Students
(The activities listed on these pages were designed for students of German as a Second Language. However, a few of the activities may be possible for other students.)
It would be best if you read the pages in this website in their German version. However, if you read a useful page in English first, make sure you then look carefully through the German version of the page (there's a link at the bottom of the page). While looking through the German page make notes of important vocabulary and phrases, as you may find them useful in written and oral tasks that you may do. Some of the texts in the Primary Sources are certainly challenging reading - don't worry if you find those ones difficult, just scan the text for key words and try to get some main points out of it!
Writing and Oral activities
Worksheets/Materials (downloadable)
1) Reasons for emigrating to Australia
In his book A History of Germans in Australia 1839-1945 Charles
Meyer listed four basic reasons for German emigration:
religion, the economic situation, political motives, and social motives. Using
the Chronology (or die
Chronologie) of German-speaking immigration in Australia, find for each
of these four reasons at least three people who are examples of such immigrants.
2) Role Play
Read Ludwig Becker's "Ein Australisch' Lied"
and act out with partner(s) a scene from it. Possibilities would be Part 10,
Part 11 and Part 15. You could develop some creative extra lines.
3) Informative Writing
Reorganising Information: Read Ludwig Becker's "Ein Australisch' Lied"
and, in the role of the immigrant in the Lied, write diary/journal entries about
your experiences, from Part 4 onwards, or just for specific sections of the
Lied.
4) Informative Writing or Oral Presentation
Research the achievements of a German/Austrian/Swiss Australian and his/her
contributions to Australia in the arts, music, science, education, culture,
sport or politics or any other field. You are a journalist and write a report
for the Australian German-language newspaper Die Woche in Australien. Alternatively you can make an oral report to your
class.
5) Informative Writing
Interview a German/Austrian/Swiss Australian, or an Australian of German-speaking
descent. Ask why their family came to Australia and about their experiences
here as immigrants. Present the information as a case study in the form of a
summary.
6) Role Play
You are a citizen of the kingdom of Württemberg in 1848.
Another student takes the role of the NSW Government's German Immigration Agent
Wilhelm Kirchner. Kirchner is visiting your
area promoting emigration to the colony of Neu-Süd-Wallis. You are interested
in emigrating, as economic circumstances in the south-western German states
are difficult. However, you know almost nothing about the colony of Neu-Süd-Wallis
and are keen to find out more (ship journey, work in NSW, general info about
the place etc). Kirchner does his best to persuade you of the reasons to go
there.
You may find these pages useful:
Warum
wanderten sie aus?
Die
deutsche Besiedlung von New South Wales im 19. Jahrhundert
7) Evaluative Writing
You write the script for a talk that you will present on the SBS German-language
radio program. The topic of your talk is: "The influence of German Australians
and Germans in Australia ended in 1914."
8) Imaginative Writing
You are a German immigrant in Australia. It's your choice as to which part of
Australia you live in, and whether the time is the 1850s or the 1950s. You write
a letter home to your relatives telling them how things are going for you, and
whether or not you advise them to join you in Australia. You may find it useful
to read parts of the Primary Sources documents
in this website. Or you may be able to get some personal background info if
you know a German-speaker who came here after the Second World War.
9) Imaginative Writing
You're a bit of a poet, aren't you! You also know that poems don't have to rhyme!
Pick any period in the history of German-speakers in Australia, you're a German-speaking
immigrant and write a short poem either about your experiences or Australia
(from the point of view of a German-speaking immigrant) in general. The poem
will appear in any one of the German-language newspapers that have been published
in Australia since 1847 up to the present.
10) Imaginative Writing
You are the German-Australian owner of a small business who has lived in Australia
for 30 years when World War One starts. You are put into an internment camp
because a business competitor spread a rumour about you. Your wife and children
are having a difficult time at home without you. You write a journal entry in
your diary. In your diary you record your thoughts about your bad luck and why
this treatment of you and other German-Australians is unfair.
11) Persuasive Writing
You are the immigration agent for an Australian colony and have gone to the
German states in the 19th century to recruit immigrants. You design an advertising
poster or flyer promoting emigration to your colony. You could produce this
either free-hand or using a computer program suitable for the purpose.
