01 The English Language Journal for Baden-W端rttemberg www.accents-magazine.de October/November 2004
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Feature
News and Events
accent on…
Children’s Corner
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5 6 7
17 …Friedrichshafen’s charm 19 …lifestyle Finding a coffee to go
20 Crossovers: new reading 20 Kids on Lake Constance 21 Winnie the Witch
Arts and Culture
Labyrinth
Regulars
14 Vaulting Ambition Stuttgart’s lively theatre scene 16 Books for autumn 16 Germans and English cinema
26 I live here Getting a residency permit
4 Letters 22 accents choice What’s on listings 24 accents guide Clubs and contacts 25 Classifieds
Contents
“Da sind two cats” English in Grade 1: Baden-Württemberg’s language first 10 Kids coping with English 12 Close to my heart Education Minister Schavan in profile
British book fair US election comes to B-W Cinema shake-up
Cover photo: R. Bruhn
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Editorial Welcome to the first edition of accents, an English-language magazine for southwest Germany! We hope that accents will become a forum for Englishlanguage events, culture, business, literature, letters – for news and views, in English, in Baden-Württemberg. The idea of starting up an English-language magazine was born where many good ideas are born: in a pub! Early last year, three people – a media professor, a diplomat and a publican – were having a beer and lamenting the loss of
communication among English speakers in Baden-Württemberg since the demise four years ago of The Written Word. That publication was a monthly ‘must-read’ newsletter for English speakers produced on a volunteer basis by Steve Jacobs and Anne Lenzko. When Jacobs left Baden-Württemberg in 2000, The Written Word simply collapsed. Thankfully, our three drinkers didn’t suffer the same fate but organized a meeting and began planning to set up a new magazine. Our aim is to establish accents as a magazine not only for the more than 40,000
native English speakers living in Baden-Württemberg, but for many others who speak and read English well or who use English regularly in their jobs or social lives. And in Baden-Württemberg, nearly everyone – from 6year-old kids to the education minister, Annette Schavan – can speak at least a little bit of English. Hence, the focus of the first feature story, in the very first edition of accents: BadenWürttemberg is the first state in Germany to officially introduce English in the first year of school. But how is the firstgrade-English experiment
faring? Is it sensible to immerse six- and seven-year-olds in a foreign language? What is the experience of native English speaking kids in these lessons? We investigate. We also take you on a tour of Lake Constance, tell you how to register yourself (sic!) and introduce you to Englishlanguage theatre, cinema and the delightful Winnie the Witch. Please tell us what you think of the magazine. And spread the word: accents is here!
accents magazine editorial team www.accents-magazine.de
Founding Sponsors
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Letters to the Editor
accents magazine Libanonstraße 58 70184 Stuttgart editor@accents-magazine.de
Greetings From Baden-Württemberg’s Premier
Filling the Gap
Baden-Württemberg is Germany’s number one export region and a home for education, science and the arts – it’s an open and welcoming state in the heart of Europe. With the launch of accents magazine, Baden-Württemberg now has a new, regular, English-language publication to inform people about a range of events and happenings, as well as arts and cultural news. accents magazine provides people who are new to this state with a great opportunity to inform themselves, in English, about what’s going on in our society and culture. Of course, we are especially pleased when people from all over the world, who come here to live and work, also take time to discover Baden-Württemberg for themselves – with all of its beauty, and with all of its interesting and occasionally surprising wonders. accents magazine contributes to making the more than 40,000 native English speakers who live in Baden-Württemberg feel even more at home. It allows them to participate in the sporting and cultural life of the community, and to establish contact more quickly with the population at large. I wish accents magazine every success, and I wish all of its readers many pleasant discoveries in and about Baden-Württemberg.
Baden-Württemberg, for many a holiday destination in Germany’s south-western corner, is renowned for its Gastfreundschaft and Gemütlichkeit. What is less well recognised is the international outlook of this powerhouse economy which is home to almost 1.25 million foreigners amongst its population of 10.7 million. The absence of an informative, good quality Englishlanguage publication, focussing on topics of interest to native and non-native English speakers, newcomers and long-term residents alike, has troubled me for some time. I am therefore delighted to be able to welcome you to this first edition of accents magazine, which will I hope fill the gap that many others have remarked upon. accents aims to draw together and inform the diverse English-speaking groups in Baden-Württemberg, regardless of nationality. It will focus on business as well as cultural topics of relevance to English speakers. And it aims to be topical, provoking debate on issues which affect all our lives. Most importantly accents aims to be your magazine – and if you think you can contribute information of value to others the editor awaits! I am very pleased to have been associated with this project and I pay tribute to the determination of all those who have helped to get it off the ground. With this first issue the hard work only begins of course. The magazine will continue to need both sponsors and readers. Please help us by spreading the word.
Erwin Teufel Ministerpräsident Baden-Württemberg
Mark Twigg HM Consul-General, Stuttgart
Write in and tell us What do you miss about Christmas? The next issue of accents will be out just before Christmas. If you’re Australian you’re probably going to miss your backyard BBQ in the summer sun. Americans will be missing the Christmas television re-runs. Some of the Brits among us really miss a good carol service (rather irreverently after a couple of pints and mince pies at the local!) Write in and tell us what you miss.
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You don’t have to be a foreigner – you might come from another part of Germany and miss your local Christmas traditions. We’ll publish some of the best responses. And a picture dictionary from PONS will be sent to the writer of our favourite entry, so don‘t forget your name and address. Letters can be posted, faxed or emailed. The deadline for entries is Nov 5 th, 2004.
accents magazine Libanonstraße 58 70184 Stuttgart Fax 0711 3102161 editor@accentsmagazine.de
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News and Events How Very British
November 18 to December 12. The book fair program features readings by British authors, including Jeffrey Archer
Photo: Stuttgarter Buchwochen
Books from the United Kingdom are the focus of this year’s Stuttgart Book Fair, to be held at the Haus der Wirtschaft from
and Philip Kerr; afternoon tea and beertasting events; a ‘British Crime Night’; and an exhibition with photographs of British authors. Other guests include Merlin Holland, the grandson of Irish writer Oscar Wilde, who will read extracts from his book The Real Trial of Oscar Wilde, and German writer Frank Günther, who will talk about his ambitious project to translate all of Shakespeare’s works into German. (And you thought old Will was hard enough to follow in English!) More than 300 publishers are taking part in the fair, and about 2,000 books from and about the UK will be on display. A total of 25,000 books is being presented, including 9,000 new releases.
The 54 th Stuttgart Book Fair, 2004 Nov 18 - Dec 12 Daily 10 am - 8 pm Haus der Wirtschaft Willi-Bleicher-Str. 19 Stuttgart www.buchwochen.de
One English-Language School Opens and another expands A new international school, offering Englishlanguage classes, has opened in the Lake Constance region. Based in the Swiss border town of Kreuzlingen, the International School of Kreuzlingen-Konstanz (ISKK) offers courses meeting requirements of the International Baccalaureate Organisation. Students are aged three to eleven years. The purpose of this cross-border project is to make the Lake Constance region more attractive for international businesses, according to Stefan Preisig, the principal. “Both Kreuzlingen and Konstanz have recognised the need to open a school with an English program to make it easier to attract businesspeople with families to the
area,” Preisig said. “International firms are happier to set themselves up in a region if they know their foreign staff can enrol their children into the standard programe of the International Baccalaureate Organisation.” The curriculum at the ISKK includes six subjects: language; social studies; mathematics; science and technology; the arts; and personal, social and physical education. Preisig says he hopes the school will become an important centre for promoting
the English language in the region. “We want to create a centre here for the English speaking community, so that different groups of people could use the school for meetings or other events after school hours,” Preisig said. Meanwhile, the International School of Stuttgart (ISS) is expanding its primary school campus in Sindelfingen. It is now offering Kindergarten, Grade 1 and Grade 2 classes in a self-contained wing of the Summerhofen Grundschule, a normal German primary school. The ISS, based in Stuttgart-Degerloch, opened its satellite campus last year due to increasing demand for an English-language education in the Böblingen-Sindelfingen area.
ISKK International School Kreuzlingen Konstanz (photo right) Hauptstraße 27 8280 Kreuzlingen Switzerland Tel 0041 71672 2727 Fax 0041 71672 2717 www.iskk.ch
accents magazine
News and Events 5
Photo: georgebush.com
Photo: johnkerry.com
Greek Scot!
When Every Vote Counts US Election Partisan organizations say they also see more interest from voters this year. Republicans Abroad, which is not directly linked to the Republican Party, held an event in Berlin in April with former Vice President Dan Quayle as part of an effort American voters have been hearing for over to reach new voters. “We have had many a year now just how polarized the electorate more absentee ballot requests from Americans living here in Germany than is. But there’s a positive aspect to the last time,” said John W. Gerrish, chairman sharp divisions and strong feelings in this of the Stuttgart chapter of Republicans year’s contest between President George W. Bush and Senator John F. Kerry. Political Abroad. At the international headquarters for Democrats Abroad, the voting registration parties and other groups dedicated to a particular candidate are extending their reach officer said the group had registered more Americans by the end of April this year to citizens who have not been involved in politics before. It’s happening in the United than in all of election year 2000. Said States and it’s happening here in Germany. Charles Keene, chairman of the group’s Heidelberg chapter: “We’ve had much higher In the US, the anti-Bush forces have been swelled by artists, hip-hop musicians, attendance at events this year, double the number in past years.” rock stars like Bruce Springsteen, and As in the United States, new groups film-makers like Michael Moore, whose latest film Fahrenheit 9/11 can also be seen overseas have sprung up outside the orbit in Germany. The MoveOn.org network links of traditional parties. American Voices Abroad was founded in Berlin last year by a these anti-Bush groups via the Internet. group of Americans opposed to the war in Meanwhile, supporters of President Bush Iraq. It has since opened 14 chapters from are reaching out to Christian groups, from Baptists to Roman Catholics. The Bush side Belgium to Lebanon, including one in is also counting on entertainers like California Tübingen. In the Netherlands, a group of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and actor American and Dutch citizens set up a web-site called TellAnAmericanToVote.com, Charlton Heston to motivate voters. In Germany, officials at the US Consulate which enables registration information to be sent via e-mail. The pithy rationale for General in Frankfurt have seen a surge in their registration drive: “7,100,000 Americans interest from voters. Requests for inforlive outside the USA … 537 votes put mation on voting began to pick up in June, George W. Bush in the White House … when they rose from 7 to 10 a day to Change the World.” between 10 and 15 a day. “We are seeing Those 537 votes were counted in the people at the window who have never state of Florida, where absentee ballots voted before,” says a consular official. played a significant role in helping to turn the tide in the 2000 presidential election. Election news: That fact has encouraged political orgawww.georgebush.com nizers to pay more attention to expatriate www.johnkerry.com voters than in the past. www.nytimes.com “The overseas vote may be critical www.washingtonpost.com in the results of this year’s election,” www.cnn.com says Sharon Manitta, spokeswoman for www.foxnews.com Democrats Abroad. Her political opponent, www.pbs.org Henry Nickel, chairman of Republicans Abroad for Germany, agrees: “Anyone Campaign ads: who’s been paying attention to the numbers http://livingroomcandidate. knows it’s going to be very close. There’s movingimage.us/index.php a good chance that expatriate voters will decide the election.”
Around 17,000 US citizens live in BadenWürttemberg – and that doesn’t include American military personnel. As Katharine Schmidt reports, their votes are being sought in a close presidential race.
