referats

I just got back from giving my referat (presentation) for my Democracy in Latin America class. Basically, every class consists of a Referat and a Hausarbeit, which is a 15 page paper you write about the topic of your referat. You'd think that since German students give presentations four or five times a semester, they'd get good at it. You'd be completely wrong.

Essentially, they put together super thorough handouts for the class, then go through said handouts point for point. It is unbelievable tedious. The presentations are so unengaging, so scripted and so dull, that it's almost impossible to stay awake. It's a lot like a lesson from the worst professor ever, except that there is no incentive to pay attention because the entire lecture has already been transcribed and handed out. Why even care? Referats are really one of the worst ideas ever, especially if you aren't going to teach students how to present properly. It would appear to defeat the purpose.

Well, I'd love to say that my Referat was different, but it wasn't. It was a group project, which was nice because I only had to talk for a quarter of the time. Oh, and if my biggest issue is being unengaging during a fifteen minute presentation given in my second language about a topic I know little about, then I'd say I'm in pretty good shape.