1) go around in Germany, and take pictures of sign that have some English errors....show the picture in class and see who can find the error first, and then get them to suggest corrections.

2) same as #1, but use literature....tourist brochures, ads, product instruction manuals, advertising, newspaper articles/headlines

3) smooth the English: similar to #2, but using longer text passages.

4) Please explain it to me: Take photos of things from common daily life in Germany....so they all know what it is in German...and ask them to tell you about it in English by writing a simple paragraph. Have them turn these in to you. You screen them for the ones with obvious errors....and without revealing the author, use it as a sample exercise to get everyone to suggest how to correct/improve it.

5) Plain English Please: government gobbledygook and obfuscation....US presidential campaigning is a really great source of this kind of stuff....or government forms / instructions. This can be a real challenge even for us Americans.

6) The Blind study partner: A simple exercise in building mental images for a person who is blind from birth so they have no prior images to recall. Then have the students try to explain or describe things to the blind student. For example, tell the blind person what is a square (geometric shape). The words used will tend to be concrete words rather than abstract...as concrete words help to create mental images...but look at the language and grammar needed to clearly and concisely do this for even simple easy vocabulary.

7) Describe the taste (or just about anything): a really fun lesson. Bring in some foods that are either familiar to everyone or new to them. This can be a great way to get the word order down....adjective/noun sequences, etc. If you show a picture to them and ask them to tell what is in the picture....or have them write it down...then scan for and select the problem papers to keep the authorship anonymous...then do a group review/correction session.

hope this helps....active participation in class should make coming to class lively and fun while providing a good learning opportunity for all.