3.5 Kindheitsträume
Lektionsüberblick
A 2021 study in Switzerland asked children between 4-13 what they wanted to be when they grow up. Their top choices were policeman/-woman (Polizist*in), scientist (Wissenschaftler*in), firefighter (Feuerwehrmann/-frau), professional soccer player (Profi-Fußballspieler*in), veterinarian (Tierärzt*in), teacher (Lehrer*in), doctor (Ärztin/Arzt), and zookeeper (Tierpfleger*in).
Do you remember what your answer was? What did you want to be? This lesson will take you back in time and teach you how to talk about your childhood dream jobs compared to what your career plans are now. Then we will extend the conversation about your childhood fantasies to include your other childhood desires, talents, and limitations. In the end, you will be able to 1) say what you wanted to become then and what you want to become now, 2) state other things you wanted to do, were allowed to do, and were not allowed to do, and 3) talk about the things you were able to do then and now.
1) Mein Traumberuf – damals und heute
Damals
Talking about how things were when you were a child, should start to feel more intuitive. You will continue to use the phrase “als ich ein Kind war” (or “als ich *5* Jahre alt war“) to talk about your childhood career plans. Click through the cards, listen to the audio, and repeat to start building your passive vocabulary of jobs and careers.
Now let’s test your memory with the following sets of memory cards. Keep clicking! There are three sets.
Deutsch IRL
Check out this 3-minute clip featuring interviews with Swiss children in 1967 about their Traumberufe.
Click here for reporting on comparable studies, like the one mentioned at the start, asking people about their childhood dream jobs in Germany. What do you think about the similarities and differences? Here is an interesting master thesis, Wenn ich groß bin, werde ich Feuerwehrmannfrau!, in which children were surveyed regarding their career dreams and then actions were taken to help counteract socially determined gender role restrictions in career choice.
Heute
Now let’s look at a variety of “adult” occupations with some overlap of the previous Traumberufe. On each card, be sure to listen to the audio and read each sentence aloud in order to build your passive vocabulary.
Jetzt bist du dran!
Was wolltest du werden, als du ein Kind warst? Was willst du heute werden? Answer the questions in your written journal. If you cannot find your chosen profession in the deck of cards, ask your instructor!
If you want to challenge yourself, write about why made you choose the Traumberuf you had as a child and why it is the same or different now.
When you are done, record your answer in your audio journal. Be sure to practice before you start recording.
2) Was ich wollte und was ich durfte
When we are little, there are many things that we usually do not get to decide. There can be a lot of tension between what we want (wollen), what we are permitted to do (dürfen) – or not – and what we must do. Look at the sentences to that effect on the slides below, listen to the audio, and say the sentences aloud. After each new set of statements, you can practice.Which statements ring true for you? Which topics are missing?
Looking back on our past desires, obligations, and permissions, how have things changed? Let’s look at some of those statements again and compare damals (then) and heute (now). Once again, listen to the audio and practice saying the statements aloud. After each new set of statements, you can practice.
Jetzt bist du dran!
Was wolltest du damals machen und durftest nicht? Was musstest du machen? Answer the questions in your written journal stating the kind of things you wanted to do as a child and were not permitted or had to do. Use the modeled language from both presentations, instead of translating your English thoughts word-for-word into German!
When you are done, record your statements. Be sure to practice, before you begin recording and/or rerecord, if your statements do not flow like natural speech.
3) Was ich konnte, was ich kann – Damals & heute
Our abilities change as we grow older. There are things we could do well as a child that we can no longer do as adults, and perhaps many more things that we could not yet do when we were children that are easy now – or have needed a lot of practice. The following slides have example statements contrasting these ability differences. As you click through, listen to the audio and say the sentences aloud. After each new set of statements, you can practice.
Jetzt bist du dran!
Was konntest du damals gut? Kannst du das noch? Was konntest du damals noch nicht? Kannst du es jetzt gut? Answer the questions in your written journal using the modeled language from the presentation. Remember to engage your German mind!
When you are done, record your sentences.
Jetzt kombininieren
In this lesson, you learned how to 1) say what you wanted to become then and what you want to become now, 2) state other things you wanted to do, were allowed to do, and were not allowed to do, and 3) talk about the things you were able to do then and now. Now let’s combine what you have learned.
Was wolltest du werden? Was wolltest du sonst machen, aber du durftest oder konntest nicht? Was musstet du machen? Add to your origin story by answering how things were in your childhood. Look back over this lesson and think about which parts are important to give a good picture of you as a child.
When you are done, practice this part of your origin story until it flows like natural conversation. Then record yourself in your audio journal. As always, you are more than welcome to meet with a classmate and do your recordings together!
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