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1.  Lower Division Courses

1602 Intensive German I - introduces the German language with emphasis on oral communication. For this reason, the management of speaking and listening comprehension skills is particularly stressed. Students will acquire a working vocabulary and will learn to function in everyday situations. Some written communication is introduced from the beginning, together with reading comprehension skills. The study of grammar allows the students to understand the structure of the language. Each course has a mandatory tutoring component.

2612 Intensive German II is the transition between the elementary courses and higher levels, which focuses on culture and presupposes good grammar, speaking, reading and writing skills in German. This course continues with the acquisition of a few new grammatical structures, while also practicing reading longer, authentic texts, writing increasingly more complex essays, strengthening oral communication skills, and expanding vocabulary.  The second half of the course teaches the history and culture of Germany based on authentic materials. At the same time, reading comprehension, oral and written communication, and vocabulary acquisition are expanded to a more complex level. 

  1. Advanced Courses in German Language, Literature and Culture
  2. Advanced German Grammar Refinement and extension of grammatical skills and structures in reading, writing and speaking moving beyond a simple review of grammar.
  3. Advanced Conversation and Composition. Written and oral communication on an advanced level. Issues in contemporary German society and politics build the focus of the course. Students will practice writing extensively in different genres and give both formal and informal oral presentations.
  4. Introduction to German Studies. Introduction to the tools and techniques of literary analysis and close reading of German language texts. Terminology necessary for the analysis of literature, film, music and the visual arts will be acquired. 
    3330. Historical Linguistics. Designed for language majors, but open to all students. An introduction to modern approaches to the study of language, culminating in an inquiry into the origins, historical development and kinship of Indo-European languages. Every other year.
  5. Applied Linguistics: Introduction to Foreign Language Pedagogy. Introduction to the methods for teaching foreign languages at the secondary and university levels focusing on theory as well as practice. Includes supervised teaching units in UD Modern Language courses.
  6. History of the German Language. Introduction to the history of the German language, from its Indo-European roots through the present. Examines the historical, social and cultural context that shaped the German language and its dialects.
  7. German Translation. Identical to German for Reading Knowledge II (MCTG 5312). Introduction to issues in translation of challenging authentic texts. Focus is on the translation of representative texts relevant to a wide array of academic disciplines. Including: Literature (poetry, prose and criticism), Philosophy, History, Theology, Politics and scholarly academic writing in select contemporary journals.
  8. German Literary Tradition I. A chronological survey of German literature from around 800 to approximately 1800. Significant works from the Middle Ages, Reformation, Baroque, Enlightenment and Sturm und Drang are discussed. Emphasis is placed on the tools of analysis specific to German literary studies.
  9. German Literary Tradition II. A continuation of the survey of German literature from the Classicism to the rise of the Third Reich.
  10. German Literary Tradition III. A continuation of the survey of German Literature from the Nazi dictatorship to the present.

3V32. German Outreach Teaching Practicum. A basic introduction to teaching foreign languages to children, as well as the opportunity to put the student’s skills to immediate practice by teaching children at Holy Family School or Redeemer Montessori School. The course can be taken for 1, 2, or 3 credit hours. Graded course.

3V50–5V50. Special Topics in German. Courses offered as needed, focusing on particular authors, periods and genres.

3V57. German Internship. A 1-3 credit practicum undertaken with the approval of the program director involving off-campus educational involvement, such as an internship or related activity, in which there is a designated analytical or intellectual element resulting in an appropriate research paper or related project. Students should follow guidelines for internships. Graded Pass / No Pass. Can be taken for up to three credits.

4320. The German Novella from Goethe to Kafka. Introduction to shorter German prose with an emphasis on the genre of the novella and how it has developed from the classical period through the early twentieth century.

4321. German Lyric Poetry. Introduction to German lyric poetry from the Middle Ages to the present. The course emphasizes the tools and techniques for analyzing poetry in German.

4322. German Drama. Study of the history of German Drama culminating in an actual student production of a representative play in German.

