Eighteen years ago, when German language teacher Papia Dutta studied German, she used a text-heavy book that was printed in the 1950s, and offered only a smattering of blurred pictures for visual relief. Her professors would joke that they too had used the same books when they were students. While everything else changed, including the currency in Europe, the books were stuck in time and so were the students.

“It was just so uninteresting,” says Dutta. “The books were in black and white. It wasn’t practical. Students couldn’t speak the language even after years of learning.”

Finally, this has changed. The German textbooks were upgraded this year, with the Central Board of Secondary Examinations (CBSE) going in for a communicative approach towards foreign language teaching in India.

For two years, experts brainstormed and charted out a syllabus that would fit the bill, and earlier this year, the new, colourful books hit the markets. Foreign languages in CBSE schools are taught from Class 6 to Class 12.

“In a globalised economy, a foreign language course needs to adopt a holistic approach and equip students with speaking skills,” says Project Coordinator at the Goeth Institut Puneet Kaur, who was on the panel that designed the new CBSE syllabus for German.

“The old books that were printed in the 1950s were meant for adults. They were uninteresting. The new books have children as protagonists in stories and have things that would interest children,” Kaur explains.

After French language textbooks that were revamped in 2003, German is the second foreign language to go in for an overhaul. The textbooks that come with CDs and workbooks focus more on an interactive approach, with stress on both speaking and listening.

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