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When Scotsman James Carson started working at Stuttgart Airport 26 years ago, his colleagues’ English skills left much to be desired. How things have changed. Michelle Anderson asked Carson to show her around the airport with its new Terminal 3. James Carson is the Stuttgart superintendent for Olympic Airways, the Greek national carrier. How did a Scot come to work in Stuttgart for a Greek airline? Well, his native language gave him a head start. When he first came to work at the airport, Carson was employed by the airport’s catering firm. One day he was asked by the manager of Olympic Airways to help members of a Greek air crew who were having problems communicating in English. Later, the manager offered Carson a job at Olympic Airways, and he’s been with the company ever since. Carson enjoys life at the airport, where he begins every morning with a cup of coffee and a sense of expectation. “Everyday there’s something different,” he says. It’s hard to imagine how big the airport actually is, unless you are taken on a tour by someone who knows their way around. Stuttgart is one of Germany’s
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fastest-growing airports. The building of the new Terminal 3, at a cost of 150 million euros, allows Stuttgart to process up to 12 million passengers a year. Carson says that Terminal 3 was long overdue. “This project certainly gives the Stuttgart region a boost internationally – maybe not right now, but in two or three years’ time when, I hope, the travel and tourism industry will pick up again,” he says. Working at Stuttgart Airport has brought Carson into contact with many famous visitors, including Margaret Thatcher, Ozzy Osbourne, Bill Clinton, the Pope, and – not to be left out – Scotland’s best football teams. Both of the big Glasgow clubs, Celtic and Rangers, along with their respective armies of fans, have trailed through the airport over the last few years for games against VfB Stuttgart. “I wasn’t needed on-hand for the arrival of those teams. But I didn’t pass up invitations to watch the matches from the VIP lounge in Stuttgart!” And when he needs a break from Stuttgart? Carson says he mostly looks forward to visiting Greece. “Greek culture and Scottish culture are very much alike. The temperament is very similar and family ways are similar.”
Photo: Stuttgart Airport
Cinema Shake-up CinemaxX picks up where Europa leaves off
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Like a sleight-of-hand trick in a Harry Potter film, English-language cinema has disappeared from downtown Stuttgart. For the last four years, the Europa Cinema in Königstraße was the only place in the city centre which exclusively screened originallanguage films. But it didn’t attract enough film-goers. “I did hope to capture an internationally-oriented, multicultural public living in the city – to entice them to see a film in English. But it just didn’t happen,” says Christiane Niewald, who managed the Europa until it closed earlier this year. Niewald says she intended to shut down the cinema at the end of this year. However, a Stuttgart City Council order for fire safety improvements, which would have cost 15,000 euros, forced her to close the Europa earlier than planned, in mid-April. (The council says it has nothing against English-language cinema; the safety improvements were ordered after a routine building inspection.)
However, a major cinema chain has stepped in to partly fill the breach left by the Europa’s closure. CinemaxX says an experiment it started in May to test the English-language market at its Bosch Areal complex has proved successful. Although the majority of English-language films shown so far have been dubbed into German, assistant theatre manager Sascha Diener says CinemaxX will – “with 80 percent certainty” – continue to show films regularly in English. Diener says while demand is not overwhelming, and decisions about screenings are still made on a week-byweek basis, there has been a better-thanexpected response to English-language screenings. Films are now shown in English three or four days a week at the complex. Why are Germans generally reluctant to watch films in English? An interview with Christiane Niewald on page 16 in our Arts and Culture section.
News and Events 7
Feature We can do everything – even speak English! The people of Baden-Württemberg might have trouble speaking ‘high’ German, but not English. Even first-graders are now learning English. Accents reports on the success of an ambitious experiment.
At first the seven-year-old girl is confused. “Could you close the door, please?” repeats the teacher, this time pointing to the door. The child looks from the door back to the teacher, and stands up. The teacher acts out the motion of pulling a door shut. “Yes, that’s right,” she says encouragingly, “close the door.” Now the girl walks over and closes the door. “Very good. Thank you,” says the teacher. Today’s English lesson hasn’t even started at Neuffen Primary School, at the edge of the Swabian Alps, south of Nürtingen. But already a child has revealed a basic understanding of English, and the teacher has demonstrated the modern way of teaching English in Baden-Württemberg’s primary schools. Translating is a thing of the past. With music, movement, song and dance, six- and seven-year old children are being taught English. And they’re having a lot of fun in the process. Baden-Württemberg is the first state in Germany to introduce the compulsory teaching of a foreign language in the first grade. As of September 2003, every primary school in the state began teaching English, with the exception of a number of schools along the French border, where French is
8 Feature
taught. (The launch of first-grade English was preceded by a two-year test program at more than 400 primary schools in the Stuttgart region. Stuttgart’s primary school kids have therefore completed three years of English.) Primary school English involves a new approach to language teaching in B-W. The idea is not to teach children the structure of the language but to immerse them in what linguists call a “language bath” – to familiarise children with everyday English in a relaxed way. Grammar is not taught. German, in general, is not used. “The first year of English in primary schools has been an absolute success,” says the initiator of the program, BadenWürttemberg Education Minister, Annette Schavan. “Experts tell us the earlier children begin learning a language the easier it is. And anyone who visits a primary school sees how much fun the children have with English. You see that it’s so much easier for them to learn English than later on in high school … Many teachers actually say we could go even faster with the program – children are catching on so quickly.” (Full interview with Dr Schavan on page 12)
Climbing water spouts Incy Wincy Spider is the star of today’s lesson at Neuffen Primary School. The children are gathered on the floor around their teacher, Birgit Gegier, who’s showing them a picture book. “Where are the spider’s legs? Can you count them? What colour is his body?” she asks the children, testing out previously learned words. After reading through the story of Incy Wincy Spider, without any translation, she puts the book aside and teaches the children the actions that go with the nursery rhyme. She doesn’t explain any of the English words she’s using – she simply lets her movements speak for themselves. The children then stand in a circle to copy the teacher’s actions, while saying the nursery rhyme as best they can. They are then taught the song to go with the actions. The class then listens to the Incy Wincy Spider song from a cassette player, and the actions are repeated and sung to music. Back at their desks, the children draw a spider. “The building blocks of English for first graders are stories, games, songs, music and actions,” says Gegier. “I avoid concrete translations. I try to allude to the meaning through gestures, movement and pictures.” The aim of the English program is to get six- and seven-year-olds to listen to English, to begin to understand it, and then to get them to use words or phrases themselves. There is no reading or writing of English in the first and second grades. That only begins in the third and fourth years of primary school, so that children have a grounding in written German first, before they’re confronted with spelling, word recognition and reading texts in English. “Children possess a highly efficient capability for learning languages in natural surroundings,” says Professor Erika Werlen, a linguist at the University of Tübingen. “We really only need to give children a thought-provoking, relaxed, high-quality language ‘bath’ – based on real situations and actions – and they learn the basic structures of a foreign language. They don’t need to build up complex sentence structures – they mainly need to understand.”
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English teacher, Birgit Gegier, with a Neuffen Primary School first grader.
about the new language, which they are continually testing and correcting when something new is added.” One key finding of the Tübingen University research project: B-W’s first graders feel much more quickly at home with English than linguists originally anticipated. “The children are ready to begin speaking “Da sind two cats” English after an incredibly short space of time,” says researcher Stephanie Manz. At the Institute for Educational Science in “It was thought they’d actually want a long Tübingen, Werlen leads a team of special‘silent phase’ in the beginning. But we ists monitoring the progress of B-W’s found that wasn’t necessary.” Manz and primary school English. With the help of her colleagues have yet to observe one video recordings of lessons, over the last class of children who appeared to be year the team has observed how six- and unmotivated to learn English. They attribute seven-year-olds develop their own stratethis to the fact that English lessons are gies for communication. Werlen and her seen as something of a ‘play-break’ by the team have found that by thinking about a children, due to the heavy focus on singing, new language young children develop a type of ‘in-between language’, which differs games and movement. “The great majority of children enjoy from both their mother tongue and the English lessons. You hear that from a lot new language. The sentence “Da sind two cats”, which might have been seen in past of teachers,” confirms Neuffen Primary School’s Birgit Gegier, who’s also an years as a mistake, is now interpreted by instructor of primary school English teachers. linguists such as Werlen as an advance in “Whenever you get kids to stand up and the learning process. The sentence is not correct but the child has developed enough move in the classroom – get them out of their seats – they like it. And English of an understanding of the rules of English to communicate by borrowing from German involves a lot of that.” Primary school children receive two 45forms to make him- or herself understood. “Kids are not computers. They don’t learn minute lessons a week. But teachers are allowed a degree of flexibility as to when a language parrot-fashion – by repeating or they teach English, many opting to do up imitating what the teacher says,” explains to 20 minutes of English a day, rather than Werlen. “They very quickly develop their own thought structure, a kind of ‘hypothesis’ one or two longer, heavier lessons a week.
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The complete English program, through four years of primary school, covers six key topics: In the School; My Family and My Friends; My Body; My Pets; My Toys and The Year. These topics are introduced in Grades 1 and 2, and repeated and expanded upon in Grades 3 and 4 in what Birgit Gegier calls an “upward spiral” learning program. “For example, we talk about dogs and cats and other pets in first and second class, and then expand on that in third class to talk about farm animals, and in fourth class we can introduce zoo animals. In each year, we are broadening the child’s English understanding of animals and consolidating what they’ve already learnt.”
Investing in the future The B-W government has created 1,760 new teaching positions for the primary school English program and invested several million euros in English training programs for teachers. Minister Schavan says it’s a worthwhile taxpayer investment in future international relations. “In a global world English is of enormous importance … It’s something that is close to my heart to see that where languages are a barrier, that education plays a role in helping to break down those barriers. For me, learning English has an element of international politics about it – it’s not just about education.”
Feature 9
The Good, the Bored and the Ugly Native English speakers in German primary schools* What do you do as a teacher in a German primary school if you suddenly find you have a native English speaker in the class? Do you leave the child in a corner to do nothing? Do you ignore him and hope he doesn’t pick up on your mistakes? Or do you integrate her into your lessons by getting her to sing or demonstrate things for her classmates? Accents has encountered a wide variety of classroom experiences among native English speaking children. No clear instructions appear to have been given to primary school teachers as to how they should handle good English speakers in the classroom. The experiences of kids generally fall into three categories.
