On Saturday, 12 November 2011, the PH Karlsruhe opened its doors for pupils that are soon to graduate from secondary school.  The purpose was to give them the opportunity to look into what university and different departments are all about at this PH. After a general information session in the morning, the different subjects introduced themselves individually in the afternoon. The English department had a room prepared for those who wanted to inform themselves about studying English.
Several corners were prepared, including

• an informational corner on the study programme;

• a primary corner with materials used in primary school teaching;

• a book corner with course literature and key dictionaries;

• a going abroad corner with students’ reports on their experiences abroad;

• a feedback corner with students’ opinions about studying English at the PH;

• a “Tingo Lingo” corner (“Tingo” is an online self-study course developed by Prof. Martin);

• a tea corner with English tea, cakes and cookies/biscuits.

It was the first time for the English department and English student body to organise the “Abiturienteninformationstag” in this way. Many people stopped by and had a look around the room. We were glad to be able to give them an insight into our course of studies in a relaxing, enjoyable atmosphere and are looking forward to seeing lots of new faces again next year.  

What is storytelling? And can I become a storyteller?
These were the two main questions that brought 56 students to the PH
together on a Saturday morning for a full-day storytelling workshop with
professional storyteller Richard Martin.
The event was organized by Prof. Martin, who had done several workshops
with Richard Martin before.
Starting with some very entertaining activities and stories, Richard
Martin presented the art of storytelling as something not only children
can get excited about. Gradually, he encouraged students to take over and
practise in pairs to tell a story themselves. With the help of the story
skeletons, this task became very manageable and enjoyable. After a short
break, in which students could look at a small school book exhibition that
was set up by the Langenscheidt Verlag, Richard Martin took over again and
showed some great examples of participation storytelling, involving some
and then all of the participants of the workshop in the stories. Then it
was over to the students again to create their own story with the help of
so-called “story cards” and answer questions on the “hot seat”. Things got
more fantastic by the half hour!
Richard Martin has a talent to win over absolutely everyone with his
personality, enthusiasm, and outstanding storytelling skills. Watching his
performance, there was no way of escaping the “storytelling fever” of that
day.
We trust that all participants enjoyed the workshop as much as we did and
will join the next one again!

More pictures on Richard Martin’s website.

Radio interview about the workshop.

Prof. Martin’s interview with Richard Martin:
“Enjoy the tales! – Participation stories for your classroom”, GSME 2/2011, p. 7-9