TANDEM Hamburg Blog

Are you a German language teacher in a European country?
Are you ready for new ideas for language training? Are you keen on meeting colleagues from other European countries to exchange and discuss best practice ideas?
We are running 5 days of further education for German language instructors at international schools and language schools abroad, and for independent trainers. In our teacher-trainer course for German language teachers from a foreign country you will spend 5 intensive days with methods and materials.
If you are a German language teacher at a private or state school in your home country, this further education course is designed to help you develop new ideas for your classroom work, to discuss concepts in an exchange with colleagues from a variety of countries, and, above all: to put them into practice.
We will be concerned with the following areas: Speaking, writing, reading and listening skills, grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and ‘learning how to learn’. The methods we are using are from foreign language teaching, educational play theory and experiential pedagogy. We will present and try out teaching methods for classroom work and for outdoors. The course will be held in German, so that speaking and listening training takes place on the go; the emphasis lies however on the methodological content.
You will have private accommodation; arrival will be Sunday, departure Saturday after the course.
This course has been approved for a Grundtvig Mobility grant – so you can reclaim your costs! Please check out the descriptions and prerequisites at the Grundtvig mobility website, where this course is listed; reference no.: DE-2011-1128-003
Course dates for 2011:
16.05.11 – 20.05.11
01.08.11 – 05.08.11
10.10.11 – 14.10.11

All further information will be available on request.

Dear friends of TANDEM Hamburg
We would like to thank all of you for your continued support in the past, and hope that we will continue working together so well. At the same time, we are using this opportunity to let you know about the latest, rather exciting development: TANDEM moved to great new premises in the heart of Hamburg!

Here is our new address:
TANDEM Hamburg International Language School
Haus am Fleet, Steinhoeft 5 – 7
20459 Hamburg, Germany

We are now in Hamburg’s city centre, on the border between the New Town and the Old Town on the historic Inner Harbour. We are overlooking a canal, the ‘Herrengrabenfleet’, only a stone’s throw from the river Elbe. Hamburg’s youngest part of town, the ‘Harbour City’ with the new concert house, the ‘Elbphilharmonie’, and, close to it, the historic warehouse district ‘Speicherstadt’, lie within spitting distance from the school. Walk for a few minutes in the other direction, and you will find yourself in front of St Michael’s church, the ‘Michel’, Hamburg’s landmark. And we have a lot more on offer in our neighbourhood: The old piers ‘Landungsbrücken’, the Portuguese Quarter, the Reeperbahn, historic Deichstraße, the city hall and Hamburg’s inner city – TANDEM is in the midst of it all!

Check out this link to Google Maps.

This year we have had visitors from all corners of the earth – we have fond memories of teaching all of them in our classic German courses, of students successfully training for and passing the TestDaF and TELC examinations, of groups of students coming for a special course with an extensive cultural programme, getting their feet wet in the North Sea mud and receiving great insights in how to build an Airbus, to mention just two of the attractions.

As an accredited examination centre, we offer our students official certificates for all language classes; as mentioned, this is the TestDaF for German or the European language certificate TELC at levels A1 – C1 for German and foreign languages as well.

Here’s a link to our 2011Brochure in English, and here it is in German.

Don’t hesitate to get in touch for more information!

Kind regards,
Henning Pruess

More than ‘just’ learning a language…

We believe that a language is learnt best when it is presented ‘cohesively’ – therefore a cultural offer for our students is of great importance to us. This might be a walk to a local pub (with or without a Karaoke contest), an excursion to the neighbouring towns of Lübeck or Lüneburg or to the North Sea, a visit to an important place in and around Hamburg, or a trip to Berlin, the ca-pital. We are changing and adding to the pro- gramme regularly, thus guaranteeing the highest possible up-to-dateness.


We offer tailor-made programmes for student groups from abroad! You tell us when and for how long you would like to come to us with your group, and what especially you are interested in, and we will put together an offer for you consisting of the following:

• Accommodation and Catering
Single rooms with host families, bed & breakfast or half board; or hostel accommodation on request (free stays for accompanying tutors)
• Pick-up, Transfer and Welcome
We are meeting you at the airport / station / port and take you to TANDEM; there your host families will be waiting for you. • German language course + TANDEM exchange We are integrating your students in our language courses or opening up special classes for you – including TANDEM partners.