4323. Advanced Civilization. Topic course with varying content. Familiarizes advanced students with significant examples of German art, music and non-literary writings of modernity. Emphasis on understanding of the context of modern literature and culture in the German-speaking world. Extensive readings and the writing of longer essays afford the students practice in exploring expository educated German style.

4324. Wagner. This course deals with the many-faceted phenomenon that is Wagner and his impact upon the art, culture, thought and even consciousness not only of his century but of the modernist age that followed. Examines Wagner’s innovation in music, as well as his impact upon the artistic consciousness of the 19th century.

4348 Senior Thesis.  Extended research in German, which allows the student to pursue a topic related to their chosen track (Literature, Linguistics, or Intellectual History).  The thesis demonstrates reading, research, and writing skills and includes an oral presentation and defense.

5311 German for Reading Knowledge/Translation. The first part of a two-semester sequence, designed to teach graduate students and students from other departments how to read German for their own research purposes. During the course of the term, the entire grammar is presented systematically, together with exercises designed to practice translating the grammatical features which have just been learned. The course is also recommended for mayors and concentrators as it allows them to explore strategies of translation. 

5366 German for Reading Knowledge II. Continues the study of written academic texts in German. Complex grammar structure and vocabulary are studied, and the focus is on longer paragraphs, while continuing with the techniques of reading strategies. A passing grade in the final exam of this course is the equivalent of passing the modern language requirement in German for graduate studies at the University of Dallas.

4000-level courses are divided thus:
4300-09 - Introductory, fundamentals, or principles courses
4310-19 - Individual authors
4320-29 - Genre or literary form
4330-39 - Linguistics, language pedagogy
4340-59 - Historical period or movement
4360-79 - Thematic or motif-based courses
4380-99 - Interdisciplinary and cultural courses

 How to Keep Up Your German Over the Summer, During Your Rome Semester, Or If You Can’t Take Upper Division Courses After Intermediate II

1.  For anyone seriously interested in becoming fluent, we recommend the book Fluent Forever: How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It, by Gabriel Wyner. He also has a helpful website with resource recommendations for German: https://fluent-               forever.com/language-resources/learn-german/

2.  Reading

  • reading in German is the single best thing you can do to keep up your German – it reinforces and improves vocabulary as well as grammar structures (if you read attentively, that is J). It doesn’t matter what you read, even Harry Potter in German will do wonders for your language skills!
  • when reading on your own, remember that the key is to focus on the general idea, not a word for word understanding. You don’t need to translate the text in order to understand it. In fact, it would be way better to try to block out ALL English during your reading process and to try and just focus on what you can figure out in German.  So, don’t use a dictionary right away when you don’t understand something. Underline the word and come back to it later if you need to.
  • what matters most is that it’s something you are interested in, otherwise you may not be motivated enough to plod through it and finish it J Try using www.google.de or www.yahoo.de and type in a topic keyword (auf Deutsch natürlich) so that you’ll only get sites on your topic of interest in German. 
    • some good story collections, many bilingual, are available on Amazon.com: Beginner's German Reader [ISBN 0844221708]; Short Stories in German / Erzählungen auf Deutsch [ISBN 978-0140265422]; Selected Folktales/Ausgewählte Märchen: A Dual-Language Book [ISBN 978-0486424743]; German Short Stories 1 and 2: Parallel Text Edition (intermediate-advanced level texts)
    • Learn German With Stories: Café in Berlin - 10 Short Stories For Beginners (several others in that series)
    • Learning German through Storytelling: Mord Am Morgen - a detective story for German language learners  (several others in that series)

  3. Online exchange partners

  4. Movies

5. German news /videocasts online

6. Other Podcasts

7. Free online courses or study materials for learning German:

8. Online games/apps

9. Audio language courses

  • your local public library probably has some language programs available, such as Pimsleur or Barron. While these are generally not that great, they are nice to use in the car or while cooking just to immerse yourself a little bit. They are also very good for improving

 

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