Claire Brolsma teaches in Nurnberg
At the end of my time at University I was still undecided which direction to pursue as a career so, for European school year 2008/2009 I am working as an English language assistant in Nuernberg, Bavaria. Since mid-September, I have been working in a Gymnasium and a Grundschule. In the Gymnasium I’ve been helping year 7 and 9 students prepare for their conversation exams and running an extra course for year 10’s who want some extra conversation practice. In the Grundschule, the year 3 and 4 students have just started learning English, colours and numbers mostly. I take one lesson a week in each class and we learn about food, colours, months of the year and many more things through pictures, songs and games.
After the Christmas break, I will be changing my classes at the Gymnasium to take year 6 classes and a Leistungskurs with the year 12 and 13 students.
I am thoroughly enjoying my time here, Nuernberg is a fantastic city. There’s an endless list of things to do and at the moment the Christmas Market is at the top of that list most weekends! There are also other English assistants here as well as some French assistants.
I would strongly recommend this program, whether you are looking to take a year off after graduating or would like to spend a year improving your German and really getting to know the culture. It’s also possible to take some classes at University if there is one in the city where you work. It is run by the Paedagogischeaustauschdienst (PAD) and at the Australian end, by the Goethe Institute.
For more information about this program go to http://www.kmk-pad.org and follow the links to the Fremdsprachenassistenten Programm.
