German Shorts
German Shorts is a German-language BBC schools TV series from the 2000s, covering German language for secondary school pupils.
A series of 11 short documentary films about aspects of life for young people in contemporary Berlin.
Sequences include Abenteuer Berlin, showing young British and Irish professionals learning German for work in Berlin
; Kochduell, a cooking competition between two competitors; Raterei, a quiz in which teenagers describe famous Germans and viewers need to guess the identity of the subject; and Türkisch für Anfänger a behind the scenes look at the German TV culture-clash comedy of the same name.
There are also documentaries about an ice hockey team, a dance troupe, art student, enviornmental activitists, shopping and tourism and the recent history of Berlin.
The narration is in English and the subjects of the Abenteuer Berlin segment speak in English about learning German. German students in a segment called Frohe Weinachten! about Christmas songs and celebrations sing various English lyrics. Some parts of the programme include on-screen subtitles, but the optional subtitles for hard of hearing viewers transcribe the English narration but simply say "THEY SPEAK GERMAN" for the rest!
German Shorts often appeared in online TV listings as if it was part of the series GCSE Bitesize Revision but it was never presented on TV in that way and I think it is just a misunderstanding as the programme is suitable for GCSE students. The companion programmes French Shorts and Spanish Shorts were always listed as standalone broadcasts.
Unusually while the French and Spanish editions remain listed on the BBC website in the 2020s with clips available to watch, this German edition has completely disappeared with nothing available online and historic schedules reporting a gap in transmissions as if German Shorts had never existed in the first place!
Contents List
The single, hour-long episode of German Shorts includes 11 short films.
| # | Segment | Broadcast |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Abenteuer Berlin | 9 Mar 2007 |
| 2. | Kochduell | 9 Mar 2007 |
| 3. | Frohe Weinachten! | 9 Mar 2007 |
| 4. | Raterei | 9 Mar 2007 |
| 5. | Trend und Shoppen | 9 Mar 2007 |
| 6. | Junge Eisbären | 9 Mar 2007 |
| 7. | Tanz-Fieber | 9 Mar 2007 |
| 8. | Ich Liebe Berlin | 9 Mar 2007 |
| 9. | Türkisch für Anfänger | 9 Mar 2007 |
| 10. | Künstlerinnen | 9 Mar 2007 |
| 11. | Grüne Jugend | 9 Mar 2007 |
Broadcasts
| Year | Term | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Channel | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006-07 | Spring 2007 | Friday, 5:00am | BBC2 | 9 Mar | ||||
| 2007-08 | Spring 2008 | Thursday, 2:00am | BBC2 | 13 Mar | ||||
| 2008-09 | Spring 2009 | Friday, 4:00am | BBC2 | 13 Mar | ||||
| 2009-10 | Autumn 2009 | Wednesday, 4:00am | BBC2 | 11 Nov |
Credits
| Narrators | Britta Gartner Herbert Hunger |
| Title Music | Nick Harvey |
| Graphic Design | Lukas Schrank |
| Executive Producer | Sue Nott |
| Produced and directed by | Mary Sprent |
Links
- Teacher's notes PDF (archived 2010)
- BBC Programmes page for German ShortsThis BBC page about the programme is no longer available (as of 2023).
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