Good integration Some teachers find it a great relief to hear from a 7-year-old that ‘pear’ is pronounced the same as ‘bear’, and not ‘peer’. With self-effacing humour some teachers ask English speakers to lead the class in a song or to bring their favourite English-
language books to school. The child feels accepted and welcomed in the classroom, and is still open to learning new words. “The teacher often asks me to come out to the front and act stuff out for the class or I get to sing a song. I still have to do the class work but that’s OK. The teacher asks me how to say certain things – we had the word ‘pear’ once, and she wasn’t sure. She talks with me in English sometimes and it’s fun.” Ann, Grade 2 “I love English lessons. I get to say some things to the class. The teacher asks me to help her. It’s not boring at all.” Mark, Grade 1 “My kids feel involved in English. I go in and read English stories to classes and you can tell the teachers welcome the involvement of native speakers – whether they’re adults or kids.” American mother of two primary school children “One day the word ‘pickle’ came up. I hadn’t heard that word, and told the teacher
that we called it a ‘gherkin’. She said that pickle was the American way of saying it, but if it was called a gherkin in Australia then that was fine. And the class could call it a gherkin or a pickle.” Amy, Grade 3
Boredom Some children find they are more or less ignored by the teacher. The teacher knows the child is a native speaker but doesn‘t know what to do with him or her. They are left to their own devices and generally find English boring. “I know the words we’re learning. The teacher doesn’t ask me anything. I just sit there.” Eric, Grade 2 “My daughter really just sits at her desk twiddling her thumbs.” English mother of second-grade child “I went to the teacher once to ask whether my son could be set something else to do, or to be involved in the lessons but
nothing happened. He just has to sit there and put up with it.” American mother of second-grade child
Ugly stories Some native-speaking kids are confronted with ridicule, scolding and unnecessary correction in English lessons. Misunderstandings can leave children feeling demoralised. Some teachers insist on one ‘correct’ way of naming something, unaware that English is an international language in which a ‘pullover’ in one country might be
called a ‘sweater’ or a ‘jumper’ or a ‘snugly’ somewhere else. Primary-school-aged children don’t feel confident enough to challenge a teacher. Once they have been put down they rarely contribute to English classes at all.
different from American or British English but the teacher just doesn’t accept that. Now he’s afraid to say anything, because he feels criticised every time he offers something.”Australian mother of primary school child
“My daughter simply didn’t get on with her teacher. One day she was asked to point out a colour, and when she replied ‘lilac’ the teacher told her it was ‘purple’ and ridiculed her lack of knowledge in front of the class. She kept on insisting Carolyn was mispronouncing things. I think she was just an insecure teacher.” American mother of primary-school child
“My daughter is not at all appreciated in English. She hates it. One teacher she had didn’t seem to be aware of what she understood. One day when a (German) child made a mistake in English, the child was told to go to the open window and shout out: ‘I’m silly, I’m silly, I’m silly.’ The poor girl did so without knowing what she was saying, until my daughter enlightened her afterwards.”English mother of thirdgrade child
“Patrick was often scolded in class. He’d say ‘pants’ instead of ‘trousers’ and the teacher would insist he didn’t know what he was talking about. She couldn’t pronounce words properly and, I think, felt threatened by having a native speaker in the class.” American mother “My son is always corrected on his pronunciation. As an Australian, his English is
*Includes comments from primary school children in the Stuttgart schools where English was introduced earlier than in the rest of Baden-Württemberg, and is now being taught in Grades 1 to 4. Note: children’s names have been changed.
The weakness of the previous curriculum, in which children began learning English in high school, was that there was way too much grammar. It was all about ‘What are the rules and how do we teach them?’ Actually speaking English was not seen as important. Now it’s different. I believe the new program leads to a much more relaxed encounter with a foreign language. Have special provisions been made in schools for children who are native English speakers? There’s no official, special curriculum for these children. But we value the idea of children learning not just from the teacher but from each other. And where native English speakers are in a class, they can support their classmates who have difficulties. The teacher also has an extra helper at hand. The English speaking child can be integrated into the teaching program.
Anglo Annette In profile
She got a 2 in English in high school. Not bad. But she wants the next generation of Baden-Württembergers to speak “the world language” better than she does. Accents talks with B-W Education Minister Annette Schavan (pictured above) about first-grade English.
accents: You place great value on the need for school children to learn English. Why? Schavan: English is almost a second language in Germany. In a global world it’s of enormous importance – it’s the language of science, the language of economics. Therefore, no young person should leave school here without being able to speak English … It’s important to give the next generation the chance to learn this world language. But why do kids need to start learning English so early on, in the first grade? Language experts tell us the earlier children begin learning a language, the easier it is. And I’m convinced we should give them this chance as early as possible. Anyone who visits a primary school to observe children learning English sees how much fun they have. You can see that it’s so much easier for them to learn English in the early grades than later on in high school. The first year of teaching English in the first grade is already behind us.
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How successful was it? And how do you measure that success? It’s been an absolute success. I measure it by the fun and the joy that one sees kids having in English lessons, and also on the reports back from teachers. Many teachers actually say we could go even faster with the program – the children are developing and catching on so quickly. I also measure the success by the satisfaction of parents, who were rather sceptical in the beginning as to whether their kids might be overwhelmed by the whole thing. They now see that it’s something they enjoy and learn from. Are children having too much fun in English? Some experts say that there’s not enough grammar in the program – that you can’t just give children a language ‘bath,’ but rather, there has to be some grammatical context. Teaching has to be based on the age of the child. That’s why the new program is different from high school English. The first thing is for the child to ‘step into’ the language, to get a feel for it – listening to the language is very important.
Kids from non-German speaking families often have trouble with German in school. Now these kids have to learn yet another language, English. Isn’t this too much? There was a lot of scepticism about how these children would cope. But English is actually one subject where German native speakers have no advantage in the beginning: Turkish, Croatian, Italian and German kids all begin with zero knowledge. Secondly, the experts say – and this has been confirmed in practice – that learning another foreign language doesn’t lead to confusion for the child. I must say that some of the criticisms, about overloading kids and so on, emerge from a general scepticism about what children are capable of learning. I think we underestimate their abilities and fail to trust what’s actually inside them. You’ve been mentioned as a possible future president of Germany. Is English in Grade 1 something you’d push to have taught throughout the country, if you were president or a federal minister? I’m a passionate federalist and I believe, in general, that these things can be decided at the state level. But I think that whatever we do in education has to be seen in international terms … Future generations will be even more strongly affected by international developments than we are, and will play more of a role in shaping the future internationally. And so it’s something that is close to my heart to see that where language is a barrier, education plays a role in helping to break down that barrier. For me, learning English has an element of international politics about it – it’s not just about education.
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Centre of the OUBS, Milton Keynes, England
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The OUBS is one of the world’s leading business schools. It is based in the UK, and has students across Europe. Our supported distance learning programmes provide support through personal tutors, Munich and Stuttgart based workshops, Germany-wide student groups and international networking. The MBA is designed for people working full-time, taking no time off work. Duration: 2,5 years (MBA) Requirements: A university degree or the OUBS Certificate in Management; Professional and managerial experience Costs: MBA: 12,235 GBP Certificate in Management: 2,885 GBP How to contact us? The OU Business School Representation Southern Germany Zeppelinstraße 73, 81669 München Telefon 089 / 897 090 48 mba@oubs.at www.oubs.open.ac.uk
MBA graduates about to receive their award at an OU graduation ceremony
*The OU is ranked 4th among British Universities for quality of teaching (Sunday Times survey in 2003). The MBA was ranked 4th in the world in a survey of global distance learning MBA providers (The Financial Times, London, 2003).
Arts and Culture Vaulting Ambition Macbeth didn’t lack it, and neither do Stuttgart’s English-language theatre groups. Arts Editor Stuart Marlow surveys the past, present and future of English speaking theatre in Baden-Württemberg’s capital.
Bridging the gap between amateur and professional theatre is a growing challenge. Increased financial pressures on theatre management, plus less-predictable working hours for non-professional actors have created added difficulties for amateur theatre groups. Given that sources of English speaking actors are limited, English-language groups have to fight harder to build up a pool of stage performers. As if this wasn’t enough, the military based theatres have had to implement post-9/11 security measures with the result that the number of visitors to places like Kelley Barracks, for example, has almost halved. Englishlanguage theatre in Stuttgart therefore finds itself at a crucial stage of development. How far has it come and where does it go from here?
A scene from the ACTS production Ghost Writing Hamlet . Above right: Sophie Chaumette as Lady Macbeth.
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The Story So Far The basic pattern for today’s scene was set in 1991, when two American members of an itinerant group ‘Open Minds’, Charles C. Urban and Brett Harwood, went their separate ways. Urban concentrated on stage plays, founding NEAT (New English American Theatre) in 1991, whereas Harwood, who now runs the Stuttgart Theatre Center at Kelley Barracks, pursued his interest in mainstream musicals. Then in 1997, producer-director Eileen Tiller made a further impact on the English-language performance scene when she introduced Outcast International. Finally, ACTS was set up in 2001 as a multi-media, campus-based documentary theatre project, linking stage and screen actors with trainee technicians. In setting up NEAT, Charles Urban wanted to provide people in Baden-Württemberg with the kinds of plays they would find on offer in New York or London. Over the last fourteen years NEAT has built up a pool of regular supporters. In 1994 it established a firm base at the KKT community theatre in Bad Cannstatt. Before then, NEAT performed at venues like the Corso Cinema,
Stuttgart University, the old Amerika Haus (now Filmhaus), the Irrlicht Theater in Stuttgart, the Schloßkeller in Nürtingen and the Universitäts Theater in Tübingen. The first play to be staged as a NEAT production was Alfred Uhry’s Driving Miss Daisy. More recent successes include Macbeth, the Beckett classics Waiting for Godot and Krapp’s Last Tape, and Chris Durang’s Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All. Under Urban’s guidance, NEAT has also developed original plays such as The Elvis Monologues, and with the input of Sophie Chaumette and John Doyle has staged community theatre events such as the popular “Irish Evenings” and The Priests of Craggy Island. When Eileen Tiller’s Outcast International established itself, the group added a welcome element of competition by offering a wider range of entertaining theatre. Under Tiller’s talented and dynamic direction 13 productions were staged and attracted an impressive following. Among these plays were Woody Allen’s Don’t Drink the Water, the pantomimic comedy Robin Hood, the classic farce Cash on Delivery, the powerful anti-Wall Street drama Other People’s Money and the story of a suicide in Night Mother. Since Tiller’s return to the United States in 2002, Outcast has staged Plaza Suite and English Made Simple. It’s now re-launching itself under the management of Linda Keller. ACTS is a collaborative venture between students at Stuttgart’s Media University (HdM), trainee actors, and trained as well as amateur performing artists. ACTS specializes in multimedia, documentary drama. For example, the 2004 production Ancestors deals with the link between AIDS and colonial history. At the 2002 International Festival of Anglophone Theatre (FEATS) in Brussels, ACTS won the ‘Best Original Play’ award for Pricing Freedom, a dramatic exploration of the issue of political asylum. At the 2003 FEATS festival in Bad Homburg, ACTS picked up a further award for the comic exposure of the real genius behind the name William Shakespeare (The Shakespeare Myth). The Stuttgart Theatre Center (STC) staged its first performances in 1980 when
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the US military increased its investment in theatre shows. Performances have always been open to both members of the Armed Forces and the general public. The STC moved to Kelley Barracks in StuttgartMöhringen in 1992. Since then, the STC has provided a consistently high level of both entertaining musicals and serious drama. The creative contrast has been clearly represented this year with the success of The Diary of Anne Frank as a stage play and the New York musical The Last Five Years. Theatre-goers should not be put off by the security checks at Kelley, as the quality of the performances makes a visit well worthwhile.
Too Few Actors? The point is often raised that the available pool of acting talent is too small to support so many groups. Although theatre ensembles do often split and compete with each other, they also exchange ideas and co-operate. Notable examples include Charles Urban and Brett Harwood’s 1995 production of Cabaret. ACTS’ award-winning productions Pricing Freedom and Ghost Writing Hamlet featured NEAT regulars, Greta Redmond, Cathie Mullen and John Doyle. In 2003, Eileen Tiller directed David Auburn’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Proof at Kelley. Many old regulars as well as up-and-coming actors have always appeared in plays produced by more than one of the four theatre groups. As far as the actors are concerned, working for different groups often helps to widen their range of skills.
The Audience Who goes to see English language theatre? There are a number of different audience groups, including: native English speakers in the Stuttgart region; local people with excellent English skills who are generally interested in English-language cultures;
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Americans linked to the US military; and English-speaking employees at international firms and their partners, who may have a limited knowledge of German. Equally important are higher-education students, school teachers and school students, as well as language trainers and their students from private language schools. Unfortunately, German audiences seeking exposure to the English language are not regular theatre goers. This is a factor the theatre groups cannot afford to ignore when selecting and presenting their material.