• Hamburg Culture Programme
In addition, there will be a varied cultural programme in Hamburg of 2-3 items per week. A selection: Canoeing on the river Alster, tour through the city hall guided by a member of parliament, stroll through St Pauli (the ‘Kiez’) and scenic Blankenese, a guided tour of the concentration camp memorial Neuengamme, visits to the Holsten brewery and the Air- bus plant, a walking and boating tour through the port, the harbour city, the historic warehouse district Speicherstadt, to the beaches of the river Elbe or on our fun “Mission Impossible“ – an exciting city safari with many questions.

• Further Options
- Bus trip to Berlin, 2 nights in a centrally located friendly hostel (shared dorm, half board), visits and guided tours through Bundestag (our Federal Parliament), the Jewish Museum and a bicycle tour through the centre of the capital.
- Weekend day trip to Büsum at the North Sea with a guided mudflat hiking tour, followed by a dinner and beach life.

We like groups!

What a great fun fair!
The DOM, part of Hamburg’s tradition, is the biggest and most famous fair in Hamburg, guaranteeing adventure and excitement. The DOM is the perfect place for fun and thrilling experiences! Come and enjoy it!
The spring Dom aka ‘Frühlingsfest’, from 19 March to 18 April  just opened; it will be back in Summer from 30 July to 28 August and in autumn from 5 November to 5 December 2010. They all have one thing in common: for a period of about 4 weeks in each case, “Heiligengeistfeld” turns into the single most bustling fairground from the afternoon until late at night (from 03:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.).
Rollercoasters, roundabouts, ferris wheel, and an additional adventure area are the typical attractions, as well as a gigantic fireworks show which attracts the attention of countless locals and visitors every Friday at 10:30 pm.

And while you’re here: Take a German Course at TANDEM Hamburg!

The annual Cherry Blossom Festival, a “must” in Hamburg, features an amazing fireworks display along the shore of Outer Alster ever since 1968. This gift from the Japanese community, which commemorates the first commercial links between Hamburg and Japan, brings hundreds of thousands of people to the Alster every year. Festivities include the election of the Cherry Blossom Queen, whose main duty is to represent the city of Hamburg in Japan, an amazing fireworks show, as well as other activities.
For the Japanese, cherry blossom is an important symbol of their country’s culture, marking the beginning of spring and standing for emergence from winter, for beauty and transience.
And while you’re here: Take a German Course at TANDEM Hamburg!

Steigen Sie ein: An der Sprachenschule TANDEM Hamburg e.V. in Altona beginnen im Januar 2010 neue Abendkurse. Informieren Sie sich hier über das laufende Angebot; wenn Sie uns kennen, wissen Sie bereits, dass Sie in laufende Kurse fast jederzeit einsteigen können. Warten Sie nicht bis zum nächsten Kursbeginn!

Für die, die TANDEM Hamburg noch nicht kennen: TANDEM bietet seit 1985 lebendiges Sprachenlernen an: Es gibt Kurse in Deutsch als Fremdsprache, Englisch, Französisch, Italienisch Spanisch und Chinesisch. Im Bereich Deutsch als Fremdsprache bietet TANDEM Hamburg ganzjährig Intensivkurse und spezielle Kurse mit einem vielfältigen Begleitprogramm und ist als TestDaF-Prüfungszentrum anerkannt.

Kursangebote ab Januar 2010
Sie finden TANDEM in der Schmarjestr. 33 in 22767 Hamburg-Altona, fünf Minuten vom Bahnhof Altona entfernt. Tel.: 040 – 38 19 59, eMail: call@tandem-hamburg.de, Web: www.tandem-hamburg.de

Auf einmal stand er in der Tür: „Mir hamse mein Zelt geklaut“. Vaclav Gänsel, Weltenbummler seit sage und schreibe 36 Jahren, läuft, seitdem der Zirkus, bei dem er beschäftigt war, abbrannte, zu Fuß durch die Welt. War schon ‘überall’, hat schon auf indischen Teeplantagen, in kanadischen Wäldern, südafrikanischen Diamantenminen, und auf Kaffeeplantagen in Südamerika gearbeitet – „Alles, was so kommt“, sagt er. Und jetzt fehlen ihm noch 25 Euro für ein neues Zelt.

