LANGUAGES

UNTIL 18 APRIL 2021 | BRISBANE | EXHIBITION

A legacy of migration and modernism in Brisbane

Bauhaus Now:

art+design+architecture explores the legacy of the famous Weimar Bauhaus art school by highlighting its visionary collectivist ideals and range of radical practices in art, design and architecture.

If you are planning a trip north in the coming holidays, this would be a great opportunity to visit this exhibition.

The Goethe Institut currently offers interesting conversations about the future of our societies. How will AI influence our future lives?

Artists, thinkers and creative minds are invited to contribute to Kulturtechniken 4.0

Andrea Fowler

Head of Languages

YEAR 8 EMAIL EXCHANGE PROJECT WITH GERMANY

Although our students have not been able to be involved in actual school exchanges in Europe this year, Year 8 German classes have had a chance to practice German with an email partner. This term they have been corresponding with students in our sister school Alfred-Wegener School in Kirchhain near Marburg, as well as Max Planck school in Göttingen.

McKinnon students are matched with a partner with similar interests. Many are happy to discover that German teenagers are also into things like Tik-tok, Anime and Netflix, as well as more traditional hobbies and sports. As the project unfolded, German students were keen to know more about life in Australia, and our students enjoyed discovering the similarities and differences between the two cultures. Interesting topics discussed this year included poisonous spiders, snakes and home baking.

The challenges of being a high school student during Covid-19 was of course a common theme in correspondence this year. At home some students also chatted with their partners on Instagram and Facetime and played online games. More creative students shared drawings and videos of them playing an instrument. Some are even exchanging Christmas presents!

This is a great opportunity for our Year 8 students to demonstrate everything they have learnt in German over the last two years. Everyone enjoys making new friends, and some continue to correspond online after the project finishes. We even have some Year 11 students still in touch with their partner. They also keep a ‘Blog’ in their Digital Portfolio reflecting on what they learn and thoughts on the project over a couple of months.

Karin Paal

Year 8 German Teacher