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German 202:

Intermediate German, continued

Spring 2004

Vulgamore 102

M W F 1:10-2:00 and 1 50 minute tutorial per week

(With Julia Kruse, Native Speaker Teaching Assistant)

schedule

German culture sites

Professor: Catherine Grimm 

Office: Vulgamore 107

Phone: office: 629-0629 home: 629-2697 cell: 517-554-0003

Office hours: M W F 11:00-12:00 and by appointment.

Email: cgrimm@albion.edu

Homepage: http://people.albion.edu/cgrimm/

Text: 

Moeller,Adolph,Mabee,Berger Kaleidoskop. Kultur, Literatur und Grammatik. Text, Workbook and Audio CD Program.

Houghton Mifflin Company 2002.

Welcome to German 202: Intermediate German, cont!

Willkommen!

This course is a continuation of German 201: Intermediate German. We will continue working on improving your ability to speak, read,

write, and understand German. We will also work towards increasing your awareness about different aspects of German history, literature

and culture.  In class we will examine different topics, which will, I hope, generate lively discussion in German. We will also explore different kinds of written German: short stories, magazine articles, poems and song texts as well as different forms of media: videos, CD-Rom, websites and CD’s.  Some of the topics covered will be: the role music plays in contemporary German society and culture, the world of work and careers, Germany as a multicultural society, stereotypes and the effects on society of generational conflicts between young and old.  In addition we will also review some of the main topics of German grammar, including the dative case, two-way prepositions, relative pronouns, the subjunctive mood and the passive voice. 

 Procedure

We are going to cover the most important grammar, vocab and cultural components of chapters five through nine of Kaleidoskop. 

We will devote about seven class periods to each chapter (including one review session) after which there will be a Chapter quiz,

which will take up the whole class period. During the first part of the semester the Department of Foreign Languages will be inviting several candidates for two tenure-track (i.e. multi-year) positions in German to Campus.  All of these candidates will be required to model their teaching-effectiveness in front of Albion College students and faculty.  Several of them will do so in this class, which will be an interesting opportunity for you to experience different styles of teaching.   This will inevitably lead to changes in the schedule and I will do my best to keep you informed of these changes, as well as of on which days candidates will be teaching.  

 Class Participation

A basic requirement is that you come to class having prepared the assigned material, and ready to participate actively (and enthusiastically!) in all in-class activities. Regular attendance in class is mandatory and is especially important, because we focus so much on discussion and communicative activities. If you are not here on any given day, realize that we will all notice and that you will be missed! If you know beforehand that you are going to have to miss a class PLEASE TELL ME! Your participation grade will be based on the number of days you attend class. 

Tutorials, Sprachtisch (German Language table) and Language House Activities

The co-curricular components of this class are very important; simply because the more time you spend outside of class engaging in German-related activities the more success (and fun) you’ll have in the classroom.  There are three different “levels” of co-curricular activity: first you will participate in a 50 minute weekly tutorial session with our German native speaker T.A., Julia Kruse from Würzburg, Germany. Attending tutorial is mandatory.

The second level is our German language Lunch table – the Sprachtisch, which will take place in upper Baldwin, on a day yet to be decided. At least one German Prof. and Julia (NSTA) will be there, as well as other people from the Albion community who have an interest in speaking German and learning about German culture. (If you know someone who falls into this category, by all means invite them to join us!) The Sprachtisch is meant to provide you, the students taking German, with an opportunity to work on your language skills in a relaxed non-classroom-like atmosphere.   It’s always a lot of fun – and besides who wouldn’t want to partake of the yummy food in upper-Baldwin???

The third level consists of the many German cultural and language-related activities that take place in the I-House. Examples of these include: screenings of German films, German poetry readings, German-related cultural events, plus German-related field trips e.g. to German restaurants, concerts, museum exhibits etc… I strongly encourage you not just to participate in these events but to get involved in their planning: and if you have any ideas for German-related things we could do, please let the German-I-House inhabitants or Julia or me know! 

Extra-credit will be awarded to you every time you participate in any of the second and third level activities: it is a fun and entertaining way to show your commitment to improving your German skills.

Quizzes and Final

I will assign five chapter tests for the class plus one final project or exam. I have tentatively scheduled the first chapter test for February 4, but this date may change due to the job candidate visits. (See above).

All quizzes and exams are graded according to the following percentages:

Schedule