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Conversational German 1
January 2023
Module 1 of Conversational German Series.
Precepted by
Isaac Schendel.
This 8-session introduction to German is intended to give the students a basic acquaintanceship with the German language and enough information for further study. This first module covers the alphabet, basic verb conjugation, important verbs like Haben and Sein, pronouns, grammatical gender, nominative vs. accusative cases, forming questions, and giving dates and times. Some specific vocabulary content is given in the session breakdown, but the individual entries are not meant to be either restrictive or exhaustive.
Session Breakdown:
- Session 1: The alphabet and sounds; the present tense of regular verbs; colors and numbers
- Session 2: Haben und Sein; nominative pronouns; noun gender; Was studieren Sie (what do you study?) and Wo wohnen Sie (where do you live?);
- Session 3: Fragewörter (question words) and forming questions; yes/no questions; “Interview” game
- Session 4: coordinating conjunctions; describing your field of study; the verb mögen (to like)
- Session 5: Die Wochentage (days of the week); Die Uhrzeiten (time); Der Wochenplan (weekly schedule)
- Session 6: Planning a meeting with a friend (combination of Der Wochenplan and the “Questions” from Session 3); negation (Nicht and Kein)
- Session 7: The accusative case; description of rooms (Ich habe/Es gibt); accusative pronouns
- Session 8: Accusative prepositions; general review
Session Breakdown:
- Session 1: The alphabet and sounds; the present tense of regular verbs; colors and numbers
- Session 2: Haben und Sein; nominative pronouns; noun gender; Was studieren Sie (what do you study?) and Wo wohnen Sie (where do you live?);
- Session 3: Fragewörter (question words) and forming questions; yes/no questions; “Interview” game
- Session 4: coordinating conjunctions; describing your field of study; the verb mögen (to like)
- Session 5: Die Wochentage (days of the week); Die Uhrzeiten (time); Der Wochenplan (weekly schedule)
- Session 6: Planning a meeting with a friend (combination of Der Wochenplan and the “Questions” from Session 3); negation (Nicht and Kein)
- Session 7: The accusative case; description of rooms (Ich habe/Es gibt); accusative pronouns
- Session 8: Accusative prepositions; general review
Required Texts
The online (and free) German textbook Deutsch im Blick developed by the University of Texas (https://coerll.utexas.edu/dib/) serves as the basis for our course. This textbook is used mostly for structuring purposes, since a lot of material will be developed by the instructor before each session. So that you have material for conversation practice, each session will be accompanied by a short, one-page vocabulary list in the form of a PDF document. The online dictionary for the course is Leo (https://dict.leo.org/german-english/).
See the overall page for the Conversational German 1 module.
See other modules (potentially) offerred in January 2023.
See other modules in the Language sector.
Days and Times
Meeting Mondays and Wednesdays at 7:00 PM Eastern for eight 1-hour sessions, with classes scheduled for Jan 4, 9, 11, 16, 18, 23, 25, 30