Deutsch 5-H und
Deutsch 5-AP
Warum?
General benefits of continuing in
German 5:
1. capitalize on what you have learned so far
and get even better
2. colleges will be impressed that you have
committed to learning the subject stuck
with it
3. Not so many students take German as do
Spanish: German will help you to stand
out!
4. some college programs actively seek
German students for their programs and
may even offer substantial scholarships to
students combining German with other
studies (Example: Herr Z. gets a letter
every year advertising three $24,000
German scholarships from SIU)
5.You may have a very good chance of
placing into higher-level language classes
in college. This could easily lead to a minor
or double-major with German.
6. AP credit in German can give you more
bang for the buck than with some other
AP credit:
Students who place into upper level
language courses frequently get credit for
the classes they place out of.
(This depends on the college policy…
and often simply scoring well on a
placement test can yield similar results.)
**Keep your German fresh and improve it
in German 5 or AP!!
Work Load:
• German 5-AP: Somewhat faster-paced than
Ger 4-H, with more writing assignments,
frequent podcasts, much more speaking and
listening practice.
• Homework: more on average than Ger4-H
• (20-30 minutes per night average, most days)
• German 5-H: More relaxed than German 4-H.
Homework: less than German 4-H (15-20
minutes, 3x a week on average).
Just a few life-long benefits of
continued German study:
1. Knowledge of German is a great career
Asset. It can help you stand out.
2. Business & Travel: more than 120 Million
people speak German fluently
3. Germany is the world’s #2 exporting country
4. German is the most widely-spoken
language in the European Union after
English and second-most common Internet
language.
5. Many important original works in math and
sciences have been written in German
(Continued  )
6. German language ability opens the door to
understanding and appreciating a wealth of
music, literature and culture.
7. Continuing to learn German is great for
your brain!
8. Keeping up your German can help you
take advantage of many cross-cultural
opportunities. You may make some great
friends because you kept up your German!
9. The German Government offers many
scholarships for study in Germany
Concrete benefits at college for
taking German 5-AP:
1. Scores of 3, 4,or 5 may give you up to 9 credit
hours free at a college or university:
University of Illinois tuition = ca. $5,700 for
6-8 credit hours (2010)
 U of I accepts AP score or 3 or higher
 In 2009, of 13 AP test takers at LZHS:
8-3’s and 4-4’s. In 2012, of 7 test takers, we had
one 3, 4-4’s and 2-5’s.
** In 2009, 12 of 13 LZHS students scored well enough
to receive AP credit at many colleges and universities!
In 2012 it was 7 of 8, in 2013 it was 11 of 12!
Many LZHS students have been placed in
advanced German classes after taking
German 5, even without using AP credit!
(See examples coming up.)
Some students have received up to 17
credit hours for having done well on a
German placement exam continuing
German in college. In one case (2007), this
was worth over $15,000 to the student!
News from former LZHS German 5
students :
• 7-2008
• “Herr Z,
Wie geht es Ihnen? Ich habe gedacht, dass ich
sie anschreiben muss. Ich werde im Herbst
Deutsch studieren. Während meiner UniversitätOrientierung habe ich eine Prüfung geschrieben,
und ich habe eine tolle Note bekommen. Jetzt
bin ich in einer Klasse die ich normalerweise im
sechsten Semester nehmen werde. Wenn ich
die Klasse gut fertigstelle, werde ich Kredit für
vier andere Deutschklassen bekommen,
siebzehn Stunden Kredit ingesamt! Aber die
Klasse wird schwer sein, und ich muss [üben].”
“Hey Herr,
9/9/08
I just wanted to say thank you for everything that
you have taught me the past couple years. I got
into my German class the other day and found
out I was the only freshman... everyone was
surprised cause they were all over 20 years old.
Also, we've been doing some readings and I
can completely understand what the professor is
saying but he has to stop and ask the class if
they know what "sparsam" is... But I just
wanted to thank you for preparing me for this
class and college and because of you I find this
German class very easy.”
--attending Indiana University
(2005)
Although he didn’t take German in college,
keeping up his German through German 5
enabled one LZHS grad to place into a
semester-abroad business program in
Vienna.
He was chosen over others who did not
have as much German background.
--Drake University
“Hallo Herr Z!
9/20/07
I'm finishing the third full week of college at
the U. of I. and just took my first college
German test! It wasn't particularly difficult....
