In these activities, you show that you can:

Note the following information:

Using your notes from the previous activity, please record yourself presenting two photos or objects that evoke your own personal concept of Heimat. Describe each to your classmates and explain why you associate them with Heimat.

Please use high-frequency words and provide as much detail as you can. Use at least three words from your notes in Activity 1.

This activity should take you 10 minutes to prepare and your presentation should last about 2 minutes.

Practice with partner(s) (interpersonal activity).

Taking the previous activity as a guide, engage in a brief conversation with a partner covering the following topics:

Conversation: Using your notes from activities 1 and 2, reflect on which notions of Heimat you find most convincing or appropriate for yourself. The interview your partner about what Heimat means to them. You are welcome to recycle questions from the videos and/or develop your own. Ask follow-up questions to promote clarification and expansion.

These activities should take you 10 minutes to prepare and your presentation and conversation should last about 5 minutes.

Ask yourself what went well, where you or your partner(s) struggled to communicate, and how you could improve next time. To help you keep speaking in German, try these strategies:

Several of the videos mention that Heimat is sometimes used in a politically charged way. Research more about the current and historical uses of the word using these links:

Heimat has also played a critical role in literature, film, and TV. Research one or more of these:

In these activities, you show that you can:

Create your own video or audio recording in the style of the videos above, using these videos as models for how to describe where you live. Use the vocabulary and structures above to help you prepare your presentation.

Please use high-frequency words and provide as much detail as you can.

This activity should take you 10+ minutes to prepare and your presentation should last about 2 minutes.

Practice with partner(s) (interpersonal activity).

Taking the previous activity as a guide, engage in a brief conversation with a partner covering the following topics:

Where do you live? What is your residence like? (location, rooms, furnishings, roommates) What do you like about it? What do you dislike? Where would you prefer to live? What are you (not) allowed to do there (e.g., if living in a dorm)? What do you have to do (e.g., housekeeping, maintenance)? Use modal verbs frequently in your conversation.

These activities should take you 10 minutes to prepare and your presentation and conversation should last about 5 minutes.

Ask yourself what went well, where you or your partner(s) struggled to communicate, and how you could improve next time. To help you keep speaking in German, try these strategies:

“Zuhause” literally describes where you live, but the term is also used to evoke emotions of belonging. Check out these music videos that use the term. Please note that you can often find the lyrics below the video by clicking on “show more.” You can also click on the gear icon to slow down the video for easier comprehension:

To learn more about rental contracts in Germany, listen to this Slow-German episode.

In these activities, you show that you can:

Using your notes from the previous activity, please record yourself presenting to a classmate a profile of one member of the “Refugee 11” soccer team. Include details about who they are and what they have experienced.

Please use high-frequency words and provide as much detail as you can. Use the simple past form of modals to describe their personal journey and experiences (Er musste… Er durfte nicht…).

This activity should take you 10+ minutes to prepare and your presentation should last about 2 minutes.

Practice with partner(s) (interpersonal activity).

Taking the previous activity as a guide, engage in a brief conversation with a partner covering the following topics:

Using modal verbs, discuss ways in which German government, society, and citizens can support the integration of refugees into society. You’ve already thought about integration scenarios in a university setting in a previous unit. Now think about the bigger picture in your community.

These activities should take you 10 minutes to prepare and your presentation and conversation should last about 5 minutes.

Ask yourself what went well, where you or your partner(s) struggled to communicate, and how you could improve next time. To help you keep speaking in German, try these strategies:

There is often confusion about the differences between asylum-seekers, refugees, migrants, and immigrants. Notably, a refugee is a legal status outlined by the 1951 Geneva Convention of the United Nations and recognized by many countries around the world. For more information, check out the UNHCR webpage. For more specific, German-language resources, please see the “Flucht und Asyl: Grundlagen” (BPB).

Survivors of the Holocaust and many German citizens in the postwar period were the first beneficiaries of this international agreement. For more about German refugees after World War II, see the episode “The Germans Expelled” from the podcast (English) Germany: Memories of a Nation.

In the Atlanta area, we also have large refugee communities. If you’re interested in learning more about these members of our community and ways to help them, check out the International Rescue Committee’s Atlanta page.

In Germany, many of the effective integration tools were small initiatives organized by local citizens to align with their own interests and hobbies. For examples from Der Spiegel, see: “Locals Step in to Help Refugees in Need” or “What a Million Refugees Mean for Everyday Life”

In these activities, you show that you can:

These grammatical structures can help you in the upcoming tasks.

In his essay collection Zungenentfernung (tongue removal), German author Zafer Şenocak writes about having moved to Germany from Turkey as a child and migrating from southern to northern Germany thereafter. One term he uses is “personal geography,” meaning that what makes us feel at home in a place is less the city, state, or country itself and more the associations, memories, and feelings we connect to that place. Hence, for him, everyone has a different “map” even if they live in the same city.

Imagine presenting your hometown or current place of residence to a visiting German exchange student. What would you show them first? What non-touristy sites have the most meaning to you personally? What are the places you will miss when you study abroad? What are the places that evoke the most memories for you when you visit them after having been away for a time? Record yourself presenting 3 sites that are part of your “personal geography.” Use at least one image or object in your presentation.

Please use high-frequency words and provide as much detail as you can.

This activity should take you 10 minutes to prepare and your presentation should last about 2 minutes.

Practice with partner(s) (interpersonal activity).

Taking the previous activity as a guide, engage in a brief conversation with a partner covering the following topics:

Heimweh is real—it’s part of the normal 4 stages of culture shock that everyone experiences when living abroad for a longer duration. Discuss with a partner what people, places, things, and activities you will miss most (or did miss most) when studying or working abroad.

What will you do to stay connected to these parts of your identity while abroad?

Also discuss what you will not miss and what you look forward to, both in terms of places and things, but also in terms of personal growth.

These activities should take you 10 minutes to prepare and your presentation and conversation should last about 5 minutes.

Ask yourself what went well, where you or your partner(s) struggled to communicate, and how you could improve next time. To help you keep speaking in German, try these strategies:

Discuss For more videos from “Zukar,” check out his YouTube channel.