Year 9 & 10: From “Hello” to Holiday Stories

As part of the final unit of the school year, our beginner German groups from Year 9 and Year 10 completed a creative project based on one of their favourite themes – holidays and travel experiences. In this blog, I would like to share a selection of their work.

Back in September 2025, many of these students were complete beginners, starting German from scratch. We focused first on building essential foundations: learning how to introduce themselves, say their names and ages, and gradually developing core vocabulary such as numbers, colours, and everyday expressions.

Over the course of the year, their confidence and independence in the language have grown significantly. Step by step, they moved from single words and short phrases to forming complete sentences and expressing ideas in the past tense. Most importantly, they became more willing to take risks and actively use German to communicate meaningfully.

One of the most rewarding parts of teaching is witnessing this journey – from a first “Hallo” to students confidently presenting personal holiday experiences. In their final projects, they describe where they went, how they travelled, what they ate, and which activities they enjoyed along the way.

This unit also placed a strong emphasis on creativity and personal voice. By connecting language learning with their own experiences, students were able to make German more relevant, engaging, and authentic.

Below, you can watch their video presentations and see this progress for yourself – from complete beginners to emerging communicators who are beginning to find their voice in German.