Digitaler Austausch mit dem Porta Mosana College in Maastricht

Hello Maastricht, hello Frankfurt

Nach seiner erfolgreichen Premiere im vergangenen Schuljahr ging unser Austausch mit dem Porta Mosana College im niederländischen Maastricht vom 18. – 20. Oktober 22 in seine zweite Runde.

27  Schüler*innen der 9a des Gymnasium Nord und ihre Partner*innen lernten sich in einem dreitägigen Online-Projekt zunächst einmal über den Bildschirm kennen, um sich dann im Mai 2023 vor Ort in Maastricht und Frankfurt zu treffen. 

Nachdem die Teilnehmer*innen am ersten Projekttag sich und ihre jeweiligen Heimatorte vorgestellt hatten, wurden die übrigen zwei Tage lang, überwiegend in Partnerarbeit, Ideen für ein nachhaltigeres Frankfurt und Maastricht der Zukunft entwickelt. So wurde beispielsweise recherchiert, wie die beiden Städte zurzeit hinsichtlich nachhaltigen Bauprojekten, öffentlichen Verkehrsmitteln, Grünflächen oder auch Schulen aufgestellt sind, und im Anschluss erarbeitet und präsentiert, was in dieser Hinsicht konkret verbessert werden könnte.  

Den Schüler*innen unserer bilingualen 9. Klasse soll durch diesen Austausch ermöglicht werden, in einem authentischen Rahmen Englisch als Verkehrssprache anzuwenden, gemeinsam individuelle und kulturelle Unterschiede zu ergründen und gleichzeitig das Leben in den europäischen Städten Frankfurt und Maastricht zu reflektieren. 

An that’s what the students say:

The online part of the exchange was very nice…it was nice to get to know ur partner before the actual exchange so you have a feeling about what there interests are and how you can plan there stay here in Frankfurt.
However, I find that there is a big time span between the online exchange and the exchange program in May (if I’m not wrong). It would have been better if the online exchange was on a period closer to the actual exchange or having 2 digital exchanges before we meet them in person (e.g. having another digital exchange before winter or spring break). But in total is was a great experience and a lot of fun! Ivan

I wanted to say that I liked the online exchange and I think its a good way to get new friends and improve our English. For a next time I would want that there would be more small tasks instead of a big task because in a big task only one person has to do most of the work. Nino

I enjoyed it very much. The partner iIhave is very kind and funny so the atmosphere was pretty good. I am looking forward to meeting him again. Lothar

I really liked the digital exchange, because I was able to meet new people and form new friendships. I can’t wait to meet them in person. Emilia

I really liked the exchange, it gave me a possibility to meet knew people outside of Frankfurt. I get along really well with my partner and we have frequent contact. It’s nice to hear about everyday life from a different country. Chiara

I liked the exchange with Maastricht and I’m happy with my partner and it was also a lot of fun. There were just some connection problems but then it worked again. The tasks were easy to understand and it was easy for me. So I want to say that I was happy. Tarun

I really liked it when we videochatted and did some tasks together. What I didn’t like was that we didn’t have enough time to talk to each other, but in general I enjoyed the time with my partner. Lola

Personally, the exchange was enjoyable. Other than the technical problems, it was interesting. The tasks we got weren’t that much fun to work on, or at least the exercise about the environment. The connection wasn’t fun to work with either, which caused it to be hard to understand each other. Some students had to deal with occasional motivational problems on their partner’s side. There have also been some motivation problems and keeping in contact afterwards is easier for some than for others. The getting in touch in class went very well though and it was fun to fill out the forms and to get to know each other more. Laura