French-German Tandem Courses foryoung graduates in the cultural sector

First international Meeting on language learning in Tandem – Miami – 28.02.2014

Who are we ?An independent inter-governmental organisation with an international status fostering French-German cooperation

Founded according to the Contract of Elysées, on the 22th January 1963 by Charles de Gaulle and Konrad AdenauerSponsored by the french and the german governementStructure : A French-German executive board:

Dr. Markus Ingenlath und Béatrice Angrand5 Departments 70 employees working in „bi-national“ teams in 2 locations, Paris and Berlin

First international Meeting on language learning in Tandem – Miami – 28.02.2014

Aims and purposes

To deepen the relationships between young people

To reflect on the different cultures

To develop social and intercultural competence

To understand the importance of their special alliance in Europe

To arouse interest in discovering the other language

To strengthen the autonomy of young people

To impart the French-German co-operation model to others

To be a reference center for the government of both countries

First international Meeting on language learning in Tandem – Miami – 28.02.2014

Some factsSince our foundation in 1963, we have made possible…

For more than 8 Million young people from France and Germany between 3 and 30 years old to be acquainted with each other

To support around 300.000 youth meetings

We cooperate with

More than 7.000 Partners.

Each year we support…

More than 11.000 youth meetings,

with around 200.000 participants.

First international Meeting on language learning in Tandem – Miami – 28.02.2014

Language promotion

• Language skills are not a pre-condition to take part in a project. Any young person who is interested in a project can take part

• Our aim : increasing language awareness and language skills. The youth exchange is the context, and the better cooperation between the two states is the aim

• Language learning during a youth meeting is not comparable to formal language learning in an educational institution:

Non-formal education.

First international Meeting on language learning in Tandem – Miami – 28.02.2014

The ‘bi-national’ courses for young graduates in the field of culture. These are

• For young people between University and working life

• For those who want to have work experience abroad

• To develop intercultural, language and professional skills

• To build intercultural und sustainable professional networks : Empower the cooperation between cultural institutions in France and Germany

First international Meeting on language learning in Tandem – Miami – 28.02.2014

Young graduates attending our tandem language courses have

• Personal expectations towards their career

• Heterogeneous language skills (A2 to C2)

• Heterogeneous professional profiles (bookstore, history, fine arts…)

• High knowledge level and selfconfidence in their business

• More or less intercultural awareness

• Large expectations for the time after the course. Such as :

managing everyday life alone abroad being efficient in business situations

First international Meeting on language learning in Tandem – Miami – 28.02.2014

The requirements of the tandem language course are

• Language/intercultural courses spanning two weeks (for editors) or three weeks (for museum curators and translators)

• The course is done partly in Germany and partly in France

• All participants stay together in a hostel during the whole course

• Two tutors, one French and one German accompany the course

• 5 hours/day : guided tandem learning• Organisation of meetings with professionals and

visits to institutions

First international Meeting on language learning in Tandem – Miami – 28.02.2014

The challenges

• Participants come with high expectations of personal development

• Their idea about language learning is not always skill oriented

• Sometimes very unrealistic expectations about what they can achieve in the short time

• They are not aware of the (real) purpose behind the project : connecting people for a united states of Europe

• Personal aims are not totaly equal to institutional aims

First international Meeting on language learning in Tandem – Miami – 28.02.2014

More challenges

• To understand the tandem approach and be ready to work with a partner every day

• Being able to give as much as you receive

• False expectations towards the tutors

• To define in detail their personal learning objectives

Is Tandem serious enough ? Is it the right method for me ?

First international Meeting on language learning in Tandem – Miami – 28.02.2014

Some assets

• Specialised glossary : professional terminology, already prepared and verified

• Professional visits and meetings prepared in tandem complete the course programme

• Learners spend the whole day together with not just structured and guided tandem sequences but also a lot of informal time to communicate with each other (sharing a room)

• Two tutors, familiar with the topic and ready to coach a tandem process

First international Meeting on language learning in Tandem – Miami – 28.02.2014

Some solutions to challenges faced

• Introduction to tandem

• Provide specific tasks

• Use simulations as preparation for the professional situation (the path of creating a book, organizing an exhibition)

• Individual coaching (Lernberatung) especially for the learning process

• Mononational working groups for some questions like grammatic

First international Meeting on language learning in Tandem – Miami – 28.02.2014

Assessment ?• Complementarity of all moments during the

course, but very intensiv « breaks are not real breaks because we continue speaking and

working all the time, I know that is the intention, but it is so exhausting »

• Sometime the feeling of success is coming during the free time

« I realised all that I had learned, as I was able to have a deep conversation with other participants »

• General feeling of increased skills at the end of the course by almost all participants

• Very good group atmosphere at the end of the course : Community feeling

• After the professional stay : Increased awareness about own strategies to learn a langage

First international Meeting on language learning in Tandem – Miami – 28.02.2014

What we do better now

• Informations in the run up to the course

• Analysing the needs of participants

• Balance between guiding/encouraging autonomy

• Better tasks for training different skills in different situations (understanding, writing, taking part to a conversation, intercultural competence…)

• The right balance of reflection about the learning process

Tandem is perfekt !

First international Meeting on language learning in Tandem – Miami – 28.02.2014

Anne JardinDeutsch-Französisches Jugendwerk/ Office Franco-allemand pour la JeunesseMolkenmarkt 110179 BerlinGermanyTel.: +49 30 288 757 29jardin@dfjw.org

www.dfjw.org

Thank you for your attention !