German teachers take part in congress in Vienna

From August 15-20, Vienna, Austria, hosted German teachers during the International Conference of Teachers of German (IDT). The 2500 participants came from over 100 countries -- and from Friedensau. Many lectures, workshops, seminars, etc. and a colourful cultural program filled our week.

What will we remember? Of course, many ideas for our teaching, e.g. how to use different (social) media or performative elements; tips for online teaching, grammar lessons or error correction--and a lot of entertaining information about the "Viennese songs".

At the conference, it was obvious that people are still learning German all over the world, whether in Serbia, Indonesia, South Korea or Australia. It was encouraging to see that the German language has relevance and that we, too, in our German course in Friedensau, give our students something valuable by teaching them our language. Meeting colleagues from all over the world was enriching and refreshing!

Most of the conference took place in the main building of the University of Vienna, a beautiful building that was opened in 1884. In the shady arcaded courtyard, participants were able to rest and chat as well as browse through material presented by various publishers. The glamorous ballroom was also filled with everything related to the German language. (Interesting: the ceiling paintings by Klimt were replaced with black and white copies to replace the originals burned by the Nazis during the war). The location of the university in the centre of Vienna near the City Hall and Parliament allowed us to explore the city during breaks. Impressive! Vienna, we’ll be back!