Residential Activity: Language Course in Austria

As part of my qualifications for the Teaching Council, I needed to complete one week of a residential experience in a German-speaking country, which could either be studying at a university, work or a language course. I knew I would learn the most if I undertook a language course. I set about researching different language courses in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, but was unsure about where to go. It was only after doing a cultural class about Vienna with my Transition Year German class, that I realised I really wanted to go there.

I had been to Vienna once before when I was very young, meaning I remember very little of my experience there, so I really wanted to go back to experience (and hopefully remember!) it again. There are so many language courses available, but after looking at the helpful reviews online, I decided on Actilingua. For more information here is their website: https://www.actilingua.com/

As part of the residential activity for the Gaisce, I also requested to stay with a host family, and I am so glad that I did. My host was an 82-year-old local from Vienna, who is so enthusiastic about her home, culture and infinitely more sociable than I will ever be.

On the first evening I arrived, she brought me to a concert at the Rathaus, or city hall, with her grandson too. We sat out under the stars to watch a projection of a Beethoven concert conducted by Leonard Bernstein in the 60s.

The following day was the first day of my course. I had already completed a written placement test online before arriving, but on the first morning of the course you also have to complete a short oral test. Following this, I was placed in the C1 class, which took place every day from 2.15-5.30. The classes were excellent, and really suitable to the level of everyone in the group. I really appreciated how difficult it must be to teach on such a summer course, because no two students in my group had the same mother tongue, meaning that everyone had had very different experiences of learning German.

While I wasn't in class, I probably spent most of my time eating (on my return, my grandmother said "you've got stout", so maybe I overdid it on the Wienerschnitzel), and walking around the different parts of Vienna. In the mornings, I had great discussions with my host, about everything from her experiences of the Berlin Wall, to Austrian and German politics, history, religion and education.

The course itself was brilliant, and I loved getting to experience Vienna again, but what really made the trip so special was the residential aspect, which gave me such an immersive experience, enabling me to learn about the culture and history from someone who had actually experienced it all.

Killing 2 Birds with 1 Stone: Teaching Council Requirements & Residential Activity

If you are already familiar with the Bronze or Silver stages of Gaisce, you will know that they both involve: doing a skill, a physical activity, some community involvement and an adventure activity. Where the Gold Gaisce differs from Bronze and Silver (aside from the length of time involved) is the additional "Residential Activity".

What is it?
The Residential Activity must be undertaken over 5 days and 4 nights in a place where the President Award Candidate is staying with mostly unfamiliar people while completing an activity. This can involve going on a Yoga retreat, going to the Gaeltacht for a course, or going to volunteer at a summer camp, such as Barretstown. It cannot be an activity where you get paid, and - as the title suggests - you must be staying with people on your course/ with a host family/ with other volunteers.

https://pixabay.com/en/beds-youth-hostel-bunk-beds-sleep-182965/ 

Organising the Residential Activity
The residential activity is one of the harder activities to get organised. While a lot of people opt for going to Barretstown, this cannot actually be completed in one go, as the camp does not last for 5 days straight. Likewise, yoga retreats often only last 2-3 days (and can be quite expensive!). Other activities which may occur to you sometimes do not completely fill the criteria. For more information, see the Gaisce website: http://www.gaisce.ie/residential-project/

Killing two birds with the one stone
I am currently half-way through my training to become a second-level teacher in Ireland, and it was only when applying for membership of the Teaching Council, that I found out that it is necessary to have spent a minimum of 2 months in the country of the language that you are teaching. As a teacher of two languages, this meant I needed to have spent 2 months in France, and 2 months in a German-speaking country. BUT. Holidays do not count. Having completed my Erasmus year in France, I was sorted in relation to French, as I had studied at university there. For German, however, I only have 7 of the 8 required weeks complete. I completed one school exchange to Sandhausen, and 2 three-week language courses in Berlin and Passau, so I only have one week left to complete.

Stefan's Cathedral in Vienna
https://pixabay.com/en/vienna-church-st-stephan-s-cathedral-1567865/ 

For this reason, I decided I might as well combine my requirements for the Teaching Council with the Residential Activity for the Gold President's Award, and booked a week-long language course in Vienna. In preparation for this, I had to take the "Einstüfungstest" or placement test online, so that they will place me at the appropriate level. In order to fulfil the "residential activity" element, I have chosen to stay with a host family for the week. In advance of my arrival, I have been sent information about my host- she is retired, born in 1936, and her interests include reading and culture.

I am looking forward to getting to know Vienna, speaking some German and also picking up some resources for my classes :D

Yes sir, I can boogie

In September 2016, I went to my first ever Ballroom and Latin Dancing class. I went without a partner, and was quite nervous. Would I enjoy it? Would I have a nice partner? Would I actually be able to follow the steps at all?