Alternatively you could produce a poster for use in Germany in the 1950s.
You may find the page Informationsquellen für
Auswanderer useful.
12) Interview
Conduct a short interview with a partner where one of you plays Captain Dirk
Hahn and the other plays a reporter in Germany who meets him shortly after his
return from South Australia. The reporter asks him about the trip and why he
helped the passengers the way he did.
You may find useful: Hahns Erinnerungen (available
in English also)
13) Informative Writing
You are Ludwig Leichhardt (prior to his
third expedition!) or Georg Neumayer (1863).
A newspaper in the German states has heard of your achievements and wishes to
write an article about you. The paper asks you to send them your up-to-date
curriculum vitae, written in German. (You could do this CV-writing task for
any other German-Australian of your choice.)
14) Informative Writing
What was life like for German immigrants in Australia in the past? Write the text of an informative talk for a junior class about different aspects of the life of German settlers in Australia.
Wie war das Leben der deutschen Einwanderer in Australien in der Vergangenheit? Schreiben Sie einen Vortrag für eine jüngere Klasse, in dem Sie über verschiedene Aspekte des Lebens der deutschen Siedler in Australien informieren.
(Source: Section 3 of the 2005 Victorian Certificate of Education German written examination)
15) Imaginative Writing
It is the year 1890. A year ago, you migrated from Germany to live in country Victoria. You overcame many hardships, but there were also some joyful moments. Write a letter to your family in Germany, reflecting on your life in the country and the challenges you faced.
Es ist das Jahr 1890. Vor einem Jahr sind Sie von Deutschland nach Victoria ausgewandert, und Sie leben jetzt in einem ländlichen Gebiet in Victoria. Sie mussten viele Schwierigkeiten überwinden, aber es gab auch erfreuliche Momente. Schreiben Sie einen Brief an Ihre Familie in Deutschland, in dem Sie über Ihr Leben auf dem Land und die Herausforderungen reflektieren.
(Source: Section 3 of the 2017 Victorian Certificate of Education German written examination)
16) Imaginative Writing
Imagine that you and your family migrated from Germany in 1845 and you are now living in a small German community in Australia, similar to the one in the image below. Write a story about an adventure or event that you or a member of your family was involved in. Your imaginative story will be published in a collection of stories for young adults.
Stellen Sie sich vor, dass Sie und Ihre Familie im Jahr 1845 aus Deutschland ausgewandert sind und jetzt in einer kleinen deutschen Siedlung in Australien leben, ähnlich wie die auf dem Bild unten. Schreiben Sie eine Geschichte über ein Abenteuer oder Ereignis, in das Sie oder ein Mitglied Ihrer Familie verwickelt waren. Ihre Geschichte wird in einem Sammelband mit Erzählungen für junge Erwachsene veröffentlicht.
(Source: Section 3 of the 2020 Victorian Certificate of Education German written examination)
17) Focus Areas
Here are listed some specific topics which you could focus on. You could present
your information on one of them in one of the following forms: a script for
a talk to your class; an informative article for a German magazine; a computer
slide-show presentation to support a talk; a contemporary letter to a friend.
a) Lifestyles of rural German Australians in the 19th century.
b) The treatment of German and Austrian Australians during World War One.
c) Contributions of German Australians to the development of Australia.
d) Germans on the goldfields in the 19th century.
e) Activities of the 19th century German community in Melbourne, Adelaide or Brisbane.
f) German/Austrian/Swiss scientists in Australia.
g) The role of the Church in rural settlement of Australia by Germans in the 19th century.
h) The arrival of the first German immigrant groups in South Australia.
i) German/Austrian refugee arrivals in Australia in the late 1930s and 1940s.
(Some of the above focus areas are adapted from materials from the Migration Museum in Adelaide.)
Curriculum materials on this topic, produced by the Association of German Teachers of Victoria, can be bought via the online catalogue in the AGTV website (see German Language Heritage Trails). The materials include Heritage Trails and listening comprehension kits.