The Future The STC and NEAT both have regular access to fixed venues. The other groups must take the dates offered by arts-centre venues such as Theaterhaus, Theater der Alstadt and Kulturwerk. The dates offered are not always ideal, as theatres have to give priority to resident ensembles and visiting professional groups. Commercial pressures on all venues have increased as subsidized theatre in Germany suffers cutbacks and sees a slow decline in audience numbers. The chance to stage new work is becoming increasingly limited. This does not mean that life is easy for those with fixed venues. Although Kelley is generously subsidized by the US military, Brett Harwood needs to maintain good audience figures. According to Harwood, Kelley’s average bookings of 95 seats per show are “just about acceptable” by US commercial standards but “very good” by local German standards. Given that about 70 percent of Kelley regulars prefer to see musicals and only 30 percent prefer plays, Harwood has adopted a strategy of staging popular musicals to finance theatre pieces. A strategy that strikes a balance between commercial and artistic theatre may well offer Stuttgart’s English-language theatre scene the best chance of survival.
English Language Theatre in Stuttgart NEAT New English American Theater www.neat-theater.de ACTS Anglophone Collaborative Theatre of Stuttgart www.acts.hdm-stuttgart.de Outcast International www.outcast-theater.de Stuttgart Theatre Center Kelley Theatre www.kelleytheatre.de
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Autumn Reading A choice of three Americans call it fall. Other English speakers calls it autumn. Whatever you call it, there’s no better way to while away the months before winter than by curling up on the sofa with a hot drink and a good book. But which novel should you choose? To help narrow the selection here are three possibilities. The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl, Vintage, 367 pages Boston, 1865. The end of the American Civil War. A group of Harvard scholars is hoping to produce an English translation of Dante’s Divine Comedy. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, the great Harvard poet, is
leading the group through the book, when they discover a series of murders that follow Dante’s verses. The convincing characterizations of historical figures, the academic politics, the gently paced prose set against the backdrop of Puritan New England, and the exploration of the fear of Catholic immigrants make this book more than just a thriller. There is no strain, no questionable deus ex machina to help resolve narrative problems. The book is a pleasure to read. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, Corgie Books, 593 pages Again, a Harvard professor plays amateur detective, this time working with a cryptologist from the French police. The setting is the present, but the mystery is centuries old. What secrets did Leonardo da Vinci conceal in his paintings? And what difference does it make in the 21st century? This is a non-stop thriller that roller-coasts through
two thousand years of Western history packing in lots of action scenes and anagram searches. Professor Langdon and Sophie Neveu, the main characters, do remain caricatures rather than believable figures. But there is enough in this book to make one wonder whether a trip to the Louvre should be penciled in for the next holiday. The Curious Incident of the Dog at Night Time by Mark Haddon, Jonathan Cape, 272 pages Fifteen-year-old Christopher, the narrator, suffers from Asperger’s syndrome, which is also known as autism. He is puzzled by the murder of his neighbour’s dog and starts his own investigation in the form of a diary. What he discovers is a way to express his thoughts about the very private world he inhabits. People suffering from Asperger’s syndrome cannot form normal emotional attachments. Instead, they develop an affinity for numbers or a repetitive sequence of actions or, as in Christopher’s case, with colours. This is a book that touches raw nerve endings. Funny incidents are interspersed with agonizing realities to produce an endearing, thoughtful read. Not surprisingly, this novel was written with both adults and children in mind. If you’re interested in reading any of these books you can order them through accents. For more information, turn to page 27.
Ms Corso Christiane Niewald If there’s anyone working in BadenWürttemberg who knows anything about English-language cinema, it’s Christiane Niewald. She’s the manager of the Corso Cinema in Stuttgart-Vaihingen, which has featured English-language films in its program without a break since 1986. Accents spoke to Niewald (pictured bottom right) about the past and the future of English-language cinema. When and why did the Corso start showing films in English? We have two cinema halls at the Corso, and in 1986, with one of them empty, we decided to put on original language films. It became a success and word started to get out. At the time we also had a lot of American soldiers on military bases nearby and they used to make up around 80 percent of the audience. By 1995, most US bases had shut down but by that time we had built up our German customer base, and Germans started coming more regularly. Who comes to your cinema these days? Native speakers of English or Germans? Around 50 percent of my customers are Germans – a core of people who want to
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see a film with its original sound. But the other 50 percent are not all native speakers. We do get British people and Americans coming here, but we also get a lot of Japanese, Chinese and others who understand English better than German. Three years ago you took over management of the Europa Cinema in Stuttgart. It became the only cinema in the inner city to show nothing but foreign films in the original language. Why did you shut it down earlier this year? With the takeover of the Europa Cinema I hoped that I might be able to capture an internationally-oriented, multicultural public living in the inner city – people who stream down Königstraße – who might be enticed into seeing a film in English. But it just didn’t happen. Instead, regular customers who normally came to the Corso found out the Europa was closer to where they lived and started going there. So I found I wasn’t getting many new customers, just losing old ones from the Corso. I had planned to close down the Europa on December 31 of this year. But late last year Stuttgart’s Building Code Office told me I needed to do some fire-safety work on the building, which would have cost me 15,000 euros. I couldn’t afford to invest that money and had to shut down in April.
understand the language well enough? I must say I don’t really know. Is it because we’re too lazy? I don’t want to sound too mean, but we Germans are simply pigheaded when it comes to watching films: we just prefer watching the dubbed, German version. In many other countries films are shown in the original language, with sub-titles. Why it doesn’t happen here, I can’t say. It’s not a new phenomenon – it’s always been like this. I’m not the only one in Baden-Württemberg who’s tried English cinema – it just doesn’t have a big market. But analysts talk about original-language films being a viable niche market? It is a niche market, but it’s still very small. I mean the Corso still gets by, but I wasn’t able to maintain two cinemas. In the north of Germany the English cinema market is a little better, but in this part of the country it’s harder.
Why don’t Germans want to watch films in English? Don’t many, if not most,
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Friedrichshafen Germany’s southern gateway
Thomas Ravel has been bowled over by this peaceful harbour city on the northern shore of Lake Constance. When I leafed through the section on Lake Constance in the obligatory guide book, I thought I was being smart by skipping the page on Friedrichshafen. Wrong. Three visits later, after a flight in a Zeppelin airship, good food, cheap air travel to the UK, and a slight sun tan I know better. I even almost became the 65,000,001st person in Germany to own a bicycle! So why does seeing the name Friedrichshafen on the signpost often provoke a Pavlovian reaction, making your co-passenger (frequently bawled at for holding the map the wrong way up) frantically search for a way to avoid the place and get to Lindau, Meersburg or Konstanz instead? I can’t deny that Friedrichshafen isn’t as gemütlich (cosy) as other locations on Lake Constance, and that it hardly rivals Aqaba on the Red
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Sea. But as a place for a weekend break, a long weekend of cycling or just relaxing in the Mediterranean feel of the lakefront, what could be better? Mid-way along the northern shore of Lake Constance, Friedrichshafen is home to around 58,000 people. The town has grown substantially since it was destroyed in a British air raid on the night of 28 April, 1944. It is now home to many mediumsized companies, making it one of the most innovative towns in Germany. It also boasts state-of-the-art exhibition grounds and a regional airport with flights to the UK and other European destinations. So you didn’t know Ryanair has a daily budget flight between Friedrichshafen and London-Stansted? It was news to me too. Josef Büchelmeier, Friedrichshafen’s forward-thinking mayor, has no doubt about the value of his direct air link to the UK. “Tourism is an important revenue earner for us” he says, “but air links to other Euro-
pean countries are a lifeline, supporting our economic development and providing business with a viable alternative gateway in Baden-Württemberg.” Büchelmeier is keen to expand cultural connections with European partners and is interested in identifying a suitable twinning arrangement with a British town. So, if you have the time, drive to Friedrichshafen, as I did, have a pleasant overnight stay and fly to Stansted the following day. I booked what turned out to be an extremely pleasant double room in the centre of Friedrichshafen through the tourist information office (Tel. 07541 30010 or www.friedrichshafen.de) It was only three minutes from the lakefront and the panoramic view of the lake was spectacular. Since Friedrichshafen has long been a tourist destination, the service industry is prepared for your visit, and the choice of restaurants is good. (Friedrichshafen even boasts a passable Indian restaurant.) But
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Photos courtesy of Stadt Friedrichshafen
ally I liked the sound of the ‘banana boat’ hire. This must have lost something in the translation as I didn’t get very far when I telephoned to try to hire one, but with the exception of paddle boats, information on all other water sports can be obtained from DAS Boot Gmbh (Tel 0178 32726684 or www.das-boot-gmbh.de). There is a network of ferry journeys radiating from Friedrichshafen to various points along the lake, including one to Switzerland. (Don’t forget your passport.)
From the air
for those who love fish – especially local, lake fish offered in a variety of mouthwatering ways – there is no better place to be. There are plenty of restaurants offering fish on the menu, but as I’d just been to the Zeppelin Museum I decided to try the Museum’s restaurant, particularly since their terrace offers a breathtaking view of the lake, of which I never tire. For those who want to get away for a romantic break that doesn’t break the bank,
the Seehotel offers a tempting package entitled 2 Days or 9 1/2 Weeks, which includes satin sheets, a complimentary bottle of bubbly and “bath balls with bath sponge in the bathroom.” What more could you want?
Two wheels not four Not everyone enjoys travelling on four wheels, of course. For those who favour pedalling on two, there’s a choice of bicycle tours combined with boat and rail trips in the area. A really great tour is southeast along the coast from Friedrichshafen to Lindau, with a ferry ride back to Friedrichshafen. Bike tours around the town range from about 35 to 70 kilometres in length. If you can’t be bothered strapping bikes to your car you can hire them in town. Check that your bell works and off you go! Further information on tours from 07531 98280 or www.velotours.de. So what of that bicycle I nearly bought? Well, as many business people already know, Friedrichshafen has well-laid-out trade fairgrounds. The speciality is outdoor life and many of these fairs have public days and are well worth a visit. At Eurobike, the international bicycle fair, the choice of equipment and accessories on offer is incredible. I could almost see myself in a pair of those glitzy cycling shorts and I eyed up a pretty mean-looking sports bike for a while. Other trade fairs are Interboot (international water sports exhibition) and Outdoor (European outdoor life exhibition – trade visitors only). Further information is available from the fairgrounds website: www.messe-fn.de.
Balloon flights? Forget it, ten a penny. However, Friedrichshafen offers something truly unique – at a price. For 335 euros you can actually take a flight in the Zeppelin NT (New Technology). With roots dating back to the first flight of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin’s airship creations in 1900, these flights cover the entire lake area and are a truly amazing experience. I’ve tried to find other companies in Europe offering a similar experience, but failed. Use Friedrichshafen as a base to explore the surrounding lake area. The advantage is that this larger town has much more to keep everyone occupied – even the kids. Theatre, musicals and concerts as well as seasonal open-air performances (the Kulturufer festival in the summer) are all available. Teenagers will be delighted to know there is a night life with several discos operating all year round (actually I think they’re called clubs these days!) All the contact information above, and more, is available from the Friedrichshafen tourist office. I recommend you obtain a copy of their free Holiday and Leisure – The Useful Town Guide and set sail.
