This course is designed for students with little or no prior knowledge of the language. By the end of the course, the successful student will develop a basic foundation in the five skills: intercultural communication, reading, writing, listening, and speaking to accomplish a variety of basic everyday needs in the host culture as described in the learning outcomes below.
Prerequisites:
None
Learning outcomes:
After the 3-week Intensive section of the course, students should be able to take part in a conversation on a simple level, understand a menu when ordering meals in restaurants, asking for the way and transportation and do daily shopping.
By the end of the semester course, students will be able to achieve some of the outcomes for the Novice Abroad level as defined by the MAP for Language and Intercultural Communication. The key learning outcomes from the MAP are summarized below:
I. Intercultural Communication
A. Students will be able to meet basic everyday needs using verbal communication, they will be able to use compensatory strategies when they do not know the word or expression (repetition, body language, etc.), and they will be able to identify some basic non-verbal communication strategies.
B. Students can recognize basic appropriate and inappropriate expressions and behaviors in the host language.
C. Students will be able to distinguish between basic representations of formality and informality in the language.
D. Students will start to make informed comparisons between the host culture and home culture.
II. Listening
A. Students will be able to understand most basic statements, requests, descriptions, and questions in specific cultural context relevant to them (interactions in class and with hosts, studying, shopping, transportation, meals).
B. Students will be able to use context to understand the gist of some basic spoken language they overhear, including the media, conversations between others, and announcements.
III. Speaking
A. Students will be able to use some basic phrases appropriately in some everyday situations (home, new acquaintances, the IES Abroad Center, and the community).
B. Students will be able to express some basic needs by asking questions, and get what they need in uncomplicated, everyday situations.
IV. Reading
A. Students will be able to identify and understand basic sentences.
B. Students will be able to interpret main ideas in short and simple texts as well as news headlines, but their understanding is often limited to the words or groups of words that they have seen in class.
C. Students will be able to use basic reading strategies (cognate recognition, scanning for meaning, identification of text types, etc.) in order to interpret main ideas.
V. Writing
A. With limited accuracy, students will be able to write short sentences and short paragraphs about basic and concrete topics they have studied, such as themselves, their families, their friends, their likes and dislikes, and their daily routines.
B. Students will be able to send basic emails, text messages, postcards, and fill out some basic forms.
Method of presentation:
Three weeks of Intensive, 3 hours per day, 44 hours in total. Oral and written exercises, field-trips (Naschmarkt, Kaffeehaus, city walk explaining directions...) Additional cost: 25 Euro for book/ copies for the whole Intensive and semester. The three weeks Intensive is followed by eleven weeks of regular semester instruction. German classes take place on three days; 75 minutes per unit.
Required work and form of assessment:
Regular attendance and participation in class, regular assignments, quizzes, and tests; exam at the end of the intensive section (oral and written).
oral performance (class work, attendance, presentation of dialogues) 40%
homework (written) 10%
Tests and quizzes 25%
final (written) 25%
content:
Intensive
Week
Content
Assignments
Week1
1. Functional:
Information about persons. Greetings and introduce yourself.
Useful phrases to start a conversation.
2.Grammatical:
Interrogativs W-Fragen/ Ja-Nein Fragen)
Word order
Personal pronouns (nominativ)
Definite and indefinite articles
“Sie” and “du”
Prepositions: aus, aus der, in,
substitute names; er, sie
3.Vocabulary:
Numbers and the alphabet
Countries, cities, languages
Address and telephone number
4. Cultural: Learn about Austria and Europe(general information about German speaking countries)
Starting Chapter 2 Lehrbuch Optimal A 1
Interviewing classmates in order to get to know each other and asking what languages you have learned
Writing dialogues introducing people
Worksheets on conjugation
Filling in missing verbs
Pronouncing names in German
Memorizing frequently used questions and answers (Woher kommst du? Wie ist die Adresse?...)
Verbs with separable prefixes, learning verbs by putting them in chronological order (aufstehen, anziehen...)
Question;”Wann”? (um) „Wie spät ist es? (Es ist……Uhr)
Wen? Was? Accusative
3. Vocabulary:
Learn words in phrases
(Zeitung lesen, in der Nacht schlafen...)
