2. Telling stories in a clear and interesting way: Variants:

• The instructor provides the students with the following “recipe” for writing in a clear and interesting manner: “put yourselves into the shoes of the main character(s) in the story. Close your eyes and think about how they feel and think, their worries and hopes, etc. Now describe this in your text!” The students then practice the „recipe“ orally before writing, using different, suitable topics. Examples: “a discussion around our dinner table”, “an experience in my parents‘ native country”, “my grandmother’s tales of her youth”.
• Another “recipe“ that follows the same pattern is to practice with the following instructions: “close your eyes before you begin to write. Think about your story and imagine it as a film in your mind. Now write everything down in as much detail as possible.”
• A tip which often leads to more clarity is to use direct speech: “use direct speech, let the characters talk to each other!” This, too, should first be done orally and then written down.
• Texts are sometimes more “alive“ and interesting when they are narrated in the first, rather than in the third person. If students follow this and the above suggestions, they should become successful.
• Picture stories provide an ideal opportunity for practicing vivid and lively writing. In this way, the students are relieved from searching for ideas and can concentrate on writing an appealing text. It is important that the written texts are then compared and discussed among the students.
• Re-narrating stories is also a valuable and effective opportunity to practice a clear and interesting writing style, as described below (18.3 and 21).