The lake at your toe tips Land-lovers read no further. Swimming, canoeing, kayaking, sailing, water skiing and paddle boat riding are all possible during the summer months although person-
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Caffeine on the Run Finding a quick fix
Take-away, to go, carry-out, take-out – whatever you call it, it’s food that leaves the shop in a plastic or paper container. But take-away coffee? Beth Howard looks at an American trend that is catching on in Baden-Württemberg. “Double-tall, non-fat latte,” I tell the girl behind the counter. “Zum Mitnehmen?” she asks, without a blink. This is what happens when cultures mingle. You have two languages for one concept. That is, coffee to go. Take-away coffee is a relatively new idea in continental Europe, let alone in BadenWürttemberg. But the arrival of the leader of the international caffeine pack, the American company Starbucks, is a sure sign that the trend is catching on. The first Starbucks opened in Heidelberg in September 2003 and a second has just opened in Freiburg. In Stuttgart, Café Nescafe on Calwerstraße began selling coffee to go in 1999. Says owner Theo Soferis: “We have a Nescafe shop in Frankfurt and the takeaway concept was instantly popular there. It has taken longer for people in Stuttgart to get used to it, but it’s gradually becoming more accepted.” Today, lines of caffeine freaks can be seen waiting in line in Calwerstraße for their frozen cappuccinos and their hazelnut latte machiatos in plastic or insulated cups. But although these new coffee houses offer coffee to go, only a small percentage of business is carry-out. Starbucks estimates that only one-fifth of its customers take their coffee with them.
“The reason,” explains Starbucks representative Kirsten Windhorn, “is that offices in Germany have good coffee machines so people don’t need to go out. But we’re starting to see more and more of them come in for an afternoon break and a coffee to go.”
Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum James-F.-Byrnes-Institut e.V. Charlottenplatz 17 (Inner courtyard, entrance 3) 70173 Stuttgart Telephone 0711 228180 www.daz.org
Drive-in coffee Car manufacturers in Baden-Württemberg – as opposed to those in the USA – haven’t yet taken to the idea of drinking coffee on the run. DaimlerChrysler engineers, for example, who are known to pay exquisite attention to detail, do not receive good reviews for their design of cup holders. “It seems like an afterthought,” says one car reviewer. “And there’s only one cup holder at that.” Maybe when Starbucks opens its first drive-through coffee house in Germany in a few years time, test drivers will start lining up for an espresso fix, report how their coffee cup handles in the car, and convince German automotive engineers to embrace the “zum Mitnehmen” idea.
In search of a coffee to go Starbucks Hauptstraße 137, Heidelberg www.starbucks.de Starbucks Kaiser-Joseph-Straße 147-149, Freiburg www.starbucks.de Kaffeebar Katz Marktplatz 6-8, Pforzheim
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Cafe Nescafe Calwerstraße 64, Stuttgart Marché Mövenpick Klettpassage 33, Stuttgart Café Felix Breitscheidstraße 4 a, Bosch-Areal, Stuttgart Holanka Bar (Hochland) Kirchstraße 6b, Stuttgart www.hochland-kaffee.de
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Children’s Corner Photo: Pfahlbaumuseum, Unteruhldingen
Lake Constance for families Lake Constance – known in German as the Bodensee – is Germany’s largest lake. It is located at the southern end of BadenWürttemberg, which shares the lake’s shoreline with the state of Bavaria and with Austria and Switzerland. Hannah Riordan (aged 8) and her sister Sophie (5) live near Lake Constance, and together with their mum, Marianne, they have put together a selection of their favourite things to do on the German side of the lake.
Outdoor Activities
Crossovers for kids AND adults You might be forgiven for believing that before Harry Potter hit the bookshelves, it was unheard of for adults to be caught reading – and actually enjoying – children’s books. But ‘crossovers’, as these books are known in the publishing world, are not new. Treasure Island, Oliver Twist, Around the World in Eighty Days, The Secret Dairy of Adrian Mole and Sophie’s World were all written for adults as well as for children. Children – or ‘young adults’ as they are called by publishers – are, in fact, more demanding than adults. Kids’ books need to be easy to read, without being condescending; well thought out thematically, without being too ‘adult’; imaginative without being unrealistic; and interesting enough to compete successfully with all other forms of entertainment. Crossovers are also perfect for people learning English, whether they are teenagers who find normal classroom texts too boring, or grown-ups who find conventional adult novels too difficult. accents has reviewed three crossover books whose subject matter varies considerably, but which are all a great read. Follow Me Down by Julie Hearn, Oxford University Press, 269 pages Tom discovers something mysterious about his grandmother’s basement. Somehow he is able to jump back through a gap in time into the 18th century. Not only does he befriend freaks from a fair, but he is confronted with his family’s own secrets. As
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he is drawn into one world, the problems of the other one demand his attention. Straddling these two worlds, Tom learns to trust his own judgment and the often confusing decisions of those around him. This book raises questions of life and death, the past and the present, the banal and the very special. Stop the Train by Geraldine McCaughrean, Oxford University Press, 238 pages It’s the 1890s, and towns are springing up on the plains of Oklahoma. One such town, Florence, has the misfortune of becoming an enemy of a railroad tycoon, who refuses to let his trains stop there. Without the railroad the town’s lifeline is cut. Cissy, her family, and the other settlers must find a way to make the train stop. The whole town, adults and children alike, come up with ideas both mad and brilliant. But will the train stop? And what happens to Florence and Cissy if it doesn’t?
Insel Mainau www.mainau.de Open daily Families: 21.00 March-October Other months: adults 5.50, children free This beautiful island, owned by a family of Swedish nobles, is famous for its plant displays, especially the rose garden and palm house. There’s a butterfly house, animals to see and pet, a kids’ treasure hunt and an enormous playground. Affenberg Mendlishausen GmbH, Salem www.affenberg-salem.de Open daily, March-November Families: 17.50 Affenberg is, literally translated, a “monkey mountain.” Small apes and monkeys wander freely around you, through a forested area. They’ll even take food right out of your hand! There are also deer, water birds, a frog swamp and storks on the entrance buildings. There’s also an Imbiss (snack stand), a playground and a beer garden.
Open-Air Museums
Starseeker by Tim Bowler, Oxford University Press, 323 pages Adolescence is never easy but if your father has recently died and you’re a musical prodigy, the difficulties can mount up. Confronted with these pressures, Luke also becomes exasperated by his friends, who engage in borderline criminal activity after forming a gang. This book may seem conventional, but the ambitious treatment of plot and characters make it engrossing and emotionally powerful, without allowing it to become brutal or sentimental.
Freilicht Museum Neuhausen ob Eck, Tuttlingen www.freilichtmuseum-neuhausen.de Open April-October Families: 10.00 A collection of 19th and early 20th century buildings from the region. Houses, farm buildings and even a school were taken apart at their original locations and pieced back together again at the museum, stone by stone. There are also farmyard animals and displays of cooking and crafts. A cosy restaurant offers traditional local food.
If you’re interested in reading any of these books you can order them through accents. For more information, turn to page 23.
Pfahlbaumuseum Unteruhldingen Uhldingen-Mühlhofen www.pfahlbauten.de
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Open January-November Families: 17.00 A reconstructed village of houses built on stilts rising out of the water at the edge of Lake Constance. Experience first-hand how people lived in the Stone and Bronze ages, by taking a look inside the 20 dwellings.
All-Weather Activities Erlebniswelt Sipplingen www.erlebniswelt-sipplingen.de Open daily, April-November Families: 12.00 Includes a motorbike museum, a model railway exhibit and a toy museum with dolls and teddy bears like the ones your Grandma played with – all under one roof. A pizzeria next door has views over the lake. Sea Life Centre Konstanz www.sealife.de Open all year round Adults: 10.50 Children: 7.00 The highlight of this underwater world is a glassed-in “water-tunnel” where sharks swim beside and above you. Also included in your entry ticket is a visit to the Bodensee-Naturmuseum next door. The souvenir shop is excellent and the restaurant has special menus for kids. Schloss Sigmaringen www.hohenzollern.de Open daily, February-November Families: from 12.00 An old castle, dating from the 15th century, which has been beautifully restored to its former glory. Kids are especially welcome: as part of a guided tour (also in English) the guide assigns fun tasks or quizzes for children and allows them to try on armour or sit on a throne.
Erlebniskarte This special ticket covers entry to all of the above attractions (apart from Affenberg and the Pfahlbaumuseum). Also included is free entry to almost 200 attractions around Lake Constance, including parks, swimming pools and museums. For more information: www.bodensee-tourismus.com
Bring on Halloween An Interview with Winnie the Witch You’ve never heard of Winnie the Witch? Winnie is the creation of Australian writer Valerie Thomas and illustrator Korky Paul. Her stories have been translated into 20 languages and she is loved by children of all ages. Accents has been granted an exclusive interview with Winnie and her faithful cat Wilbur, in order for you to get to know them a little better. Winnie, we assume black is the colour all witches adore, but you’re rather colourful in your choice of dress. Don’t you like black? I love the colour black but I’m a very, very messy witch and I have enormous difficulty finding my clothes every morning. If my clothes are brightly coloured it’s much easier for me to find them! We heard a rumour that Wilbur had dyed his fur. Was this his idea of a Halloween costume, to go as a rainbow? No, Wilbur is quite content being a normal black cat. But I have other ideas for him. I have accidentally turned Wilbur blue, green and even multi-coloured, which he found most embarrassing indeed. In Wilbur’s opinion, cats aren’t supposed to be multi-coloured! Winnie, do you have a favourite season? I love the summer because it is hot and sunny but I like winter too because you can snuggle up with a mug of hot chocolate and a muffin. Once I made a spell to change winter into summer but things became very confusing. Do you need a license to fly a broomstick? No, but it would be very wise to have your eyes tested first. Can a witch have a ‘broomstick accident’? Yes. I’ve had several accidents and poor Wilbur has already lost two whiskers, had his tail bent, and lost a whole clump of fur
Christmas Competition The next issue of accents will be out just before Christmas. We’d like you to tell us how you celebrate Christmas in B-W and what makes your Christmas different from a traditional German Christmas. Are there things that your German friends don’t have or do, such as putting out a glass of sherry for Father Christmas or eating mince pies and candy canes? Do you open your presents on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve? We’ll print some of the best letters and
accents magazine
there’ll be a prize for our favourite. Don’t forget your name, age and address. Letters can be posted, faxed or e-mailed: Children’s Corner accents magazine Libanonstraße 58 70184 Stuttgart Fax 0711 3102161 editor@accents-magazine.de
There are five Winnie the Witch books: Winnie the Witch, Winnie in Winter, Winnie Flies Again, Winnie and the New Computer, and Winnie’s Magic Wand. To order them see page 27.
travelling behind me. Has Wilbur ever been afraid to ride with you, or are you good at flying brooms? Well, I have to admit I’m not good at flying and sometimes Wilbur gets very scared. He often closes his eyes and he might buy a bicycle helmet for future journeys. We’ve also heard that you now have a computer! Are there some fun, online websites you can recommend? Unfortunately, I only know sites that are accessible with a special witch computer. Sites with titles like spellsforbeginners, broomsticksforsale and wandsforeveryone are my favourites. But with a normal computer you can check out our website at: www.oup.com/winnie. Halloween occurs in October and this must be the best time of the year to party. Do you and Wilbur have favourite party activities? I love pin the tail on Wilbur. He is not a fan! We were also curious to know if you dress up in costumes at Halloween or is your holiday celebration simply a gathering of family and friends? No, I dress up in my fanciest clothes at Halloween. Last year I wore a beautiful party dress with yellow stars and moons and red ribbons. Unfortunately, however, I spilt red jelly on it. Ooops! Wilbur, do you need to be a special kind of cat to live with a witch? Yes, a very, very patient cat. And of course you need to be able to talk. And finally, we hope there will soon be a new adventure for us to read. Is there one in the planning? I’m planning on going to the seaside. Watch this space for more wacky Winnie adventures!
