Experiential Beginning German

This course is designed for the beginner student who has no prior knowledge of German and does not major/minor in German. It will enable you to get familiarized with the German language and to deal with everyday situations during your stay in Berlin. You will develop basic communicative competences in listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Your foremost goal is to be able to navigate through your daily activities in a German-speaking environment, such as ordering food in a restaurant, shopping at the grocery store/supermarket, getting around in the city, and conducting simple conversations about yourself (your studies, your hobbies, and fields of interest). The textbook Menschen A1 and additional material, which is primarily dealing with everyday situations, will help you develop your individual language skills. One of the foci of the course is placed on Berlin and its surroundings. Therefore, you will work with authentic material in class and on courserelated excursions.

Textbook

Menschen A1 by Sandra Evans, Angela Pude and Franz Specht, Hueber Berlin 2012

Topics

Introducing oneself/meeting people – family – professions
Language course – naming things – furniture – shopping
Leisure activities – suggestions – invitations – telling time
Travelling – means of transportation – daily routine
Appointments – making plans In the city – living arrangements – giving directions
Body and health – at the doctor’s
Appearance – character traits In the household – following rules/directions
Clothes and weather

Structures: Alphabet – simple clauses – w-questions – yes/no-questions – conjugation of verbs in present tense – nouns and articles – negation – compound nouns – past of sein – possessive articles – articles in accusative – adjectives (nominative, accusative) – graduation with zu – questions – prepositions of time – separable verbs – past of haben – prepositions with dative – numbers – modal verbs müssen, können – possessive articles in accusative – prepositions with accusative – modal verbs wollen, sollen – past tense of regular and irregular verbs – expressions of frequency – graduation with viel/gut/gerne – indefinite articles – “Wetterwort” es – imperative – modal verb dürfen – personal pronouns in accusative