My class is mostly sophomores and
juniors, and I think I am the only
freshman! It's a little bit intimidating, but my
teacher says I'm doing fine.”
--University of Illinois
• 3-04-08
(re: 2006 grad)
“Guten Tag Herr Ziarnik!
(my daughter) has really enjoyed and
excelled in her foreign language studies at
U of I, with much credit due to her time
studying German with you. She learned
Spanish on her own for her recital . . .while
taking French. I think that she may be taking
German diction now . . . Last year was Italian .
. . She is considering studying abroad in
Vienna next (NOTE: She did have a
successful time studying abroad in Vienna for
voice.)
“Guten Tag Herr Ziarnik,
9-2007
I am at the University of Iowa and. . . I am
getting double the credit for continuing
German at Iowa. I am enrolled in the
Conversation and Composition German class . . .
and a lot of the grammar looks like review...
We are going to be reading "Der Richter und sein
Henker." I looked at it and I do know what some of
it means...I think I can handle it. Good luck with
my brother 9th hour. . .”
--University of Iowa
• 9-16-08
“Hi Herr Z!!
. . .I hope the school year so far has
been good for you. As for Indiana University,
I'm taking a 300 level course that focuses
on grammar (which so far, I've known
pretty much everything because of what
we learned in high school) and we really
only speak in German . . . I might even be
minoring in German! . . .”
--Indiana University
• 2-2-2009
“ Herr... all I can say is thank you so much for
the knowledge you have given me in German.
Right now I am in a third level conversational
German class because I wasn't confident my
German was good enough to start in German four.
We had our first presentations last week where we
had to talk for 20 minutes. My German has
become very fluent and I just cannot believe that I
can speak that long. I didn't use any notes either, I
spoke from my head . . . I wish I would have been
more attentive in your class so I could have lived up
to my full potential. I am planning on minoring in
German, and am applying for an internship in
Germany this summer. If all goes well, I also hope
to study abroad sometime next year.”
--Western Michigan University
“Hallo Herr Ziarnik,
Sept 2009
. …I am attending Carroll University in
Waukesha, Wisconsin and I am double
majoring in History and International
Relations with a German minor. . .
Additionally, my trip to Marburg, Germany
was really amazing this summer. My class
participated in a Grimm Brothers Scavenger
Hunt and walked the 500 steps up to
Marburg Schloss quite a few times. I now
know first hand just how fast a ICE train
goes. . .”
Hey Herr (August 2009)
It's Herr M. from your favorite AP German class last
year!! I'll be starting school at Indiana University
in Bloomington in a couple of weeks, and yes you
will be proud to know, that I'm taking German. I've
been meaning to email you to let ya know about all
the college credit I got . . .
So I wish I would of looked this up before that 10
hours of AP testing, but IU doesn't really care
about AP foreign language tests. Instead, at
orientation, I had to take a foreign language
placement test, so I obviously took German. The
next day of orientation they let you know your
scores. At IU, they have German 100, 150, 200,
250, and 300. . . (Continued next slide  )
(Herr M. cont’d)
. . .I can't remember exactly what I got, but I got
placed in German 300, which is conducted all in
German (*$!*!%!). So I automatically get credit
for German 100 and 150 (8 credits), and then at
the end of the semester once I (hopefully) pass
German 300, I will not only get credit for
German 300, but German 200 and 250 (9
credits) as well! That means by the end of my
first semester in college I'll have 17 credits
because of German alone, and I'll have 30 all
together, so I'm way ahead of the game! Just
wanted to give ya a little update about Deutsch in
my life!!
P.S. I know there's no way that any German class
you have this school year can top ours last year!!
Herr Ziarnik,
6-9-09 (2008 Grad)
“Hello! . . . I just finished up my first year at RoseHulman. It was a good year - I got a lot done, and I
have enough credits now to be a junior when I go
back in the fall.
I only got actual credit for German I
and II from the AP test - they can't really hand out
20 credit hours for one test, so they limit it to the
first two courses - I was able to place into
German VI [That’s German 6!] with no problems
because of the AP. I found it pretty cool that I
could get the minor with only one course :)”
--Rose Hulman University
• Hallo Herr!
“I am taking German this semester in college and my
A.P. scores placed me into German 201 which is
the fourth level of German language. There are
scheduled movie nights and two of the movies we
watched in high school German…. I was nervous
starting out but so far all of the grammar we have
gone over is pretty much review for me and
everything is going very well . . . just wanted to say
thank you for preparing me so well for college level
German. . .