Nachdem ich ihm einen Kaffee angeboten habe, packt er seinen Aktenordner aus, voll mit Fotos, Zeitungsartikeln und Briefen von Leuten, denen er unterwegs begegnet ist, darunter viele Bürgermeister, Lokalpolitiker und andere Prominente. Von diesen Ordnern hat er in einem Archiv noch zweihundert.

Ich frage ihn, ob er Lust hat, in einem unserer Deutschkurse ein bisschen zu erzählen und Fragen zu beantworten: „Klar, kann ich machen“. Und dann geht er so fix vor mir die Treppe in den ersten Stock hoch, dass ich kaum hinterher komme – der Mann ist 74 Jahre alt, aber fit wie seine Turnschuhe.

Seine Geschichte, die er in der Klasse erzählt, klingt nach Abenteuer und der großen weiten Welt, aber auch nach einem harten Los: Seit 1974 marschiert Gänsel durch die Welt, hat dabei mehr als 130 Länder bereist und über 380 000 Kilometer zurückgelegt – zu Fuß, auf Frachtschiffen und im Zug. Als Achtjähriger wurde er bei einem Bombenangriff in einem Berliner Kinderheim verschüttet. Sein Vater kam im Krieg ums Leben; seine Mutter war Krankenschwester an der Ostfront und blieb vermisst. „Mein Zuhause ist die ganze Welt.“ sagt er, und lässt keinen Zweifel daran, wie er sich sein Essen verdient: „Arbeit find ich überall – na ja fast überall, nur in Deutschland findste in meinem Alter nichts.“ Deshalb macht er sich jetzt wieder auf, Richtung Hafen, um sich einen Frachter Richtung Brasilien zu suchen. „Da gibt’s genug zu tun.“

Gute Reise, Vaclav Gänsel, wir bleiben staunend zurück.

Weitere Infos gibt es unter anderem hier.

What a great end-of-summer event. Five runners representing the language school TANDEM Hamburg took part in this year’s Team Relay Run, initiated by the local paper ‘Hamburger Morgenpost’. After a great run a year ago, we managed to reach a decent ‘middle-field’ position. A super day, we had great fun, and my thanks go out to my fellow runners Adrian, Christine, Justin and Maik. Well done, guys – what would I have done without you?

Henning
Click on this picture to see some more:

Here’s another group exploring the city and taking photographs of themselves. They are taking part in one of our German language courses (20 hrs per week plus cultural programme) in Hamburg in July, and by the look of the pictures seem to be enjoying themselves. Well done, ‘Mission Impossible’ Team!

Fore more pictures, go here.

Bei TANDEM Hamburg fand gestern ein spanisches Fest unter dem Titel “¡Valencia!” statt.
Unser Gast Fernando Batalla von unserer Partnerschule Taronja TANDEM Valencia hatte den ganzen Nachmittag in unserer Küche zugebracht und uns dann wundervolle Tapas, eine Gazpacho und, natürlich, Sangria serviert. Der unermüdliche Fernando gab uns dann in einer tollen Präsentation Einblicke und Überblicke über Valencia, die Festivals, Kultur und (wen wundert’s) die kulinarischen Attraktionen. Anschließend bekamen wir einen super Eindruck von der Schule und ihrem Programm. Vorher hatte unsere Spanischlehrerin und Künstlerin Cecilia traditionelle Tangolieder (natürlich auf Spanisch) aus ihrem Heimatland Argentinien vorgetragen. Herzlichen Dank an Euch beide – und einen Sonderapplaus für unsere Praktikantin Anouchka aus Toulouse für die exzellente Vorbereitung! Hier zeigen wir ein paar Fotos von der Party; mehr Infos über TANDEMschulen und über Valencia gibt es nach Klick auf diesen Link: TANDEM Hamburg