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Required Texts

Recommended Grammar Text

All the grammar you are required to know is in the coursepack and on the web, but this book is an excellent reference.

Recommended Texts for "Language Learning Journals"

Please wait for information in class on the "Language Learning Journal" before you decide if you want to buy one of these.

Hans Peter Richter: Damals war es Friedrich ISBN: 3423078006

Adalbert von Chamisso: Peter Schlemihls wundersame Geschichte [Lesen leicht gemacht Series] ISBN: 3125592208

J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter und der Stein der Weisen

C.R. Goedsche: Cultural Graded Reader: Heine ISBN: 0442220383 Unfortunately, this text has been out of print for some time ==> we cannot order copies for the bookstores. If you are interested in it, you should be able to find a used copy online, e.g. via amazon.com!

Other Recommended Texts

Course Requirements and Grading Scheme

Course Website:

http://www.lsa.umich.edu/german/hmr/231

Gateway Vocabulary Test

During the first three weeks of the course, you will have several opportunities to take a "Gateway Vocabulary Test" on a list of 584 of the most frequent German words and phrases. You can find the vocabulary list on the course website and in your coursepack. You need a score of 80% to pass this test; once you pass it, you need not take it again. If you do not manage to pass this test by the last scheduled time, your final course grade will be reduced by one grade notch, i.e. an A would become an A-, an A- would become a B+ etc. The test times for this semester will be announced in class.

The test is not very long ==> if all stations are taken when you arrive, just wait until one becomes available. The system will record your score automatically; as a safeguard to make sure nothing goes wrong, please show the proctor your score screen when you are finished, so s/he can also record your score by hand. Please plan ahead to take as many of the tests as possible until you pass: if something prevents you from taking the last test and you did not attempt any of the earlier tests, we will not consider this an excuse. If the above test times do not fit your schedule, please inform your instructor as soon as possible, so s/he can arrange an alternative time for you to take the test.

Most of these frequent words and expressions should already be familiar to you. To help you study for the test, the test will be available for you to take online (just without submitting your score) as often as you wish. The test consists of a large item bank, of which you will see 40 items each time the test loads.

Grammar vs. Speaking? No: Grammar Through Speaking!

Class time will be the only time when most of you will be able to practice actually speaking German. There are only about 200 hours of class time in the entire language requirement sequence, so we want to use as much as possible of those 200 hours to let you speak. We use a lot of partner and group activities (which we hope you will find to be an enjoyable, low-stress way of speaking German without worrying about mistakes!), since otherwise you would only get to say one or two sentences per class, and thus less than 400 German sentences during the entire language requirement sequence!

Grammar can be studied and practiced outside of class, so in order to maximize class time for practicing speaking, we ask you to read about the grammar covered in class before we actually cover it in class. This does not mean that you are on your own for learning grammar! We design class activities so that you can focus on speaking and exchanging interesting information while at the same time "painlessly" (we hope ) practicing the grammar you read about at home. Don't worry if the grammar confuses you when you study it on your own: you will find that the practice in class will usually clear things up; if the class seems to need it, your instructor will provide explicit explanations. Please ask questions: your fellow students will be grateful to you!

Students sometimes assume that learning a language means sitting in class struggling doggedly with grammar charts and drills, but researchers in classroom language teaching all agree that "drills are out" [the title of a recent journal article!] and that maximizing the time for communicative practice in class is the most effective way to teach students all aspects of a language in a lasting way. The best thing you can do to learn to speak good German is to relax, come to class prepared, have fun speaking in class, and ask questions when you know you're confused!

Language Program Director:

Hartmut Rastalsky (3214 MLB; 647-0404). 

Final Video Project

Instead of torturing you with cramming for a final exam, we will ask you to do a final video project, in order to bring the course to a creative and enjoyable end. Detailed information about the video is available in the coursepack or by following this link.