The deadline for entries is Nov 5 th, 2004
Children’s Corner 21
accents choice
Events
Event
Stuttgart 159th Cannstatter Volksfest Annual beer festival Sept 25 - Oct 10, Cannstatter Wasen, Stuttgart 8th German International Poetry Slam High-powered poetry competition Oct 29-31, Theaterhaus, Pragsattel, www.theaterhaus.com 3. Stuttgarter Kulturnacht Giant night of the arts Oct 23, 7 pm - 2 am, tickets 0711 6015444, www.stuttgarter-kulturnacht.de U.S. Presidential Elections: The Party We will watch CNN, discuss the election with our guests, and toast the new President Nov 2, 11 pm - open end, DAZ Stuttgart
with the Stoke Boat Promenaders Oct 8, 7:30 pm, d.a.i. Tübingen Hiking Tour to an Organic Farm With the Naturschutzbund, Oct 16, 10 am - 1 pm, info d.a.i. Tübingen Election Night Party Nov 2, 8 pm - 8 am, Kino Museum Thanksgiving Dinner Nov 27, 7:30 pm, Hotel Krone Ludwigsburg Kürbisausstellung im Blühenden Barock (Pumpkin Exhibition) Fri Sept 3 - Sun Nov 7, Ludwigsburg Castle Gardens, www.blueba.de, 07141 924241 Mannheim Halloween at the Luisenpark Oct 31, starting 5 pm, Luisenpark Mannheim, www.stadtpark-mannheim.de Heidelberg 9th Heidelberg Tap Dance Festival Oct 30 - Nov 7, www.heidelberg-tapdance.de 53rd International Film Festival Mannheim and Heidelberg, Nov 18 - 27, www.mannheim-filmfestival.com Baden-Baden Festival der Nationen Irish Festival Oct 8 - 10, Kurhaus Baden-Baden
Photo: andriz.de
Rust SWR3 Halloween-Party at the Europa-Park Oct 31, Europa-Park Rust www.europapark.de Stage
Holiday on Ice Dec 8-12, Schleyerhalle Stuttgart 54th Stuttgart Book Fair Guest Country: United Kingdom Nov 18 - Dec 12, Haus der Wirtschaft, Willi-Bleicher-Straße 19, www.buchwochen.de 10th Baden-Württemberg Film Festival Dec 1-5, Filmhaus, Stuttgart Fellbach 57th Fellbacher Herbst Thanksgiving and Winefest, Parade Oct 8-11, downtown Fellbach Leinfelden-Echterdingen Filderkrautfest Germany’s biggest cabbage fest Oct 16-17, downtown Echterdingen, Leinfelden, Musberg, Stetten Tübingen 6th Tübinger “Rubber-Duck” Race Rubber-ducks race down the Neckar Oct 2, 2 pm, Neckarinsel Tübingen Let’s Square Dance
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Stage
Stuttgart Barefoot in the Park Neil Simon’s romantic comedy Oct 1, 2, 3, opening weekend, Oct 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24, all shows 7:30 pm, Stuttgart Theatre Center – Kelley Theatre, Kelley Barracks, Vahingen general public welcome, tickets 0711 7292825, www.kelleytheatre.de The Provocative Oscar Wilde On the occasion of Wilde’s 150th birthday, theatre with Brian D. Barnes, Oct 16, 8 pm, Theater der Altstadt Mrs Jellybelly Eats Breakfast interactive play for kids from 6 - 10 years, Oct 26, 27, 10:30 am and 3:30 pm, kommunales kontakt teater, Kissingerstraße 66a, Bad Cannstatt, tickets 0711 563034, www.kkt-stuttgart.de THE GOAT or Who is Sylvia? by Edward Albee, Directed by Charles C. Urban Nov 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27, and Dec 9, 10, 11, all at 8 pm, kommunales kontakt teater, see above ACTS Presentation Evening Nov 28, 7:30 pm, Hard Cut Theatre, Hochschule der Medien, www.acts.hdm-stuttgart.de Musical meets ballet – Sphaera Gala with Adam Cooper, Ivan Cavallari, Randy Diamond, Nov 28, 7 pm, Theaterhaus
Stuttgart, Siemensstraße 11, tickets 0711 4020720, www.theaterhaus.com Oliver! By Lionel Barth, musical based on Dickens’ “Oliver Twist” Dec 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, please confirm dates! Kelley Theatre, see above 42nd Street (in German) All year Tue, Thur, Fri 8 pm, Wed 6:30 pm, Sat 3 and 8 pm, and Sun 2 and 7 pm, Apollo Theater, SI-Centrum, tickets 0711 2228246 Mamma Mia (in German) Musical with 22 songs by ABBA, All year, Tue, Thur, Fri 8 pm, Wed 6:30 pm, Sat 3 and 8 pm, Sun 2 and 7 pm, Palladium Theater, SI-Centrum, tickets 0711 2228246 Freudenstadt To Dance on the Moon III Irish tap dace show, Nov 23, 8 pm, Theater im Kurhaus Heidelberg An Evening of One Act Plays Suburb , a musical comedy by David Javerbau and Top Girls , by Caryl Churchill, Oct 15, 16, 22, 23, 29, 30 at 7:30 pm Oct 24 at 3 pm, Roadside Theater, Patton Barracks, Bldg 109, general public welcome, tickets 06221 175020, www.roadsidetheater.com Mannheim The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler, Oct 15, 16, 17, 8 pm, Theaterhaus TiG7, tickets 0621 154976, www.tig7.de Freiburg Romeo and Juliet Performed by American Drama Group, Oct 21, 3 and 7 pm, Bürgerhaus Seepark, Gerhart-Hauptmann-Straße 1, Info Carl-Schurz-Haus 0761 31647 Music
Music
Stuttgart Wave Music Allstars Oct 1, 8 pm, Theaterhaus, see above Irish Folk Concert: Geraldine MacGowan Band Oct 14, 8 pm, Robert-Bosch-Saal,
Treffpunkt Rotebühlplatz, tickets 0711 6607120, www.treffpunkt-rotebuehlplatz.de Jon Lord & The Gemini Orchestra Oct 23, 8 pm, Theaterhaus, see above Irish Folk Festival “Celtic Legends Tour” 30 years jubilee program: Solas – Irish-American Super Group, Jim Hayes – Ballads from the rare old times, Carlos Nùnez Band – Galicia’s leading Celtic Band, Ian Smith & Stephen Campbell – Fiddle Tunes & Songs from Donegal, Oct 24, 7:30 pm, Theaterhaus, see above The Corrs – Borrowed Heaven Tour 2004 Oct 25, 8 pm, Schleyerhalle The Celtic Tenors Nov 2, 8 pm, Liederhalle, Mozartsaal Sting Nov 7, 8 pm, Schleyerhalle Swing Time Special 2004 The Count Basie Orchestra Nov 11, Liederhalle, Beethovensaal, www.swing-time-special.de Canadian Brass Nov 14, Liederhalle, Hegelsaal Branford Marsalis Quartet Nov 18, 8 pm, Theaterhaus, see above Anne Wylie Band “Songs and Sounds of Ireland” Nov 28, 8 pm, Theaterhaus, see above Bryan Adams Tour 2004 Dec 3, 8 pm, Schleyerhalle Ian Anderson plays Orchestral Jethro Tull Dec 6, 8 pm, Liederhalle, Beethovensaal The Nokia Night of the Proms Dec 20, Schleyerhalle, www.notp.com Esslingen The Tarantinos “Kill Bill Party” Oct 7, 8 pm, die Halle, Kanalstraße 10, Reichenbach/Fils, www.diehalle.de VitaminX (reggae) Oct 8, 9 pm, die Halle, see above Long John Baldry acoustic blues trio, Oct 9, 9 pm, die Halle, see above Gordon Haskell “How wonderful you are” Oct 16, 9 pm, die Halle, see above Percy Strother Band blues from Mississippi, Oct 22, 9 pm, die Halle, see above Tübingen If Music be the Food of Love German-American Evening Barig Nalbantian (Soprano), Carl Davis (piano), Oct 21, 8:15 pm, Silchersaal, Museum, 07071 795260, d.a.i. Tübingen Heidelberg Enjoy Jazz Festival Heidelberg, Mannheim and Ludwigshafen, Oct 2 - Nov 13, www.enjoyjazz.de Freiburg Gordon Haskell “How wonderful you are”, Oct 21, 8 pm, Jazzhaus America on Broadway Kathryn Magestro (soprano), Derrick Lawrence (baritone), John Ferguson (piano), Melodies from George Gershwin, Stephen Sondheim, Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Kern by three American artists.
