Our Courses
For those who like a little more structure, the courses below should provide it.
German 102 (2nd Semester)
German 201 (3rd Semester)
German 202 (4th Semester)
Advanced German
Linked and Loaded German
Our own explanations tied to the best resources for learning German on the web. Great for those with specific goals.
The grammar of a language tells us the rules of that language. These rules help us understand how to form complex meaning from individually simple words. This might be a little difficult to wrap your mind around at first, so let's think about it another way. Did you know that grammar is actually quite similar to the rules of a sport? And just like with any sport, the rules of a language are incredibly important! For example, I don't understand many of the rules in American football, so when I'm watching it, I often find myself lost and uninterested. To me, it looks like a bunch of guys knocking each other over and sometimes throwing or kicking an oddly shaped ball. However, those who know the rules understand how complex the really game is. I've been told that it can be as mentally taxing as chess while also pushing the physical and psychological limits of each players. When put like that, I can understand why so many people enjoy watching it! Similarly, language is only understandable and exciting when you know the rules. Now think about playing a sport. How well do you think you could play without knowing the rules? I think by now you probably understand my point. Grammar is important and it's a big part of what makes learning a language exciting.
Vocabulary is very important in language learning. We have grammar to know how to put words together, but having a good vocabulary will allow us to know which words to use.
Knowing the words to say and how to put them together will certainly help you write German a lot better, but being able to speak it well requires a few more skills. For example, it's always useful to know how to spell a word, but when you're speaking, you also have to be familiar with the sounds that spelling represents. But beyond pronunciation, what do you do when you don't know exactly how to say something? When you're writing, you can just look up a word, but it's awkward to pause a conversation and grab a dictionary mid-sentence. Luckily, there are exercises and strategies you can learn to make speaking German a lot easier!
No matter what kind of music you like (as long as it's not instrumental!), you should be able to find something in German that will tap into your interests and help you improve your vocabulary, see authentic examples of grammar, and hear the language pronounced by native speakers. All of that while having fun and when you can't help yourself, dancing around.
External Courses
Excellent courses in German that we didn't develop, but like a lot!
This is a great audiocourse that slowly walks the listener through the basic structures of German to help them form surprisingly complex sentences without having to sit down and do written exercises or conscious memorizing.
Livemocha is a fantastic, free service that breaks down learning into manageable units and connects learners to native speakers for feedback on written and spoken submissions. The site's resources also heavily focus on inductive learning - meaning the learner first observes how the language works and is then guided to replicate the grammar without it being explicitly explained. Some really enjoy this approach, others do not.
Comments (4)
elhsdeutsch said
at 2:21 pm on Dec 21, 2009
-THERE SHOULD BE A "USE YOUR NEW SKILLS" SECTION AFTER COMPLETING THE FINAL CHALLENGE TO LET STUDENTS KNOW WHERE THEY CAN GO FROM THERE AND REMIND THEM THAT WHAT THEY JUST LEARNED IS ACTUALLY USEFUL!
-THERE SHOULD BE AS LITTLE SUBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT AS POSSIBLE. TEACHERS ARE FALLIBLE AND MORE DIFFICULT TO IMPROVE THAN A SYSTEM.
elhsdeutsch said
at 8:27 pm on Dec 21, 2009
-have an introductory set of missions with grammar, vocab, pronunciation, and maybe even a basic song that everyone does first. the building blocks or whatever.
-create a page with a "why learn german" theme and link to it in the introduction
-write an intro paragraph on how to use the site. include the language learning ideas, background, and how to use it.
elhsdeutsch said
at 8:32 pm on Dec 21, 2009
bonus links for super nerds
guest said
at 9:25 pm on Dec 25, 2009
Great ! Igniting ideas indeed. Instead of just following the crowd we have to create a situation in which learners have total freedom of choice.You are quite correct to say that we are making them do a lot of work without the least concern for their needs.We need our time back and as you have said technology can make things good for us.Good luck for your wonderful project.
Abdul
You don't have permission to comment on this page.