4. Cultural: Time expressions in German, working and leisure time
Pairwork: Daily routine
Oral Tests:
Dialogues on all topics we learned in the three weeks of German Intensive (Introducing a person; finding your way; going to a coffeehouse or restaurant, market, or hotel)
Final
I.A, I.B, I.D, II.A, II.B, II.A, III.B,
IV.A, IV.B, V.A
Semester
WEEK
CONTENT
ASSIGNMENTS
Week 1
Unit 6
Functional: Past tense of “haben and “sein” and “es gab”
Sprachen lernen: How do you learn a language?
Grammatical: Dative after prepositions (aus, mit , von, nach, zu, vor, in, an); dative of def. and indef. article; informal imperative: repetition of modal verbs with the focus on “nicht müssen” “nicht dürfen”
Oral and written: Speaking and writing about travelling (last week), simple questions like: Wo waren Sie letzte Woche? Wie war das Wetter? ....Gab es viele Touristen?
Work sheets: phrases with dative prepositions; Sprachen lernen: Wie und warum?; Wie lernen Sie eine Sprache?(pair-work)
Vocabulary: Nouns (with articles) and verbs dealing with learning a language in classroom and at home
Culture: general information about learning in Austria and in the U.S.
First Test
I.A, II.A, II.B, III.A, III.B, IV.A, V.A
Week 3
Unit 7
Reisen
Functional: Writing a diary, holiday planning and talking about holiday (in present perf.)
Grammatical: Present perf.tense, personal pronouns (nominative-accusative)
Diary: Last weekend
Oral presentations: Talk about the weekend; Describe the way from your home to Vienna; journeys from A to B
Verblists: Regular and irregular verbs in present perfect
I.A, II.A, II.B, III.A, III.B, IV.A, V.A
Week 4
Unit 7ff.
Vocabulary: holiday and vacation vocabularies, excursion to another city, leisure time activities, study words in relation to each other (Musik hören, Hotel-buchen...)
Study the Perfekt with cards
4.Cultural: What sights did you see on vacation?
Sights in Vienna and in your home-town
Work-sheets: The perfect, word order
Diary: Last weekend
Oral presentations: Talk about a trip you planned a trip with your room-mate; What did you do on vacation?
Second Test
I.A, II.A, II.B, III.A, III.B, IV.A, V.A
Week 5
Unit 8
Functional: Description and comparison of living situations in Austria and America; furniture, colours. Description of a picture: Bedroom in Arles (Liechtenstein 1992)
Grammatical: Perfect tense; more verbs; focus on a person’s life
Vocabulary: rooms, furniture, colours, living in a city, in the country,
Cultural: Pros and cons of living in town or in the country
Describe a person’s life; describe your apartment in Vienna and in America; describe a picture; career description (oral and written)
Midterm Test
I.A, I.D, II.A, III.A, IV.A, IV.C, V.A
Week 6
Midterm Week
Week 7
Unit 9
Ein Geburtstag
Functional: Inviting guests, organizing birthday parties; cultural aspects of invitations in Austria
Grammatical: personal pronouns dative; sentences with two objects; verbs commanding the dative case and phrases like „antworten“, „gefallen“,… „mir ist kalt“…
Vocabulary: invitation, cooking, menu, recipes
Culture: General information about visiting people, presents for the host
Written: Write an invitation
Dialogue: Make a phone call inviting friends; introduce your guests to each other; talk about food (likes and dislikes); give your favourite recipe
I.A, I.B, I.C, I.D, II.A, III. A, III.B, IV.A, V.A, V.B
Week 8
Unit 9ff
Functional: How to set a table; expressing congratulations; Summarizing a process (how do you cook noodles…)
Introduce your family (focusing on possessive-articles)
Grammatical: Possessive-articles
Vocabulary: cooking, setting a table, describing family
Written: Duties in the kitchen and cooking
Role play: Create and deliver an invitation; introduce guests; describe and compliment the food. Describe how you would cook food, and invite the hosts to your next dinner-party.
