Les Gammas! Les Gammas!
Les Gammas! Les Gammas! is a French language course in the form of a 39 - part television series, which (later TF1 ) and the German ARD was produced 1974-1976 by the French Television ORTF.
The broadcasters themselves described the series as "the contribution of television to the German - French Cultural Convention ", which had already been closed in 1954. As production manager acted the German Christian Stehr, for the didactic contents recorded French German scholar Jean M. Zemb responsible, the film was directed by Rüdiger Graf from a screenplay by René Ehni.
Due to its innovative design, the course has developed into a surprise hit on German television. In repetitions he is still going strong today; In addition, television stations took both in other European countries and in America, Africa and Asia the series.
The concept of the series
It tells the story of three aliens from the fictional planet Gamma, with their spaceship - have on earth, and that, of course, in France, an emergency landing - a wooden ball. The gammas apparently belong to a humanoid race and are clearly as a woman and two men identified. Throughout the series they get the name Odile, Adrien and Émile (played by Catherine Sterman, David Jacques and Pierre Maxence ). Faced with the problem of making their spaceship airworthy again, the three on the one hand contact with inhabitants of the earth, on the other hand they are constantly on the run from a sensationalist public and state authorities -adjusting them. The rapid learning at least the basics of the French language is so necessary for survival for the gammas. Since the gammas can first communicate exclusively in the language of their home planet (in the syllables and gam ma seem to play a particularly prominent role ), required no knowledge of French also in the audience. Within the 39 episodes, the weekly cycle ( with a repeat per week running ) radiated the third television channels ARD, a relatively high level is achieved, the educational focus is on the conversation. The number of 39 Episodes depends originally the length of a German school year, ie an average of 40 weeks together.
Implementation bildungsreformerischer models
Les Gammas! Les Gammas! differs both in its basic system as well as its didactic significantly from older language courses, as they had previously televised (and before already on the radio ) was added. Even if this is not explicitly expressed in the course as such, of course, he reflects to a large extent reflects the educational new approaches that have been discussed both in France and in West Germany since the 1960s by a broad public controversy. That it is ever to be a contribution of educational television, is ultimately only the task of the presenter of the series, Michel Petit, clear. His role is clearly different in the practical implementation of other Series has been a been dominant type, which resembled a teacher, conventional, so-called " chalk and talk " held, Petit worked in some ways more like a showman or entertainer.
A language course in the guise of telenovela
On the one hand tells the series in the form of a completed action, a continuous history: The model for this provided less built up from most disjointed episodes series of U.S. and European origin, but of his time almost exclusively from Latin America (especially Brazil and Mexico) known telenovelas. Just like in these is in the audience, which in the case of Les Gammas! Les Gammas! also a student is awakened the need " not to miss any episode ." Stylistically, the series takes on mainly influences of two genera in the mid- 70s were just beginning to be " socially acceptable ", namely, the road movie and science fiction.
The " tabula rasa " approach
Furthermore, taking the series from a distance then prevalent concept of language teaching, that is, to take into account the relative " strangeness " of the language to be learned in relation to the native language of the student, including its cultural backgrounds. With the gammas as aliens, the authors of the series create a tabula rasa situation: The three protagonists are not only the words but also the concepts designated by them again and again completely foreign, so that the learner ultimately in a knowledge advantage over its identification figures is. This aspect explains addition, the success of the course over Germany and Europe.
Image of the Zeitgeist
Finally, Les Gammas give! Les Gammas! in a particular way insight into the zeitgeist of the 1970s: The figures of the three peaceful, often somewhat confused gammas with her long hair and baggy, gray robes of course play with the then widespread stereotype of the flower child. The episodes where the three "establishment" to outsmart the ( for example in the form of police), quote subliminally appropriate passages from famous hippie films like Easy Rider. Even the playful mixing simple props and Pappkulissen with his time- the-art blue screen technique contributed to the " avant-garde " overall impression. The title itself is a homophonic pun on " Les gamins! " - To German translate to: the little rascals, rascal or the Little Rascals.
Pioneers of edutainment
The creators of Les Gammas! Les Gammas! translated to the idea of the so-called edutainment, long before the term was ever coined. In the context of the then unrivaled public television of the Federal Republic of many viewers hailed the series as exciting and humorous conversation, as reported on the school TV allocated time slots was not common otherwise. Nowadays, it is mainly mentioned as nostalgic and adorable felt " patina " which gives the reps a fan base and a certain cult status.