Learning German via the Topics of Eating, Drinking and Exercise
Studying German while learning about food? Do the two go together? They do!
And that is exactly what the IN FORM cooperation projects EBALPHI, run jointly with the Federal Centre for Food and Nutrition and ALPHItEB of Europauniversität Flensburg, have been doing. EBALPHI is the German abbreviation for the name of the project, which promotes dietary education and exercise in the context of literacy and integration. The German abbreviation ALPHItEB is short for “Literacy and integration through dietary education and promotion of exercise”.
The project is based on the “Food & Move Literacy” approach, which combines the day-to-day topics of eating, drinking and exercise with language acquisition. This approach helps motivate particularly hard-to-reach learning and target groups to take responsibility to expand their health and day-to-day life skills.
These everyday topics help start conversations and dispel fears that learners might have. The participants improve their vocabulary and become more aware of health-related topics at the same time.
The following material was developed over the course of the project:
- Spielebox "Aufgetischt" ("Served up"): an educational play box which allows children and adolescents to playfully learn German, addressing the topics of eating and drinking.
- Buchstäblich Fit ("Literally fit"): course material to be used in classes for German-speaking adults with limited literacy. The day-to-day topics covered by the material underline the relevance of what is learned.
- Häppchenweise Deutsch (bite-sized German lessons): learning German and finding out about dietary habits and exercise in Germany. May be used in German classes for adults with German as a second language.
