Stammtisch: creating connections and confidence

Posted on: 21 May 2024 by Sophie Allen, second year, German and History in 2024 posts

German Stammtisch, or: “A different language is a different vision of life” - Federico Fellini. For language learners, we typically have one weekly oral seminar, yet for many of us, this is not enough to improve listening and speaking skills - thus Stammtisch was born!

Stammtisch, in Germany, is an informal group meeting held on a regular basis. In our case, it gives students the ability to practice German, in a relaxed environment with no expectations or judgement (well, maybe the expectation to buy a drink to make it a “proper” German Stammtisch and some silly but fun games, such as Wer bin ich?!).

I think that we have already gained so much from the creation of Stammtisch, not just through speaking and an increase in confidence, but we have met students across all year groups and learned interesting things about each other and the German-speaking countries – be this culture, idioms, year abroad experiences, random facts, the list is ongoing. However, what I am most proud of is that students studying German are forming their own community within the Department of Languages, Cultures and Film, in which we support each other.

Both myself and Lena Nielinger – DAAD Lektorin – are excited to see how Stammtisch continues to develop across the year and I hope that a fellow German student will help Lena run it while I am completing my year abroad.

Stammtisch takes place every Tuesday between 4pm and 6pm in weeks 1-12 at The Cambridge. We hope to see you there. Prost!

Check out the University of Liverpool’s German-speaking Scausländer newspaper to read more about our German events! Charlotte, a fourth-year student, has written about both Stammtisch and the Kleine Jause, which are just two ways students can practice their speaking skills!