Now here I am, almost 2 years later, having completed 4 courses, progressing from Beginner to Improver, in a total of 52 weeks (the required amount to complete the "Skill" section of the Gold President's Award). What have I gained from completing this part of my Gaisce challenge?

• Got to teach Ballroom Dancing in my job! I was delighted that in my job - teaching- I can introduce dancing, and I got the opportunity this year to teach all of the sixth years in the school how to do the slow-waltz and the cha cha. Since doing this, I have newfound respect for the dance instructor because of the difficulty of demonstrating the man's part, while calling out the steps for the ladies' part. If that's not brain-training, I don't know what is.

• Found a great, fun way to exercise- I was never much of a gym-goer/ into sport in general, so I am delighted I have found this alternative way to benefit from some physical activity, one that I enjoy so much that the exercise never felt like a chore.
• Had a weekly break from work- It has been a very busy year (in fact I had to put the two other parts of the Gaisce challenge on hold, just to be able to juggle everything), but I still made sure to go to dance class every week, and although I was busy, it became a welcome distraction from everything else.
• Met new people- I have met such lovely and interesting people at my dance class. I will really miss my weekly chats with my dance partner. We would talk about everything under the sun, from politics, to classical music, to relationships and everything else in between. On the day I joined, three other women came without partners, and over the 2 years, we would all sit and have a chat over tea before class started. It was enjoyable to mix with such a different, varied group of people. My dance instructor, Eithne, is an inspiring teacher. I learned so much from her. She is good-humoured, caring and kind, not to mention her amazing dance talents. I was really sad to say goodbye to everyone at my last dance class in May.

• Became better at multitasking- My main concern in starting dance class initially was that I wouldn't be able to follow the steps (generally I'm not too hot on the whole hand-eye coordination), but that actually worked out fine. What was tough, was learning the steps of the male part, but then every so often - if my dance partner was not there, for example- I would have to dance the woman's part. Learning both steps took a while to get used to, but really pushed my brain to think differently, so that I can now easily switch between the male and female parts.
• Broadened my taste in music- In class, we would dance to songs I rarely listened to at the time- Gabriel's Oboe, Tender Trap, Fly Me to the Moon, L.O.V.E., La Cumparsita, to name but a few. Progressing through different styles of dance- Foxtrot, Cha cha, Samba, Rumba, Tango etc. also encouraged me to practise, and so I went on the hunt for suitable music  at home. I've now developed an eclectic taste in songs, mainly based on whether they've got a good beat for dancing.

Unfortunately, I will no longer be able to keep up dance at the Cabinteely Adult Education Centre, as I have moved away from the area. I will, however, be on the look out for dance classes elsewhere, and I would love to do a short course on Ballroom and Latin Dancing with the students in the school I will be teaching in next year.

Not quite Strictly!

This week's blog covers the Ballroom and Latin Dance classes to date. 

The course I chose for dance classes covers a few different ballroom and Latin dances. So far, we have done the Foxtrot, the Waltz, and the Cha Cha Cha. Luckily the dances we have been doing so far have very similar steps for men and women- the steps just mirror one another. I always go to class with great intentions of taking photos for the blog, but always get so caught up in the dancing that I forget. I will try to get some next week, but in the meantime, I am including Youtube tutorials which cover some of the steps we have been learning.

The first dance of the course was the Foxtrot, and I am feeling much more comfortable with that one now. The Foxtrot is always danced in 4/4 time, so we mostly end up dancing to Frank Sinatra songs, and some Bobby Darin.

We progressed from the Foxtrot onto the Waltz, which I think everyone has an idea of, but I realised I had no clue what I was doing. At home I tried to practise to some of the well-known waltz music, like the Blue Danube or Shostakovitch's Second Waltz, but they are way too fast for the waltz we learned, which looks something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCch-zPc_BY. Instead, I figured out our waltz fits much better with the Godfather theme tune!

We also started into the Cha Cha Cha, which is so exotic compared to the other two. It's such a show-off dance, but is very fun (and fast). While I enjoy the Cha Cha Cha, I find it much harder to stay on beat with those particular songs. The easiest one we danced to so far was the Pussycat Dolls' cover of Sway. 

We are already in the eighth week of the ten week course- it has flown by. The people in my class are so lovely, and we're all really enjoying the course. Everyone watches Strictly Come Dancing, so - much to my Dad's horror - I've started watching it too. Ed Balls may get a lot of criticism for his dance skills, but he's still leagues ahead of us all! Unfortunately, the follow-up course won't start till the end of January, so I'll try to find some other dance course to fill the gap. If anyone knows of anywhere good, let me know.

I hope you've enjoyed the deeper insight into each activity I'm undertaking for the Gaisce challenge. The next blog post will cover my progress in all three activities- thanks for reading :)