accents magazine
Lörrach Prague Chamber Orchestra & Sol Gabetta Nov 11, 8 pm, Burghof On Tour in the Region Glenn Miller Orchestra, 100th Birthday Tour Oct 9, Lauffen a.N., Stadthalle Oct 10, Freudenstadt, Theater im Kurpark Oct 11, Filderstadt, Filharmonie Oct 26, Waldshut-Tiengen, Stadthalle Oct 27, Rastatt, Badner Halle All shows at 8 pm, tickets 06185 818622 Fisher Z Oct 2, Jazzhaus, Freiburg Oct 9, Substage, Karlsruhe Oct 11, Villa Berg, Stuttgart All shows at 8 pm The Harlem Gospel Singers & Band Dec 17, Johannes Brahms Saal, Karlsruhe Dec 25-26, Rosengarten, Mannheim Jan 1, Festspielhaus, Baden-Baden Jan 20, Liederhalle, Stuttgart Feb 2, Konzerthaus, Freiburg Lionel Richie Oct 18, Schleyerhalle Stuttgart Nov 13, Neue Messe, Friedrichshafen Nov 14, DM Arena, Messegelände, Karlsruhe All shows at 8 pm Status Quo & Manfred Mann’s Earthband Oct 2, 8 pm, Schwarzwaldhalle, Karlsruhe Oct 16, 8 pm, Liederhalle, Stuttgart Tickets can be bought at booking-offices, by calling Easy-ticket service 0711 2555555, www.easyticket.de SWR1 ticket service 01805 929211 Lectures/Discussions
Lecture
Stuttgart The People’s Choice: How the Voter Makes Up His Mind. New York 1944 Discussion, Prof. Friedhelm Kröll, Oct 5, 7:30 pm, DAZ Stuttgart Brown Bag Lunch Discussion:
accents forum Let us hear your accent! This informal meeting is open to anyone, who would like add their voice to our magazine. Comments, criticisms, and contributions are all welcome. Friday, Nov 5 & Dec 10, 8:30 pm o’reilly’s irish pub Reuchlinstraße 27, Stuttgart
accents magazine accents magazine
This is just the beginning... Send info about English-language events in your area to choice@accents-magazine.de Our next issue is Dec/Jan Deadline for info: Nov 15
Karlsruhe Film night “The Englishman Who Went up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain” Oct 14, 7:30 pm, Landesmedienzen,, Moltkestraße 64, hosted by the German-English Friendship Club English Conversation Circle Rose Schrempp talks about “The Lost Generation” in Australia Nov 16, 7:30 pm, Haus der Jungendverbände, Anne Frank Haus, Moltkestraße 24, Room 4 Sports
accents magazine President Elect – What to Expect? Nov 3, 12:30 pm, DAZ Stuttgart From Picture Books to Crossovers Lecture and discussion for the Stuttgart Book Fair by Maki Kuwayama, CLiC, Dec 11, 8:15 pm, Haus der Wirtschaft, Willi-Bleicher-Straße 19, www.buchwochen.de Tübingen Study Group Imperial Democracy: The Domestic Factors of Empire, with Laurence Stallings and Scott Stelle, Oct 29 and Dec 17, 6:45 pm, d.a.i. Tübingen An Evening with a Good Book Literature with Walter Nilson Oct 1, 6:30 pm, d.a.i. Tübingen Talk at Eight: Discussion Group on Current Issues with Laurence Stallings, Oct 12 and Nov 10, 8:15 pm, d.a.i. Tübingen Workshop: Intercultural Communication with Vanessa Cisz, Oct 23, 9:30 am - 5:30 pm, d.a.i. Tübingen Dying in the Dark and other Tamara Hayle Mysteries Reading with Valerie Wilson Wesley, New York, Nov 15, 8:15 pm, d.a.i. Tübingen No One Tinks of Greenland Reading with John Griesemer, Lyme, New Hampshire, Nov 23, 8 pm, Osiandersche Buchhandlung, Wilhelmstraße 12 Freiburg The German Element – Deutsche Einwanderer in den USA Reading of Christoph Schenck’s new book, Oct 4, 8:30 pm, Schwanhäuser Bookstore, Bertoldstraße 23 Words and Images: A Dialog Lynne Tillman, New York, reads from her short stories “This is not it” (2002). Reading/Panel Discussion with Lynne Tillman, Prof. Peter Dreher, Dirk Görtler, Oct 15, 7 pm, Elisabeth-SchneiderStiftung, Wilhelmstraße 17a “Why the West Loves Bush… Sometimes” Lecture with Benjamin Shors, journalist with ”The Spokesman Review“, USA, Oct 18, 8 pm, lecture room 3042, KG III, university campus
Sports Stuttgart 20th German Masters International horse show, Nov 17-21, Schleyerhalle, www.stuttgart-german-masters.de DTB Gymnastics Cup Nov 26-28, Schleyerhalle Filderstadt Porsche-Tennis Grand-Prix International Women’s Tennis, tournament, Oct 2-10 Ludwigsburg Harlem Globetrotters Tour Oct 23, 8 pm, Rundsporthalle
Mittelalter- und Weihnachtsmarkt Medieval- & Christmas Market Nov 25 - Dec 22, 11 am - 8:30 pm 2. Advents-, Kunst- und Handwerkermarkt Adventsmarket, Arts & Crafts Dec 4-5, Hafenmarkt Ludwigsburg Barock-Weihnachtsmarkt Baroque Christmas Market Nov 25 - Dec 22, Marktplatz Karlsruhe Weihnachtsmesse der Kunsthandwerker Nov 27 - Dec 5, Museum beim Markt Christkindlesmarkt Nov 25 - Dec 23 Bad Wimpfen Altdeutscher Weihnachtsmarkt Nov 26 - Dec 12 Heidelberg Weihnachtsmarkt Nov 26 - Dec 20, Universitätsplatz, Marktplatz und Kornmarkt Mannheim Weihnachtsmarkt Nov 24 - Dec 23, Friedrichsplatz Konstanz Christmas Market on the Lake Nov 26 - Dec 23
Karlsruhe Best of Martial Arts Tour Nov 13, 8 pm, Europahalle
Photo: Stuttgart-Marketing
Oct 24, 7 pm, Historisches Kaufhaus, tickets 0761 50137 or 0761 31647 Karan Casey Band Nov 11, Jazzhaus Canadian Brass Nov 15, Konzerthaus Freiburg
Mannheim Best of Martial Arts Tour Nov 18, 8 pm, Rosengarten, Mozartsaal Christmas Markets
Xmas
Stuttgart Weihnachtsmarkt Nov 26 - Dec 23, Marktplatz Opening ceremony on Nov 25, 6 pm, inner courtyard, Altes Schloss Weihnachtsantikmarkt Christmas Antique Market, Nov 26 - Dec 23, Karlsplatz Böblingen Region 30th Sindelfinger Weihnachtsbasar Nov 6-14, Messehalle Sindelfingen Adventsmarkt Nov 27-28, Dorfplatz Darmsheim Christkindlesmarkt Nov 30, 8 am - 6 pm, downtown Herrenberg Weihnachtsmarkt Dec 4, 9 am, downtown Weil der Stadt Weihnachtsmarkt Dec 3-5, downtown Herrenberg Tübingen Weihnachtsmarkt Dec 10-12, old town Tübingen Mittelalterlicher (Medieval) Weihnachtsmarkt Dec 18-19, Kloster Bebenhausen Reutlingen Weihnachtsmarkt Nov 26 - Dec 19, Marienkirche Esslingen 1. Advents-, Kunst- und Handwerkermarkt Adventsmarket, Arts & Crafts Nov 27-28, Hafenmarkt
Kids
Kids
Stuttgart CEL Halloween Party Oct 23, 2-5 pm Children’s English Library, Etzelstraße 25-27, www.celstuttgart.de Mrs Jellybelly Eats Breakfast English play for kids – see STAGE for listing Sindelfingen Baby+Kind Messe (trade fair) Oct 22-24, 9 am - 5 pm, Messehalle Sindelfingen, www.baby-messe.de Freudenstadt Flying Danish Superkids Dec 6, 8 pm, Theater im Kurhaus, www.superkids.dk Lörrach Flying Danish Superkids Dec 7, 8 pm, Burghof, www.superkids.dk
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accents guide
Emergency
Libraries
Emerg
Police 110 Fire Department 112 Ambulance & Emergency Medical 19222 Poison Hotline 0761 19240 English Speaking Poison Control 06131 232466 Doctor for House Calls 0711 2628012
Librari
Children’s English Library e.V. Etzelstraße 25-27, Stuttgart, Tue 4-6 pm, Fri 3-6 pm, Sat 2-5 pm, www.celstuttgart.de Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum Charlottenplatz 17, Stuttgart, Tue-Thu 2-6 pm Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut Tübingen Karlstraße 3, Tue-Fri 1-6 pm Karlsruhe American Library 0721 72752, Kanalweg 52, Tue-Fri 2-6 pm, Wed 10-12 am, Sat 10 am-2 pm, www.amerikanische-bibliothek.de Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut Heidelberg Sophienstraße 12, Mon-Fri 1-6 pm, Wed 1-8 pm, Sat 10 am-2 pm Carl-Schurz-Haus Freiburg Kaiser-Joseph-Straße 266, Mon-Fri 11:30 am - 1:30 pm, 3-6 pm
Consulates
sulates Australia 030 8800880, Wallstraße 76-79, Berlin Canada 0711 2239678, Lange Straße 51, Stuttgart Ireland 030 220720, Friedrichstraße 200, Berlin New Zealand 030 206210, Friedrichstraße 60, Berlin South Africa 030 220730, Friedrichstraße 60, Berlin United Kingdom 0711 162690, Breite Straße 2, Stuttgart United States of America 069 75350, Siesmayerstraße 21, Frankfurt Schools & Preschools
ools
International School of Stuttgart e.V. 0711 7696000, Sigmaringer Straße 257, Stuttgart, www.internationalschool-stuttgart.de Internationaler Montessori Kindergarten e.V. 0711 93150510, Sulzgrieser Straße 114, Esslingen Little English House Gerlingen English & Art for kids 3 and up 0711 816253, Hauptstraße 18/1 European School Karlsruhe 0721 683001, Albert-SchweitzerStraße 1, Karlsruhe Little English House Aalen English & Art for kids 3 and up, 07361 610165, Stuttgarter Straße 116 English Garden English and music lessons, 0761 8866181, Hasenweg 34, Freiburg Oberlin Kinderuniversität 0761 85648, Am Mühlbach 13, Freiburg, www.oberlinkinderuniversitaet.de International School of Kreuzlingen Konstanz 0041 71 6722727 Hauptstraße 27, Kreuzlingen, Switzerland, www.iskk.ch
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Kids & Playgroups
ygroups English Playgroup Stuttgart-West 0711 6361169 Bryan Groenjes, EKiZ Ludwigstraße 41-43, 0-6 years, Wed 4-6 pm English Playgroup Stuttgart 0711 613955 Oona Roxburgh, Schubartstraße 12/14, 0-9 years www.englishplaygroup.de, English Playgroup at the DAZ 0711 228180 Kirstin Fuchs, 4-8 years, Tue & Thu 3-4 pm English Playgroup Böblingen 07031 287647 Stefanie Spence, 0-7 years, Wed 3:30-5 pm English play- and activity group in Altdorf 07031 818763 Liane Kamin, 0-7 years, Thu 3:30-5:30 pm St. Georg MKK English Playgroup in Bonlanden 07127 960046 Mhorag Heger, 0-7 years, Tue 3:30-5:30 pm English Playgroup Herrenberg/Nebringen 07032 77452 Erika Laudenbach, 0-5 years, Mon 3-5 pm Meet, Chat and Playgroup Waldenbuch 07157 8561 Elaine Rauhöft, Mon from 4 pm onwards English on a Friday Afternoon Tübingen 07071 930466 Günter Henke, Fri from 3:30 pm onwards
Is your group missing? Then tell us all about it! info@accents-magazine.de
accents magazine Clubs & Organizations
Clubs &
Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum / James-F.-Byrnes-Institut e.V. 0711 228180, Charlottenplatz 17, Stuttgart, www.daz.org Metropolitan Club e.V. 0711 9980124 Mathew Dorrman, 18-35 years, www.metclub.de Stuttgart Conversation Club 0711 8892252 Ed Wilson, 35 years and up, www.metclub.de Stuttgart Book Club Helen@StuttgartBookClub.de German-American Club 1948 0711 814270 Eberhard Stein German-American Women’s Club Stuttgart info@gawc-stuttgart.de, www.gawc-stuttgart.de Anglo-Stuttgart Society 0711 568113 Günther Jaumann, www.jaumann.de/ass British Club Stuttgart 0711 455464 Alison Seyerle International Choir of Stuttgart 0711 769600912 Carola, int_choir_stuttgart@hotmail.com Stuttgart Singers 07159 44991 Kathy Williams, ckwilli@t-online.de, www.stuttgartsingers.de Stuttgart German-American Community Chorus 0711 463463 David A. Beckner German-American Seniors Club 0711 2560867 Hildegard Göhrum German Conversation Group 07032 77919 Elena Fieres International Toastmasters Club, Stuttgart, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Freiburg, Ulm presentational skills in English, www.toastmasters-stuttgart.de English-Speaking Stammtisch S-Untertürkheim 0711 3041337 Derek Evans Friends Club International e.V. Böblingen-Sindelfingen 07031 806522 Jan W. Boon “Here We Are” International Group Esslingen 07163 8580 Alison Unrath English Morning Tea Aidlingen 07034 7339 Ellen Zeller, Wed 10 am - 12 pm Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut Tübingen 07071 795260, Karlstraße 3, www.dai-tuebingen.de Anglo-German Club Pforzheim 07231 472155 Dr Maurice Claypole, www.agc-pforzheim.de
Pro Country e.V. Deutscher Country & Western Dachverband 07150 33212 Ralf Russig, www.pro-country-ev.de English-Speaking Circle Starzach 07478 8290 Kevin MacInerney-May Schorndorf English Club 07181 64440 Marion Rube Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut Heidelberg 06221 60730, Sophienstraße 12, www.dai-heidelberg.de German-English Friendship Club Karlsruhe 0721 74623 Christa Fuß, info@def-karlsruhe.de, www.def-karlsruhe.de International Women’s Club Karlsruhe e.V. Annemarie Frenzel, Postfach 110448, 76054 Karlsruhe Verein Deutsch-Amerikanischer Freundschaft Pfullendorf 07552 6249 Dr Gary Anderson Carl-Schurz-Haus Freiburg 0761 31647, Kaiser-Joseph-Straße 266, www.carl-schurz-haus.de Network of English-Speaking Women e.V. 07664 962450 Candice Siegenthaler, neswomen@gmx.de Deutsch-Irischer Freundeskreis (dif) 0711 2361736, www.dif-bw.de Verband der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Clubs e.V. 07156 29164 Mi-Kiyoung Wöhler, www.verband-dt-am-clubs.de Theater Groups
