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INTERGENERATIONAL CONVERSATION IN GERMAN

Last week, one Year 11 German class had the pleasure of meeting our German senior participants in the Intergenerational Conversation program which I have been organising for the sixth year at McKinnon Secondary College.

We welcomed nine German senior participants to our first conversation. One participant has been attending for all these years, one only joined for the first time on the day. 

This program connects younger language learners with older, mostly retired bilinguals. A study on this project by Monash University revealed the mutual gains for all involved. Whilst our young learners improve their oral and aural communication skills through natural conversations with native speakers, our senior volunteers prolong active aging and feel valued and appreciated for the contributions they make. The program also develops a better understanding amongst our students for the aging population.

We are looking forward to our Intergenerational Conversations this year and thank all senior participants for volunteering their time and raising the students’ interest for future conversations. 

With currently two Year 11 classes in German this year and senior citizens being active and travelling a lot, we are still looking for native speakers to volunteer in these conversation classes. Please contact Andrea Fowler or Joshua Kamener on 8520 9000 if you would like to participate.


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