Themenüberblick

In our previous Thema, we started speaking about things in the more recent past. For the next couple units, we will go all the way back to our origins to talk about our childhoods and traditions (Thema 3) and our elementary school and tween/teen years (Thema 4). Even as we talk about the past, we will often return to the present to compare our lives then with our lives now. Since many of our childhood memories are connected to special days, holidays and traditions, we will learn about holidays in Switzerland and other parts of German-speaking Europe. Other common childhood topics include talk about illness and injuries (who broke their arm doing kid stuff?) and childhood dreams (do you still remember what you wanted to be when you grew up?).

Before we move on to our learning goals for this Thema, we want to remind you that our class is not a courtroom. If there are parts of your childhood you do not want to talk about, then you do not need to talk about them. You can adopt a different persona or make things up.

Here is an overview of the learning objectives for each Lektion of the Thema Meine Kindheit. At the end of each lesson, you will be able to talk about…

3.1 Die Kindheit

1. where you lived and what kind of family you grew up in
2. your favorite activities
3. your favorite outings

3.2 Damals & heute

1.  your personality then and now
2. your physical appearances then and now
3. your family members then and now

3.3 Krankheiten und Verletzungen

1. illnesses and doctor’s visits
2. injuries

3.4 Kindheitsträume

1. your childhood fantasies for your future
2. your desires and limitations
3. your talents then and now

3.5 Kindergeburtstag

1. birthday celebrations then and now
2. birthday wishes then and now
3. birthday presents

3.6 Traditionen

1. holidays in German-speaking Europe
2. family traditions then and now

You will demonstrate how well you have achieved the learning objectives with a Themenprojekt: Eine Kindheitserinnerung or Eine Tradition: Damals & heute.