The German edition of European Book Day took place on 18th of November in Bonn and was organised VHS Bonn and Stiftung Lesen, The German Reading Foundation. The event was part of the larger event German Reading Aloud Day. The common goal the connection between the German Reading Aloud Day and the European Book Day is to strengthen reading skills in a motivating way for young adults and children.
Reading aloud is a key requirement for independent reading: When children experience reading aloud from their parents or teachers, they develop a curiosity to learn reading themselves. Being able to read is the basic requirement for a successful education.
The German Reading Foundation and VHS Bonn were happy to invite representatives with experience in writing and reading aloud from three European countries to Germany: Austria, Romania and Sweden. Each author wrote a story, which he or she read aloud in Bonn on November 18 in their native language. The stories from the Swedish and Romanian authors were additionally translated and read to the audience in German. The authors also had the possibility to exchange their individual experiences and network outside of their country of residence.
During the European Book Day in Bonn, Germany, the audience was able to choose to participate in one of three different creative workshops. The workshops included creating marbled paper to use as book covers for notebooks, as well as a workshop to create a collective collage made entirely from cutouts from magazines and newspapers. The third workshop evolved around creating postcards with a similar method. Within those creative processes, we asked the participants to express their thoughts and emotions they felt throughout listening to the stories of the authors. Especially for participants with German as a second language, this way helped them learn new vocabulary and talk about their feelings in German. Most of the participants’ German level was around A2. The feedback we received was very positive, as the young adults were able to work creatively, while practising their German and engage with others from around the world.
The event was a big success!
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EBD Germany in numbers
- German Reading Aloud Day founded 2004 -> 19th consecutive year
- in 2022 almost 800.000 participants registered to take part during the Reading Aloud Day à almost 6000 registered reading events
- 35 young adults took part at the European Book Day in Bonn
Testimonial
“Experiencing the European Book Day in Bonn this year enforced the importance of international relations and reading promotion across borders. Combining reading and reading aloud with creative workshops for young adults from different backgrounds and with various levels of German knowledge worked very well and seeing the joy of all participants was special to witness.”
Juliane Linger, Senior Marketing Managerin, Stiftung Lesen