German "Ambassadors in Sneakers" Visit American Classrooms with German for Hire
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(© colourbox)
Short of visiting a country, the best way to get to know it is through contact with a native. American middle- and high school students now have the opportunity to experience Germany firsthand—through the German for Hire program of the Goethe-Institut.
The program partners German university students studying at academic institutions across the US with teachers at American schools interested in giving their students a special treat: a lesson from a guest teacher from the “Land of Ideas.” The regional Goethe-Instituts (in Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Boston, and Washington) serve as facilitators, but it’s up to the German “diplomats in sneakers,” in cooperation with the American teachers, to decide on what topics to cover.
Since launching in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2009, German for Hire has brought young, enthusiastic German scholars into American classrooms to present on topics as varied as German geography, cuisine, holidays, music, and sport. In some cases, lessons were conducted in German classes, but not always. German for Hire presenters have also interacted with students over improvisational theater, or discussed modern societal issues such as migration and multiculturalism. The possibilities are limitless!
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(© Goethe-Institut)
German for Hire is modelled after the highly successful Rent an American program of the German-American Institute in Tübingen, in southwestern Germany. That program, founded in 2007 to strengthen public diplomacy at a time of cutbacks, has already enabled hundreds of interactions between American university students and German pupils.
As German for Hire expands across the US, the respective Goethe-Instituts are seeking participants—both German students and American teachers—to fulfill the program’s great potential for cross-cultural dialogue.
To learn more and get involved, contact your regional Goethe-Institut.
