GR 201 - German Language in Context: Novice Abroad III

This course is designed for students with little prior knowledge of the language. Students appropriate for this level can already use a few basic words and phrases, and they can understand very simple requests and responses. Students entering this course are also able to read and interpret the basic meaning of simple sentences and phrases. Students who have studied the language in high school or in college but never continued to build their skills may find this level appropriate. Students who have studied multiple languages may also be capable of entering this level. The language assessment process will determine the appropriate level for each individual student.

By the end of the course, the successful student will have built a solid foundation in the five skills: intercultural communication, reading, writing, listening and speaking to accomplish a variety of everyday needs in the host culture as described in the learning outcomes below and should be capable of entering the Emerging Independent Abroad level.

The three weeks intensive is followed by eleven weeks of regular semester instruction. German classes take place on three days; 75 minutes per unit.

Topics covered in the intensive period include: Introduction of pronunciation and basic grammatical structure of the German language, articles, noun gender and cases (Nominative/Accusative), verbs (weak/strong/separable) present, perfect, modal verbs (present/past), question words (wer, wie, woher, wo, wohin), conjunctions (coordinating/subordinating) personal pronouns, negation, adjectives and adverbs (comparison); various exercises to develop the four skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) and the students’ ability to communicate in German in everyday situations at a simple level.