Many differences can be found between the United States and Germany.
Professor of German Cynthia Appl is giving her students an opportunity to get to know students in Hamburg, Germany.
By talking to German students, Baker students will learn the dialect of the German language and see cultural differences between themselves and German citizens.
“They’ve all introduced themselves. They talked about what they’re studying and what they do in their free time and things we do on the weekends,”
Appl said. “Our German pals asked us some questions and they were pretty funny. They know a lot about American culture through movies, so they were asking if it’s true that in the high school cafeteria, if all the cliques sit separately.”
About 15 German high school students and nine Baker University students converse with one another by sending audio files with discussions back and forth through a protected website.
“So far it’s been quite a bit of fun, actually,” junior Lisa Smith said. “When they were talking, sometimes they would talk in German and sometimes they would talk in English.”
Senior Andy Hurla enjoys learning about the German culture through the experience.
“I’ve learned that they’re really not that different from us,” Hurla said. “I mean, they like to hang out, they like sports, so we have a lot in common.”
Since Appl began working at Baker in 1996, students have sent e-mails to German students on and off throughout the years to help themselves understand the language better.
“This is the first time that we’re using audio files instead of e-mail,” Appl said.
Appl and her counterpart teacher have thought about using Skype for their conversations, though it could be difficult for the Baker and German students to talk because of the time zones in which the students live.
Although Skype may not be able to be used during class, students have been told they can contact one another outside of school.
“I’m actually going to try to get a hold of some of them on Facebook and talk to them,” Hurla said. “But it’ll be, like, informal and real casual. But that would be cool to do.”
Smith thinks talking to the students in Germany is an efficient learning instrument.
“I think it’s a blast. You should try it out just once at least,” Smith said. “Try to meet someone in a different country and chat it up.”