learners and received numerous didactic tips, tricks, and materials. The Germany quiz, organized by our DaF department for all participants at the end of the event, was certainly another successful contribution to this conference.
The Philippine German Teachers' Conference is a joint project of the DAAD Lecturer's Office in the Philippines, the Goethe-Institut Manila, the German European School Manila, and the German Department of the Department of European Languages at the University of the Philippines Diliman, under the patronage of the German Embassy Manila.
Many thanks to the teachers of the DaF department, who tirelessly and with great creativity planned and enthusiastically implemented the workshops in the weeks leading up to the event!
