Online Video Soap Neu in Berlin
MEDEA 2009 Highly Commended
The Online Video Soap "Neu in Berlin" was created by LinguaTV GmbH (Germany) to support students who wished to learn authentic German (DaF) with Online Videos. It is an edutainment format using online videos and games for learning German (as a foreign speaker). Based on a modular structure in a series of subtitled videos the two main characters, German-speaking Katja and Alexander accidently meet one another in Berlin and since Alexander is new to the city, Katje gives him a tour of Berlin. They interact in recognisable situations such as meeting & greeting people, asking for directions, ordering food & beverages, shopping and other daily activities.
The showcase video of Neu in Berlin including interview with Philip Gienandt
The videos are supplemented by a series of lessons and games that help learners test their understanding and memory of newly-learned words, spoken and written texts. A few of the games are quizzes, crossword puzzles, … but on LinguaTV, the online-video learning content is also embedded in an online community or training platform. With a cross-platform point system, learners can see their overall progress and compare their experiences with other learners. They can also interact through integrated video chat and meet virtually or take a language course in the virtual classroom. The audio-visual content gives the learner interesting impressions from different countries, people and cultures whilst training listening comprehension at the same time.
What the judges said of this entry:
“With Neu in Berlin LinguaTV cleverly mixes a variety of learning tools, games, video learning and even community functions; the web 2.0 infrastructure is nicely integrated and the possibility to set up your own online community is very stimulating. The videos themselves were well shot and edited to provide pace and interest, and are complemented with a user-friendly website, exercises and quizzes, the high level of variation is very motivating.
This website has a lot to offer to a language student and it will certainly keep someone - interested in learning or refreshing a language - busy and entertained. This project is worth commending because of the attractive and varied way existing language learning tools have been integrated to a single language learning platform for self-study, best most of all because this self-study is augmented with integrated web 2.0 functionality to broaden this to community learning.”
About the creation of Neu in Berlin
The programme "Neu in Berlin" is suitable for all students of the German language ("Deutsch als Fremdsprache") so for a beginner level A1 - A2 or for refreshers at a higher level, explains Philip Gienandt, Managing Director at LinguaTV. “We focus on international students between 16-29 years old, but really anybody can follow the course. While it was designed as a self-learning-course, it is already being used by language schools and universities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland as a preparation for foreign students before their exchange stays.
While creating this course, LinguaTV placed tremendous value on assuring an entertaining presentation (videos and games) of the content so that the learning process remains fun and exciting. While conceiving of and creating the German courses, LinguaTV applied several proven teaching methods such as audio-visual method, story-telling approach and game-based learning and combined it with innovative and efficient technologies such as eLearning, streaming online video, webtv, video-chat, serious games and web2.0.
The combination of a broad spectrum of language learning videos, proven learning methods and excellent user-friendliness makes learning languages easy and exciting. The interactive video exercises builds on previously acquired knowledge and helps improve training efforts. Furthermore, the archive of learning materials is updated with more authentic scenes and professional video tutorials as well as general content from partners such as news, travel reports and music videos, that are pedagogically useful.
LinguaTV´s video training concept in general and their German language learning video soap "Neu in Berlin" is already used by many thousands of learners from more than 150 countries in the world: “We’ve had very positive feedback and the general idea behind LinguaTV´s language learning video training was awarded with the World Summit Award 2009 for best eContent in elearning & education.”