The ultimate goal was to motivate the students to learn French, to cultivate an exchange with French people of the same age and to overcome fears and inhibitions in contact with another culture. In this way they can explore the world and, in particular, get to know other European cultures. The project was intended to show them ways of shaping their lives from a European perspective, independent of national and language borders. Apart from strengthening the personality development of the participants, it was very important to us to use this project to show everyone involved, other students, teachers and the public, how important and effective international cooperation is for a school. In the project, which was integrated into a framework that ran throughout the school year, the students were also supposed to work in many activities with digital and virtual tools, which were also repeatedly linked to manual, analogue work. As a result, the students should get to know the possibilities/opportunities of professional media use as well as risks and protective mechanisms in the digital space. In terms of content, the environmental awareness of the students should be strengthened.
In the north-east of Germany we are far away from France, so that our students have little contact with the foreign language in everyday life or even with native speakers, and motivating the students to learn the French language is often difficult. Many students drop the language after 10th grade. Individual students from our 9th and 10th grades have been taking part in the Sauzay exchange program run by the DFJW for many years. However, many are uncertain and shy away from the idea of spending three months in a foreign household. That's why we started this Erasmus project in the 8th grades with our French partners in Soyaux. It offers our students the chance to apply the foreign language they have learned in authentic situations, turning the language into a concrete, useful tool for them. The cooperation with the Collège Pierre Mendes France already started in the school year of 2020-21 with a purely digital project and the good cooperation has led to further upcoming projects being already planned.