Homework

Homework is graded on a scale of "check"/"check +"/"check -". "Check" means the homework has been done well or well enough. "Check +" means it has been done exceptionally well. "Check -" means it has been done poorly and/or incompletely. Late homework automatically receives a "check -". Homework will not be accepted if it is more than two class days late (unless you have a very good excuse). Homework that is not done at all receives a "0". At the end of the semester, we add up your homework grades, with a "check" counting as 0, a "check +" counting as +1, a "check -" as -1, and a "0" counting as -2. If the sum of your grades added up in this way is 0 or more (i.e. on average you have done all your assignments punctually and well), your homework grade is an "A."

Attendance and Participation Policy and Grading

• To receive an "A" for attendance and participation, you must attend, be on time [=pünktlich], and participate well.
• Excellent participation is not error-free, but it is frequent, enthusiastic, and demonstrates that you are paying attention and have prepared carefully at home in order to be able to contribute constructively in class.
• Don't worry about making mistakes! Research has shown that all language learners proceed through stages of language acquisition (just at different speeds), each characterized by certain patterns of mistakes, so in this sense you have to make mistakes in order to learn.

• ***Speaking and listening in class are an essential part of this course ==> If you have more than TEN absence hours [defined below] at the end of the semester, your FINAL COURSE GRADE will be an AUTOMATIC E***
  • If you have 8 - 10 absence hours, your ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION GRADE (15% of your final course grade) decreases by two full grades (e.g. a "B" becomes a "D")
  • If you have 4.5 - 7.5 absence hours, your ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION GRADE (15% of your final course grade) decreases by one full grade (e.g. a "B" becomes a "C")
  • Ask your instructor about ways to make up "absence hours." You can make up a maximum of four absence hours.
  • We count the hours of class you miss individually; thus if you miss one whole day of class, that's two missed hours.
  • Please explain all absences, in advance if possible. Excused absences count as half an "absence hour," i.e. for example 8 excused absences + 2 unexcused absences = 6 "absence hours."
  • Absences for the following reasons will generally be excused: medical, psychological or family issues, family events such as weddings, baptisms or graduations, job interviews, trips for musical performances, debates or athletic events in which you are participating, etc.
  • Absences for the following reasons will generally be unexcused (but please still tell your instructor what's going on, so s/he won't think you've stopped caring!): oversleeping, hangovers, studying or completing work for another class, fraternity or sorority events, trips to attend concerts or athletic events, family trips, etc.

Oral Exams

Oral Exams will consist of two informal conversations in your instructor's office, for which you are strongly encouraged to practice, e.g. by going to conversation hours. You may sign up to take the oral exams individually (in which case it will consist of a 5-8 minute conversation) or in pairs (10-15 minute conversation) or groups of three (15-20 minute conversation). You may retake each of the two oral exams ONCE if you are not satisfied with how you did!

Advice and Resources

• There is endless potential for having fun in foreign language classes. Make up interesting sentences. Be playful. Get to know fun facts about your fellow students!
• ASK QUESTIONS!! For every question you ask, there are likely to be several people in the class who will be grateful you asked it.
• Take a look at the "Reading Strategies" page on the course website or in the coursepack. Above all: (1) Skim texts once before you read them thoroughly. This will save you a lot of time: it is the first thing you will hear in any speedreading course. (2) Fight the urge to look up every unfamiliar word. Use your knowledge and common sense to help you fill in the gaps. Remember how efficiently you do this in English e.g. when you are having a conversation in a noisy place! If you know what the word probably means, don't look it up unless what you read or hear later proves that your guess must have been wrong.
• Look at essays as a way to try out words and constructions you have learned [this is also likely to improve your grade!]. Avoid translating from English!
• Find a study partner in your section or in another section of the course. You'll have more fun, you can share pizza (or Bratwurst), two heads are better than one, and you never learn a thing as well as when you try to explain it to someone else. There is abundant research data to show that students who work in study groups are more successful language learners.
• Set aside a time every day to think in German about what you are doing ("Ich stehe auf. Ich putze mir die Zähne. Ich renne nackt durch die Straßen..."). This can be fun, requires no time, and is great practice for the oral exams. Look up words for things you care about.
• Send cookies, weird t-shirts, rare Bruce Springsteen recordings etc. to the course coordinator.He deserves it.
• Watch Deutsche Welle TV at the Language Resource Center or on UMTV.
• Try some of the other "Self-Study Advice" on the Course Website.

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