Hello Besucher
to Planet Deutsch!

June 12, 2008

It's summer here on Planet Deutsch (our seasons follow the academic calendar), which means all sorts of exciting things! Annie Gordon, recent recipient of her M.A. in German, will continue developing lesson plans that revolve around German poetry. Lessons about teaching German with "The Simpsons" are on their way as M.A. candidate Alexander Ganz organizes them. Finally, summertime for some of us on Planet Deutsch means Taos Time!

Total Immersion
in the Taos Ski Valley

Soon the German Summer School at Taos, New Mexico, will begin! A unique program, run primarily through the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, the summer school has been held in the Taos Ski Valley since 1975. It runs for approximately 4.5 weeks, and is a total German-immersion environment — a truly excellent way to improve and maintain your German skills, because everything, and I mean everything from dancing and whiffle ball to lectures, classes, and meals, happens in German.

The level of fluency among summer school students often improves dramatically, and I can tell you, having been a faculty member there for the last three years, that seeing that kind of improvement is tremendously moving and inspiring.

And because it is such a unique program, it is sometimes difficult to describe just what the experience is like to people who have not been. If only you could all come along...!

Well, as I have the great good fortune to have been invited as a faculty member this year, it occurred to me that I could chronicle the experience. That way, you might kind of come along, and get a taste, and then you'll be all ready to really come next summer!

So — coming soon to Planet Deutsch:
The Taos-Sphere!
A blog chronicling the 4.5 weeks of the German Summer School.

Jennifer M. Hoyer
Assistant Professor of German
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
425 Kimpel Hall
Fayetteville, AR 72701
jhoyer@uark.edu