popKultur is almost one year old! If you haven’t yet discovered the site, popKultur is all about mixing German with music. It provides a fresh insight into German youth culture and highlights a side of Germany with which pupils from the UK are unlikely to be familiar.

We have devised learning materials based on seven contemporary songs – essentially seven fully prepared lessons for teachers. The songs range from simpler texts that tie in closely with the new KS3 framework, to more advanced texts designed for KS4 and AS/A-Level students. Each of the songs facilitate cross-curricular and project-work elements. But besides all the educational benefits, popKultur is designed to be fun! To celebrate the anniversary of our website, we thought it would be fitting to highlight the benefits of the site, particularly our new features which are aimed at your students.

COMMUNITY

Our community section offers students the chance to connect over German music and upload videos that they have created as part of German class projects. You can view a selection of popKultur videos, which students entered for our film-making competition. We have also just set up a a forum for discussing German music which we invite students to join – all you need to do is register and set up a profile. Alongside the videos of students, we also invite upcoming German bands to upload videos of their music to the site. Since the section’s recent launch we have received videos from the bands Fotos, Silvester and Erdmöbel. Join the community!

MAP OF GERMAN MUSIC

Our map of German music provides students with an overview of the best emerging and established bands in Germany today. With over 60 bands dotted across Germany, the map is a useful introduction and research resource for GCSE, AS and A-Level students of German. Students can also ask us to add other bands that we have forgotten to the map. We look forward to hearing your suggestions!

BLOG

Our popKultur blog is written by Julia King, a student of German who formerly worked as the editor of German band Tokio Hotel. As a young UK observer of the German music scene herself, Julia’s informal but informed style of writing leave her perfectly positioned to enthuse young students of German with her ideas on new music. Read her first blog post on the band Fräulein Wunder.

LINKS

If your students are interested in hearing more German music they can link to Online German Radio and also to the Goethe-Institut’s Popcasts  for new alternative music from Germany.

Students interested in post GCSE and A-Level German can also learn more about the experiences of studying German at University level by linking to Queen Mary’s Soundscapes project.

COMPETITIONS

Our competitions usually have fairly simple questions, but offer students the chance to shine in the ‘Your Comments’ section. The most creative responses (in German) will win Goethe-Institut goodies for your school!

We hope that you will enjoy these new features.

We would also love to hear your feedback on the project – write an email to Edward Chappel in our Eduction Department.
edward.chappel@london.goethe.org