For the last 26 years, Maristes Sants-Les Corts in Barcelona (Spain) has been using this programme to give its German students a first-hand immersive experience of the language.
For the first 16 years, this took the form of a week-long study trip, staying with German families first in the Black Forest and then in Bavaria, with whom they shared breakfast and dinner, as well as Sundays. During the time they were not with them, the students took part in leisure and cultural activities in the area where they were staying.
Eventually the opportunity arose to take part in a much more immersive activity to practise German and experience how a teenager and their family live in the city of Cologne: a school exchange with the Deutzer Gymnasium Schauterstraße. And this is the tenth consecutive year that it has taken place (interrupted only by the pandemic).
During the exchange, the students stay with the families participating in the exchange and it is carried out in two parts: the first in Cologne in the week before the Christmas holidays, so that the students can enjoy and get to know the famous Weihnachtsmärkte (Christmas markets) of this city on the banks of the Rhine, as well as carry out multiple activities with their German exchange partners, such as visiting the Schokoladenmuseum (chocolate museum), the city of Bonn with its Christmas market and usually also the Museum of Contemporary German History, as well as the Memorial to the Victims of Nazism in the former Gestapo headquarters in Cologne. There are also various activities at the school for students to interact in German and Spanish. The weekend is spent with host families, with whom they take part in the activities that each family is willing to offer them.
The second part takes place in Barcelona (usually a couple of weeks before Easter), where families also host the German students for a week and different leisure and cultural activities are carried out to help them get to know us a little better. Among them, and depending on availability each year, we visit several of the following points of interest in the city: the Sagrada Família, Parc Güell, the Museu del Disseny (Design Museum), the Castell de Monjuïc (Montjuic Castle), the Museu Olímpic i de l’Esport (Olympic Museum), as well as different areas of the city such as Passeig de Gràcia, Les Rambles, El Born, Santa Maria del Mar, the Gothic Quarter, the Gàcia neighbourhood, Plaça Espanya, etc. Some activities are also carried out at school so that they can interact with each other in both languages. At the weekend, our host families take care of the activities of the students they are hosting.
In short, a great experience for all of us that we hope to be able to continue carrying out for a long time.
Enric Rubio – German teacher
You can get in touch with other Marist schools around the world to have international experiences through our group Agorá INTERNATIONALISATION