Theate
A.C.T.S. Anglophone Collaborative Theatre of Stuttgart 0711 6858370 Stuart Marlow, smarlow@hdm-stuttgart.de Kelley Theatre Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, 0711 7292825, www.kelleytheatre.de N.E.A.T. New English American Theater 0711 634320, Stuttgart, urban.spy@z.zgs.de, www.neat-theater.de Outcast International 0711 634409, Stuttgart, www.outcast-theater.de Anglo-Irish Theatre Group Tübingen 07071 67968 David Hegarty, dave@anglo-iren.de, www.anglo-iren.de Roadside Theater Patton Barracks, Heidelberg, 06221 175020, www.roadsidetheater.com Theaterhaus TiG 7 0621 154976, Theater Trennt e.V. G7, 4 b, Mannheim, www.tig7.de Political Groups
Political
American Voices Abroad Tübingen fritz.hackert@arcor.de, www.americanvoicesabroad.org Democrats Abroad 06221 3780 Charles Keene, Heidelberg, www.democratsabroad.org Republicans Abroad 07146 20677 John W. Gerrish, Stuttgart, www.republicansabroad.de
accents magazine
Business Organizations
siness
American German Business Club e.V. Stuttgart, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe 07025 911340 Peggy Stinson, President, stuttgart@agbc.de, www.agbc.de American Chamber of Commerce in Germany e.V. 0711 1667156 Prof Dr Roderich C. Thümmel, Regional Chairperson, www.amcham.de British Chamber of Commerce in Germany e.V. 0700 10081944 Prof Helmuth Jordan, Regional Chairperson, www.bccg.de USA forum Tübingen 07071 55970 Bernd Zeutschel, www.usaforum.de Religious Services
Reli
St. Catherine’s Church (Anglican) 07151 68973, Katharinenplatz 5, Stuttgart,
Classifieds
www.stuttgartanglicans.de City Chapel e.V. Stuttgart 0711 6142956 Roland Krumm, Marienstraße 12, www.citychapel.de International Baptist Church Stuttgart-Vaihingen: 0711 6874365 Pastor Jay McFadden; Heidelberg-Sandhausen: 06224 51516 Pastor Richard Blake; www.ibcstuttgart.de First Church of Christ, Scientist 0711 6207921 Heinz Clauss, www.christian-science-stuttgart.de Evangelical Methodist Church Stuttgart: 0711 251984 Dr Hans-Martin Niethammer; Reutlingen: 07121 78546 Harald Rückert; Karlsruhe: 0721 43721 Peter Vesen; www.emk.de Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints Stuttgart: 0711 3419240 Ralf Gierschke; Mannheim: 06223 809040 Dr Frank Heckmann Church of the Nazarene 0711 551147 Mary Schaar, Friedenskirche, Bad Cannstatt Evangelical Students Community Tübingen 07071 61928 Heidi Abe
Business Services Got German forms to fill in that you can’t begin to understand? Need to make an important phone call but you don’t have the vocabulary to do so? I can help. Hilary 0711 7357320 or 0175 6306386. Sandplay Therapy practice (for adults/children/couples) by Beatrice Zervas (non-medical practitioner) will open on September 30th. Consultation by appointment 0711 2598428. Not meeting your potential? I help people who want to be more effective and more efficient in their lives. I help people to remove the roadblocks to their own success – in business, in personal, in play. Peggy Stinson, Coach and Personal Development Trainer. 07025 911340.
St Columban’s Mission Karlsruhe (Anglican) 0721 28379 Dr Hanns Engelhardt Calvary Chapel Freiburg e.V. 0761 7071333 David Pham, www.ccfreiburg.de Movie Theaters
Movie
CinemaxX Bosch-Areal, Stuttgart 0711 22007979, www.cinemaxx.de Corso, Stuttgart-Vaihingen 0711 734916, Hauptstraße 6, www.corso-kino.de Kommunales Kino Stuttgart 0711 221320, Friedrichstraße 23 A, www.koki.de / filmhaus Kommunales Kino Esslingen 0711 310595, Maille 5, www.koki-es.de Scala Filmhaus Mühlacker 07041 3884, Bahnhofstraße 65 Kino-Center Weil der Stadt 07033 2241, Badtorstraße 21 CinemaxX Freiburg 0761 20281400, Bertholdstraße 50 Friedrichsbau-Lichtspiele 0761 36031, Kaiser-JosephStraße 268
Employment New school (Montessori, Wild, non-directive) in Leinfelden is looking for native English speakers to support pupils (e.g. projects). Anja Schiz 0711 6871731. Native speakers wanted with good command of German to teach English to small groups of kindergarten children. No experience necessary. Teaching notes and materials provided. Hilary at Anglolink@t-online.de Nanny wanted (native English speaker) for 2 kids, 2 & 3 years, fulltime & flexible hours in Stuttgart Degerloch 0171 1403817. For Sale Shaker style changing table, white solid wood, convertible to dresser. NP DM 1000, used, 150 euros. 0711 4780385. Seeking to Rent Family of 4 seeking 4-room (3 BR) apartment with garden close to or in Stuttgart-West for long-term rental. Contact 0711 6361169 Contact with Others Stuttgart Book Club meets once a month to discuss books in English. For more information www.StuttgartBookClub.de Recent arrivals in the Mannheim area looking for English-speaking contacts and babysitters. Scott 0621 3247688 or 0174 3587570.
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Sports American Football Verband Baden-Württemberg e.V. 0621 7624567 Andreas Stehle, www.afv-bawue.de Baden-Württembergischer Baseball- und Softballverband 0711 705682 Jan van den Berg, www.bw-baseball.de Basketballverband Baden-Württemberg e.V. 06224 975150 Roland Dopp, www.bbwbasketball.net Heidelberg International Ski Club Charter 06221 767539 Margaret McGinley, www.heidelbergski.com Rugby Association of Baden-Württemberg 0172 7384207 Jimmy Collins, www.rugby-bw.de
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Labyrinth Permanent Extensions
Registering Yourself This section of accents is dedicated to helping newcomers cut through German red tape, and to helping everyone else see the bureaucratic maze from a new perspective. In each edition we focus on one aspect of living in Germany. In this very first edition we start with your arrival here. Any foreigner who wants to stay in Germany for longer than three months, including European Union citizens, must obtain a residence permit (Aufenthaltserlaubnis.) It’s a piece of paper that is glued into your passport. To get it, you’ll need to follow a number of steps. First, go to your local registry office (Einwohnermeldeamt.) Every town has one – just ask at the local police station. (Or at your local Irish pub!) You’ll need to have your passport with you, as well as a copy of your lease or proof of your address. After answering some questions you’ll be
Children’s English Library e.V. Etzelstraße 25-27 70180 Stuttgart e-Mail celstuttgart@hotmail.com Opening hours: Tuesdays 3-5 pm Fridays 3-6 pm, Saturdays 2-5 pm (Closed on school holidays) www.celstuttgart.de
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given a confirmation of your registration (Anmeldebestätigung.) That’s step one. But beware: any time you change address – whether you move to the other end of Germany or even just next door – you’ll need to report your move to your old and your new registry office, and get another Anmeldebestätigung. This is not a policy aimed at frustrating foreigners. Germans have to go through the same process, every time they move. (The difference is that they secretly enjoy it!) The second step in the registration process can be a little trickier. You have to take the Anmeldebestätigung to your local immigration authority (Ausländerbehörde.) This is the place that actually issues residence permits for foreigners. But you’ll also need to bring along a bunch of other documents, depending on your status. You’ll certainly need your passport and proof that you can support yourself. However, at some immigration authority offices you might need to bring along a marriage certificate, proof of employment and a collection of passport photos. The best way to find out beforehand about all the documents you need is to ask at your local registration office (commonly referred to as the Meldestelle) or citizens’ service centre (Bürgerbüro). These are listed in the city services section of your telephone book. EU nationals don’t have to pay a fee for residence permits and their applications can’t be refused, as a rule. But they are still required to apply for residence permits. Non-EU nationals may have their applications refused for good cause, such as a criminal record or inability to support themselves. Residence permits must be renewed every year or so at the outset. After a few years, depending on your situation, you can apply for permanent residency (an unbefristete Aufenthaltserlaubnis or Aufenthaltsgenehmigung). Now you’re allowed to stay in Germany forever!
When I tell people that I have lived in Germany since 1990 and I still don’t have an unbefristete Aufenthaltserlaubnis (permanent residence permit), they look at me in disbelief. I do have a cancelled passport filled with one-, two-, and three-year stamps. But I have yet to receive the golden seal of approval from the German government. It’s my own fault really. Germans are such sticklers for punctuality. “Your Aufenthaltserlaubnis has expired,” said the woman from the Ausländerbehörde (immigration office), getting up from her desk. “Yes, but only by a year,” I replied. Without laughing, she entered another office and closed the door behind her. Would I be deported? Would they make me take the next boat back to America? The woman returned and handed me a stack of very familiar looking paperwork. (I would rather have had a boat ticket.) “You’ll need to fill out these forms and we’ll need a recent passport photo.” “But you have all this in the file in front of you,” my husband said. “Yes, but this paperwork is from the expired Aufenthaltserlaubnis,” the woman replied. My husband filled out the papers, and I ran off to the photo booth at the train station. I received another three-year permit, and was told to arrive PROMPTLY three years later. Due to forces beyond our control (our three children) we arrived late. Again. We filled out the same paperwork. Again. I submitted a passport photo. Again. And just so we didn’t think we were reliving the same bad movie, a new twist was added. We had to provide proof we were indeed the owners of our house. It was at this point that I threw my hands up in the air and said: “You caught us! We don’t have a house, the children are rented. And as for the ‘weiblich’ (female) box I keep checking off on all those forms…” My new passport has two more of those pretty pink Aufenthaltserlaubnis stickers. My file at the Ausländerbehörde is filled with at least five copies of the same forms. (I checked the ‘männlich’ – male – box on the last form just for fun.) I am hoping that anyone reading this will send me an e-mail message in January 2007, reminding me to renew my Aufenthaltserlaubnis. Better yet, remind me in 2006. by Liz Gaiser
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Editor Geoff Rodoreda editor@accentsmagazine.de Arts Editor Stuart Marlow Children’s Editor Liz Hawighorst Copy Editor Katharine Schmidt Contributors Michelle Anderson Dagmar Fritz Liz Gaiser Beth Howard Malin Gavenas Caroline Maas Rebecca Perrin Thomas Ravel Marianne Riordan
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Books reviewed in accents magazine can be ordered through our partner company CLiC Dante Club Da Vinci Code Curious Incident Follow Me Down Stop the Train Starseeker Winnie the Witch (each book)
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