3. Test
I.A, I.C, II.A, III.A, III.B, IV.A, IV.B, V.B
Week 9
Unit 10
Körper und Gesundheit:
Functional: Parts of the body; at the doctor; at the pharmacist
Grammatical: Past tense of modal verbs, some reflexives, two way prepositions with the verbs: „setzen“, „sitzen“, „legen“, „liegen“, „stellen“, stehen“;
Vocabulary: Sickness, medicine, body
Culture: Holidays in Austria (St. Martin`s day, St. Leopold`s day)
Oral: talk about illnesses; how to stay healthy
Written: Exercises with “setzen”, “sitzen”, “stellen”, “stehen”, “legen”, “liegen”
Important questions at the doctor’s: „Wo tut es weh?“
Functional: Thanksgiving in the U.S. and ”Erntedankfest“ in Austria
Grammar: weil, wenn, als in subordinate sentences; starting with adjectives: nominative/accusative/dative; definite and indefinite article; plural without article
Vocabulary: Food for Thanksgiving and Erntedankfest
Culture: Celebrating different feasts in Austria and U.S.
Oral and written: Thanksgiving
I.A, II.B, III.A IV.A
Week 11
Unit 11
Functional: Describing clothing and people
Grammatical: More about adjectives: nominative/accusative/dative
definite/indefinite article; plural without the article;
Vocabulary: Clothing; “Nikolaus und Krampus”
Culture: Time before Christmas in the U.S. and in Austria: Christkindlmarkt, Nikolaus and Krampus, Barbarazweige.
Written: Describe your best friend; what are you wearing when you go to a ball, a concert or a dinner party
Worksheets: Adjective endings; feasts and clothing
4. Test
I.A, I.D, II.A, II.B, III.A, III.B, IV.A, V.A
Week 12
FINAL EXAM
Required readings:
Folder : Deutsch für IES-Studenten (worked out by teachers of the IES)
Repetition –handouts (usually each lesson) made up by the teachers according to the actual needs of students.
Readings: Graded German Reader / Erste Stufe (Hannelore Crossgrove and William C.Crossgrove)
Brief Biography of Instructor:
Charlotte Summesberger, Ph.D., earned her degree from the University of Vienna. She studied German, English, and Volkskunde. She received a scholarship for Catholic Worker´s College in Oxford, England. She has worked at the “Wörterbuch” der Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien, and at the University of Vienna as an Assistant. Since 1971, she has been working at IES Abroad Vienna. From 1989 to 2009, she was teaching and later leading the Internationale Sommerschule Gmunden. Her teaching areas include all levels of German courses. In the last years she was concentrating on the Elementary-Novice level. She invented a new book and developed, together with her collegues newl grammatical exercises to the various units. Since 1997 she is the German Program Coordinator
This course is designed for students with little or no prior knowledge of the language. By the end of the course, the successful student will develop a basic foundation in the five skills: intercultural communication, reading, writing, listening, and speaking to accomplish a variety of basic everyday needs in the host culture as described in the learning outcomes below.
None
After the 3-week Intensive section of the course, students should be able to take part in a conversation on a simple level, understand a menu when ordering meals in restaurants, asking for the way and transportation and do daily shopping.
By the end of the semester course, students will be able to achieve some of the outcomes for the Novice Abroad level as defined by the MAP for Language and Intercultural Communication. The key learning outcomes from the MAP are summarized below:
I. Intercultural Communication
A. Students will be able to meet basic everyday needs using verbal communication, they will be able to use compensatory strategies when they do not know the word or expression (repetition, body language, etc.), and they will be able to identify some basic non-verbal communication strategies.
B. Students can recognize basic appropriate and inappropriate expressions and behaviors in the host language.
C. Students will be able to distinguish between basic representations of formality and informality in the language.
D. Students will start to make informed comparisons between the host culture and home culture.
II. Listening
A. Students will be able to understand most basic statements, requests, descriptions, and questions in specific cultural context relevant to them (interactions in class and with hosts, studying, shopping, transportation, meals).
B. Students will be able to use context to understand the gist of some basic spoken language they overhear, including the media, conversations between others, and announcements.
III. Speaking
A. Students will be able to use some basic phrases appropriately in some everyday situations (home, new acquaintances, the IES Abroad Center, and the community).
B. Students will be able to express some basic needs by asking questions, and get what they need in uncomplicated, everyday situations.
IV. Reading
A. Students will be able to identify and understand basic sentences.
B. Students will be able to interpret main ideas in short and simple texts as well as news headlines, but their understanding is often limited to the words or groups of words that they have seen in class.
C. Students will be able to use basic reading strategies (cognate recognition, scanning for meaning, identification of text types, etc.) in order to interpret main ideas.
V. Writing
A. With limited accuracy, students will be able to write short sentences and short paragraphs about basic and concrete topics they have studied, such as themselves, their families, their friends, their likes and dislikes, and their daily routines.
