German Film Festival December 2005

It was unfortunate that the German Film festival would fall in the exam preparation period, but for some, it was the perfect solution for some "celluloid therapy", german style.

Thanks to the Goethe Institut as well as EUROSOC, our students were given a discount for the group purchases. Here were some of the films that we saw:

Was nützt die Liebe in Gedanken

Die fetten Jahren sind vorbei a.k.a. Die Edukators

Alles auf Zucker

Sophie Scholl - die letzten Tage

Don't come knocking

The films offered this year covered a wide range from Comedy, to the thought provoking, political and historical, as well as just plain "arthouse". (Don't come knocking was so subtle it hurts, and left many of us leaving the cinema with a gigantic ? hanging over our heads).

All in all, we had a good time, simply getting together to catch a movie, having a laugh and also, the chance of watching a good movie undubbed in the original german language, (Subtitles were very helpful) a chance we don't get very often in Singapore.

Rhythm and Poetry German HipHop Tour 09. - 10. April 2005

Clueso und Bates

9 am LT 9. April Saturday

Saturday mornings should be spent snuggling up in bed, but over at NUS things were just getting started at the German Hiphop workshop.

Left: Clueso, Right: Bates.

Thanks to support and sponsorship from Goethe Institut Singapore as well as International Languages Aotearoa New Zealand (ILANZ) particular Mr Werner Nowitzki for flying the hiphop group Clueso and Bates, all the way in from Germany.

First the participants were shown what the group did over in New Zealand, so as to give them a feel of things to come over the next 2 days. Then the duo did some introductions, singing, rapping and beat boxing to break the ice.

The workshop started off slow and easy, as we had students from all levels of German studies, starting with some basic theories in rapping and lyrics writing, and soon everyone was off scribbling their own lyrics.

Some advice from the 'master'

After which some of us performed our own masterpieces, grooving along to the beats provided by the duo.

9am LT 10 10. April Sunday

The next day saw students returning as enthusiastic as before. Right at the start, everyone got off their seats and linked hands to do a funky snake dance. With that we split up into groups to write our own lyrics for a rap which will be performed at the end of the workshop and comiled into a music video. Incidentally, it was Clueso's birthday, and we all sang him a birthday song (in german of course).

Group: Chun Li und Blanka

As compared to the day before (the lecture theatre was ice cold), it was sweltering hot in the lecture theatre as the air conditioning is switched off on Sunday. The participants broke up into their own groups and proceeded outdoors to crack their heads over the lyrics. The teachers came by to help of course.

After about an hour the groups finally came up to present their rap and the whole creative process through to the performance was recorded. At the end of the workshop, we were treated to light refreshments generously sponsored by Goethe Institut (great especially when the eateries were closed on Sunday!) and received our certificates of participation. After the autographs and photos, the students bidded farewell to the Hip Hop Duo, who would continue their tour in Malaysia.

Till next time!

More information about learning german through music here.

Kaffee Und Kuchen - 04. Februar 2005

It was cakes galore as members of die deutsche Sphäre came down to Temasek Hall for the event, Kaffee und Kuchen (Coffee and Cake). Coffee and Cake is essential to any good german party or gathering and this one was no exception either.

With many of the participants taking part in the cake baking competition, everyone was eager to try the cakes and were clearly spoilt for choice.


Some of the lecturers and tutors came down to grace the event and also to be the judges for the cake competition. One of the tutors even brought one of her specialties!

Judges having a discussion...

Cake from Frau Andrea Verry - When it looks this good, who can resist a slice?

With the coffee machine working on overdrive, german music playing in the background, it was the perfect environment for students and teachers to interact with one another, through conversations and games. A presentation of the recent immersion trip proved to be interesting as well, as the students were on hand to answer questions from other students, apparently exicted to embark on their own immersion in future. At the end of the event, prizes were given out to the top 3 cakes, as well as a special prize to the most cakes made (a whopping 5 cakes were made by student Kailuo!). On that note, the event was brought to a close, with students saying that they had never eaten so much cake in a single sitting!