--University of Illinois
• June 30, 2009:
“ Hallo Herr! I just thought I'd email you to let you
know that I took a German placement test at Mizzou
and placed in the 4th level of German,
which means all I have to do is take one class and
I get the 3 credits for it + the 13 credits for the
classes before it. Taking German in
high school definitely did pay off.
Danke für alles!”
--University of Missouri
“Herr Ziarnik,
May 2010
(2005 Grad)
It was a nice surprise seeing you last weekend. . .I graduated
from Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) last May and
now I'm working as and Electrical Engineer in Lake Zurich.
MSOE has a great exchange program with The University
of Applied Sciences in Luebeck also known as Die
Fachhochschule Luebeck (FHL), so as
a junior I studied abroad there for an entire year. Then
my senior year the students I studied with came back to study
at MSOE. . .When I graduated school I received a B.S. in
Electrical Engineering from MSOE along with a German
Diplom Urkunde as a Diplom-Ingenieur from FHL. I am
really lucky to have had the opportunity to participate in
this exchange program. My time in Germany was
unbelievable, and I was really fortunate to
already know so much about the culture and language. . .
--Milwaukee School of Engineering
“Hey Herr Z,
(2009 Grad)
I hope everything is going well with German club and all
the classes you are teaching this year!!
I took this past semester off of German because my
schedule would have been way too crowded. However,
I recently registered for my spring classes and placed
into junior year German! I will be taking an advanced
German grammar course next semester (eek!)
I was really excited about this, and even more happy when I
realized that I got SIXTEEN credit hours worth of
German from the AP exam!!!!! That is OVER a semester
worth of classes at University of Texas and I am only two more
semesters away from a German minor.
The AP exam DEFINITELY paid off for me!!! :) . . .”
-University of Texas
„Hallo, Herr Ziarnik! (2012)
Wie geht es Ihnen? Ich genieße meinen Sommer,
aber es ist fast vorbei und College beginnt in zwei
Tagen . . . Auch herzliche Grüße von meiner Familie
in Litauen! Meine Mutter (Deutsch-Lehrerin in
Litauen) wollte Ihnen sehr viel danken; sie war mit
der Qualität der Bildung beeindruckt, als ich ihr mein
AP Handbuch gezeigt habe. Ich wurde acht CollegeCredits gegeben und ich kann Intermediate Deutsch
nächstes Semester lernen.“
Lieber Herr Z - (2009 Grad)
Hope all is well -- just thought I'd send you a quick note to let
you know what I'm up to and how German has helped me
since I graduated from LZHS. Believe it or not, I'll be
graduating from Indiana University in May majoring in
Accounting and Finance and minoring in German. This past
summer, I interned at an accounting firm in Chicago called
Ernst & Young. I received a full-time offer a few weeks ago,
and I will be starting full-time next July. . .
. . .one of my assigned clients was a U.S. corporation that
owned several German companies that owned a large
number of German subsidiaries. . . . the financial statements
were all provided in German. . .(Continued)  
None of my peers nor my superiors had any
background in German . . . I was able to help move
this process along because of my background in
German.
My knowledge of the German language was definitely
a positive influence in the consideration of receiving a
full-time offer. In addition, I am planning on doing a
rotation in Germany within the first few years of my
career as Ernst & Young has numerous offices
located throughout Germany.. . Thanks again for
pointing me in the direction of studying German -- it
has helped aid in the success of both my college and
professional careers.
--Indiana University
“Lieber Herr Z,
(2012 Grad)
Ich moechte Ihnen fuer die sehr guten
Klassen danken. Auch moechte ich
Ihnen sagen, dass ich mehr Deutsch bei
der Universitaet studiere! Nach der
Pruefung haben sie mich in einer 300
Klasse gestellt. “
“Lieber Herr Z,
(2012 Grad)
Die Hauptsache ist, dass ich Deutsch
als zweites Hauptfach erklärt habe, und
deswegen muss ich (bzw.darf :D) ich
ein Semester irgendwo in Deutschland
studieren”
--Wheaton College
Final words:
Perhaps you don’t “need” to take German in
your senior year. BUT: If you can fit it in your
schedule, why not take German 5?! (Why
would you have an open instead????!)
You are sure to LEARN something, and it may
take some work, but it will be worth the effort
later on in life! Who knows how it may come
in handy in your future?
Putting the time and effort in next year can be
worth thousands of dollars to you in college,
too, and might even help your future career!