B. Students will be able to send basic emails, text messages, postcards, and fill out some basic forms.
Three weeks of Intensive, 3 hours per day, 44 hours in total. Oral and written exercises, field-trips (Naschmarkt, Kaffeehaus, city walk explaining directions...) Additional cost: 25 Euro for book/ copies for the whole Intensive and semester. The three weeks Intensive is followed by eleven weeks of regular semester instruction. German classes take place on three days; 75 minutes per unit.
Regular attendance and participation in class, regular assignments, quizzes, and tests; exam at the end of the intensive section (oral and written).
Intensive
Week
Content
Assignments
Week1
1. Functional:
2.Grammatical:
3.Vocabulary:
4. Cultural: Learn about Austria and Europe(general information about German speaking countries)
Starting Chapter 2 Lehrbuch Optimal A 1
Chapter 1 in textbook
1. Test
I.A,
I.C,
II.A,
III.A,
III.B,
IV.A,
V.A
Week 2
1.Functional: Continue Chapter2 Lehrbuch Optimal A1
2. Grammatical:
3. Vocabulary:
4. Cultural: Vienna`s Coffeehouse tradition, shopping, and tipping
Pairwork on:
Dialogues on:
2. Test
I.A, I.B, I.D, II.A, II.B, III.A, III.B,
IV.A, IV.B, V.A,
Week 3
1.Functional: Starting Chapter 4 Lehrbuch Optimal A1
2.Grammatical:
3. Vocabulary:
4. Cultural: Time expressions in German, working and leisure time
Pairwork: Daily routine
Oral Tests:
Dialogues on all topics we learned in the three weeks of German Intensive (Introducing a person; finding your way; going to a coffeehouse or restaurant, market, or hotel)
Final
I.A, I.B, I.D, II.A, II.B, II.A, III.B,
IV.A, IV.B, V.A
Semester
WEEK
CONTENT
ASSIGNMENTS
Week 1
Unit 6
Functional: Past tense of “haben and “sein” and “es gab”
Sprachen lernen: How do you learn a language?
Grammatical: Dative after prepositions (aus, mit , von, nach, zu, vor, in, an); dative of def. and indef. article; informal imperative: repetition of modal verbs with the focus on “nicht müssen” “nicht dürfen”
Oral and written: Speaking and writing about travelling (last week), simple questions like: Wo waren Sie letzte Woche? Wie war das Wetter? ....Gab es viele Touristen?
Work sheets: phrases with dative prepositions; Sprachen lernen: Wie und warum?; Wie lernen Sie eine Sprache?(pair-work)
I.A, I.B, I.C, I.D, II.A, II.B, III.A, IV.A, V.A, V.B
Week 2
Unit 6ff.
Vocabulary: Nouns (with articles) and verbs dealing with learning a language in classroom and at home
Culture: general information about learning in Austria and in the U.S.
First Test
I.A, II.A, II.B, III.A, III.B, IV.A, V.A
Week 3
Unit 7
Reisen
Functional: Writing a diary, holiday planning and talking about holiday (in present perf.)
Grammatical: Present perf.tense, personal pronouns (nominative-accusative)
Diary: Last weekend
Oral presentations: Talk about the weekend; Describe the way from your home to Vienna; journeys from A to B
Verblists: Regular and irregular verbs in present perfect
I.A, II.A, II.B, III.A, III.B, IV.A, V.A
Week 4
Unit 7ff.
Vocabulary: holiday and vacation vocabularies, excursion to another city, leisure time activities, study words in relation to each other (Musik hören, Hotel-buchen...)
Study the Perfekt with cards
4.Cultural: What sights did you see on vacation?
Sights in Vienna and in your home-town
Work-sheets: The perfect, word order
Diary: Last weekend
Oral presentations: Talk about a trip you planned a trip with your room-mate; What did you do on vacation?
