Think German – Cardiff hosts German culture and language conference

An event at Cardiff University this July will celebrate all aspects of German life to help promote the teaching and learning of the language throughout Wales.

Held on July 7^th, the ‘Wales Think German’ Schools Conference is the third of its kind and is hosted this year by the University’s School of Modern Languages.

The ‘Wales Think German’ Network was founded by the Universities of Cardiff, Aberystwyth, Bangor and Swansea in 2014 to promote the profile of German culture and language by building links between universities, schools and businesses.

The network’s annual conference promotes German to schools across Wales, and gives young people the opportunity to find out more about German language, culture and history.

This year’s event has sessions ranging from ‘Fußball’ to German business practices to an interactive guided tour of the National Museum of Wales’ current WW1 exhibition ‘War’s Hell!’ The Battle of Mametz Wood in Art.

The  conference involves staff from Cardiff’s German and Translation departments together with colleagues from the Goethe Institut and Aberystwyth University including:

• Alex Pickering, Goethe Institut: ‘German and the World of Business: Career Opportunities for German Speakers in Wales and Beyond’
• Dr Hilary Potter, Cardiff: ‘The Rosenstraße Protest, Berlin 1943 – What really happened?’
• Dr Monika Hennemann, Cardiff:  ‘Short and Sweet - German Short Films’
• Dr Winifred V. Davies, Aberystwyth:  ‘Wie man nicht ins Fettnäpfchen tritt: Getting the register right in German’

The event is sponsored by the School of Modern Languages, the Goethe Institut, the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service), Cardiff University’s interdisciplinary ‘Commemorating WW1: Conflict & Creativity’ Network, and the National Museum of Wales’ ‘Cymru'n Cofio Wales Remembers 1914-1918’ cultural engagement project.

Dr Monika Hennemann, Programme Director of German at Cardiff University said, "After two successful conferences in Swansea, we are delighted that Cardiff has the opportunity to host this exciting event.  We have prepared a varied day of workshops for 150 school children from across South Wales, and it remains to be seen which of our two main themes, WW1 and football, will turn out to be the bigger hit with our participants!”

For further details on the conference programme please visit out events page. For more information please contact Elke Oerter.