This is the speech given by 4 students who represented GESM and LFM during the culminating program of the four-day event series that marked the 60th Anniversary of the Élysée Treaty and the 30th Anniversary of Eurocampus Manila on January 26.
Nicolas (LFM): Guten Tag und herzlich willkommen! Ich bin Nicolas aus der zwölften Klasse und bin Schülersprecher der französischen Schule und ich war früher der Sprecher der Schüler im Vorstand von LFM.
Hannah (10D): Bonjour a toutes et a tous. Bienvenue! Je m’appelle Hannah et je suis en seconde. Je suis une des representants des etudiants allemands. Les allemands n‘ont pas un speaker dans le conseil.
Daniel (LFM): Guten Tag ich bin Daniel aus der elften Klasse und bin auch Schülersprecher der französischen Schule. Ich bin der jetzige Sprecher im Vorstand.
Oskar (8D): Bonjour! Je m’appelle Oskar et je suis aussi un des representants des etudiants allemands.
Hannah: We would like to add something to the speeches of both deputy ambassadors. The Elysée Treaty did not turn out as perfect as expected in the beginning. For example, there were and still are conflicts between both countries in politics. Germany has always wanted strong bonds with the United States; however, France wished for more independence for France and Europe with Germany as their main ally.
Nicolas: Furthermore, Germany and France, our two peoples, have been and still are brothers, culturally and historically. Yet, this is not reflected in reality. Languages have been a main factor in this cultural bond. However, only 15% of the students in Germany learn French and 12% of the students in France learn German.
Oskar: This deficiency is very visible in our school. For example, the Germans dislike the French language because we must learn it from the book which is boring and annoying, and the same thing is true for French, they believe the German language is hard which is why they prefer Spanish. There is also a lot of division visible in our school, like on the football field, in the cafeteria, in hallways, the lobby, and the boutique. This does not reflect the spirit of friendship of the treaty.
Daniel: We students would like to make 5 suggestions:
(1) promote more joint activities, such as ECAs, or prom parties. And in the events we should always have a mix of both French and German students.
(2) We would like to have more joint classes, the German will go to the French classroom to learn French, and the French will go to the German classrooms to learn German, that way it will be easier to learn the languages instead of learning it from boring books.
(3) We would like to form mixed sports teams, not French against German, but both competing against other schools.
(4) We want to erase the physical divisions [on campus].
(5) And finally, we would like to develop common rules,
a. establish a common student council and
b. writing a signed official document, to give orientation for further cooperation for both schools.
Hannah: Merci pour votre attention!
Nicolas: Danke für Ihre Aufmerksamkeit!