Second Test
I.A, II.A, II.B, III.A, III.B, IV.A, V.A
Week 5
Unit 8
Functional: Description and comparison of living situations in Austria and America; furniture, colours. Description of a picture: Bedroom in Arles (Liechtenstein 1992)
Grammatical: Perfect tense; more verbs; focus on a person’s life
Vocabulary: rooms, furniture, colours, living in a city, in the country,
Cultural: Pros and cons of living in town or in the country
Describe a person’s life; describe your apartment in Vienna and in America; describe a picture; career description (oral and written)
Midterm Test
I.A, I.D, II.A, III.A, IV.A, IV.C, V.A
Week 6
Midterm Week
Week 7
Unit 9
Ein Geburtstag
Functional: Inviting guests, organizing birthday parties; cultural aspects of invitations in Austria
Grammatical: personal pronouns dative; sentences with two objects; verbs commanding the dative case and phrases like „antworten“, „gefallen“,… „mir ist kalt“…
Vocabulary: invitation, cooking, menu, recipes
Culture: General information about visiting people, presents for the host
Written: Write an invitation
Dialogue: Make a phone call inviting friends; introduce your guests to each other; talk about food (likes and dislikes); give your favourite recipe
I.A, I.B, I.C, I.D, II.A, III. A, III.B, IV.A, V.A, V.B
Week 8
Unit 9ff
Functional: How to set a table; expressing congratulations; Summarizing a process (how do you cook noodles…)
Introduce your family (focusing on possessive-articles)
Grammatical: Possessive-articles
Vocabulary: cooking, setting a table, describing family
Written: Duties in the kitchen and cooking
Role play: Create and deliver an invitation; introduce guests; describe and compliment the food. Describe how you would cook food, and invite the hosts to your next dinner-party.
3. Test
I.A, I.C, II.A, III.A, III.B, IV.A, IV.B, V.B
Week 9
Unit 10
Körper und Gesundheit:
Functional: Parts of the body; at the doctor; at the pharmacist
Grammatical: Past tense of modal verbs, some reflexives, two way prepositions with the verbs: „setzen“, „sitzen“, „legen“, „liegen“, „stellen“, stehen“;
Vocabulary: Sickness, medicine, body
Culture: Holidays in Austria (St. Martin`s day, St. Leopold`s day)
Oral: talk about illnesses; how to stay healthy
Written: Exercises with “setzen”, “sitzen”, “stellen”, “stehen”, “legen”, “liegen”
Important questions at the doctor’s: „Wo tut es weh?“
I.A, I.B, I.C, II.A, III.A, II.B, IV.A, IV.B, V.A, V.B
Week 10
Functional: Thanksgiving in the U.S. and ”Erntedankfest“ in Austria
Grammar: weil, wenn, als in subordinate sentences; starting with adjectives: nominative/accusative/dative; definite and indefinite article; plural without article
Vocabulary: Food for Thanksgiving and Erntedankfest
Culture: Celebrating different feasts in Austria and U.S.
Oral and written: Thanksgiving
I.A, II.B, III.A IV.A
Week 11
Unit 11
Functional: Describing clothing and people
Grammatical: More about adjectives: nominative/accusative/dative
definite/indefinite article; plural without the article;
Vocabulary: Clothing; “Nikolaus und Krampus”
Culture: Time before Christmas in the U.S. and in Austria: Christkindlmarkt, Nikolaus and Krampus, Barbarazweige.
Written: Describe your best friend; what are you wearing when you go to a ball, a concert or a dinner party
Worksheets: Adjective endings; feasts and clothing
4. Test
I.A, I.D, II.A, II.B, III.A, III.B, IV.A, V.A
Week 12
FINAL EXAM
Folder : Deutsch für IES-Studenten (worked out by teachers of the IES)
OPTIMAL A1 Lehrbuch Kapitel: 1,2,5,4; (outlines) (Müller, Rusch, Scherling, Wertenschlag, Lemcke, Schmidt und Schmitz)
Repetition –handouts (usually each lesson) made up by the teachers according to the actual needs of students.
Readings: Graded German Reader / Erste Stufe (Hannelore Crossgrove and William C.Crossgrove)
Charlotte Summesberger, Ph.D., earned her degree from the University of Vienna. She studied German, English, and Volkskunde. She received a scholarship for Catholic Worker´s College in Oxford, England. She has worked at the “Wörterbuch” der Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien, and at the University of Vienna as an Assistant. Since 1971, she has been working at IES Abroad Vienna. From 1989 to 2009, she was teaching and later leading the Internationale Sommerschule Gmunden. Her teaching areas include all levels of German courses. In the last years she was concentrating on the Elementary-Novice level. She invented a new book and developed, together with her collegues newl grammatical exercises to the various units. Since 1997 she is the German Program Coordinator