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Term 1: Semi-Intensive German Language Beginner 1
(Course # 1.1)
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Type: |
A Track |
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Language: |
German |
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Contact hours: |
72 Contact Hours |
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Credit Points: |
4 credit points |
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Capacity: |
15 |
Course description
Course Objectives
This course is designed for the beginning student with no previous knowledge of German and focuses on the development of communicative competence in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The textbook Delfin A1 in conjunction with current culture-rich supplemental materials offers a balanced approach to developing your individual language competencies. One of the foci of this course is Berlin and the region. Therefore, authentic material will be used in the course and during the weekly course-related excursions.
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By the end of the four-week course you will be able to engage in simple conversations about familiar things.
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You will know greetings and everyday expressions, you will be able to count and tell time, and negate sentences in day-to-day contexts.
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Furthermore, you will be able to talk about yourself and your family and friends.
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In addition, you will have developed reading strategies that allow you to glean information from simple newspaper and magazine articles and short literary texts.
Daily Lesson and Excursion
Monday, Wednesday and Thursday are lessons. Since the historical and cultural life of Berlin enriches the content of the course, two Wednesdays offer a course-related excursion.
Participation
Each class consists of six teaching modules (45 minutes each). If you miss eight modules, your entire course grade will drop by one grade. We discourage late arrival. Coming late to class six times (up to 20 minutes) also will drop your course grade. Missing 20 modules result in failing the class.
Participation includes more than simply coming to class and arriving on time. Active participation reflects the quality of participation and includes consistent interest in learning the language, which involves participating productively in the excursions.
What is active participation?
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Being prepared for class including completed homework assignments,
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regularly volunteering with constructive comments (more isn’t always better),
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contributing productively to group work,
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sharing ideas
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and listening to and respecting the ideas and comments of your peers.
Evaluation
| Active participation and homework | 300 points |
| Oral presentation | 100 points |
| Essay | 100 points |
| Tests | 100 points |
| Final exam | 200 points |
| Group project | 200 points |
Oral Presentation
You prepare a 5-minute oral presentation. Focus and content of your presentation can be discussed during office hours. Most importantly, you are practicing to speak freely and cannot read the oral presentation.
Essay
In this course you write one essay (75 – 100 words), which is initially returned by the instructor with suggestions for improvement and must be re-submitted. The first version of the essay is worth 80 points and the rewrite 20 points for a total of 100 points. Please submit your essay typed, double-spaced, and 12 font. Do not hand in rough drafts.
When writing your essay you will strive first and foremost for clarity (organization and style) and accuracy (grammar and syntax). You are encouraged to incorporate complex constructions, but please concentrate on syntactic and grammatical accuracy. Proofread your essay to insure that you have not made careless errors. For example, you might look for:
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subject-verb agreement,
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tense of verb,
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gender,
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case,
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adjective endings,
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word order,
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and literal first-language translations.
Tests and Final Exam
You will write tests and a final consisting of the following sections: listening comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, reading comprehension and composition based on course themes.
Group Project
The creative group project is thematically linked to course content and includes a 10-minute oral presentation. You will work with peers and present the group’s work during the last week of instruction. Most importantly: you introduce and delineate a certain aspect about Berlin and share some of your impressions.
Possible ideas may include:
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course newspaper,
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sketch or parody,
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PowerPoint presentation,
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dance performance,
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song or poem,
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children’s book
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and game (Monopoly, Jeopardy, etc.)
Student profile
Beginner 1
