German 2331
INTERMEDIATE GERMAN
HERBST 2007
PROFESSOR: Dr. Anne Reitz
OFFICE: AAH 425
OFFICE HOURS: MWF 1:00-2:00
PHONE: 743-3073
E-MAIL: Anne.Reitz@mail.uh.edu
SYLLABUS
PREREQUISITES:
PREREQUISITES: Completion of German 1502 or 1803. Placement test required for
all students who did not complete first year German at UH in the past two years. See
instructor for more information.
REQUIRED TEXTS:
¾ Briggs & Engel-Doyle, Alles in Allem: This series includes a
green Readings and Activities text, a red Grammar, and a blue Guide to the
Audiocassette Program. CD’s for the audio component are available through the
Language Acquisition Center, AAH 311.
¾ Di Donato, Fokus Deutsch
¾ Frisch, Biedermann und die Brandstifter
A good German-English dictionary will also be required for this course. Before you
purchase a dictionary, make sure it includes gender, plural forms, prefix or case
indicators, etc. Collins and Langenscheidts are inexpensive and fairly good. Pocket
editions are easy to carry but often inaccurate. If you think you want to continue with
German, buy the best one you can afford.
OPTIONAL TEXT: Zorach, English Grammar for Students of German,
especially helpful for students with less background in grammar.
OBJECTIVES: This course offers an intermediate-level grammar review, short literary
texts, audio recordings, and a play to expand students’ German comprehension and selfexpression. Students will be able to converse with ease and confidence when dealing
with most routine tasks and social situations that require an exchange of basic
information related to work, school, recreation, particular interests and areas of
competence. Regular writing assignments will sharpen your expressive skills, so that
students will be able to demonstrate analytical and critical skills when writing in German.
Finally, students will demonstrate professional readiness for language-related fields of
study and work.
APPROACH: Grammar review and expansion will be done mostly through at-home
assignments, followed by in class use of the forms studied. Students will write the
grammar exercises in a separate notebook that can be collected by the instructor and
graded during quizzes. Classroom time will be devoted to actually speaking and writing
with the grammar structures learned at home. Longer readings are assigned
simultaneously with audio recordings of the same text, to help students practice both their
audio and their reading comprehension. Video recordings afford a glimpse into German
daily life, common attitudes, and social norms in German-speaking countries. Reading
Biedermann und die Brandstifter, by Nobel laureate Max Frisch, allows students to enjoy
a major 20th century drama, for which there is no satisfactory English translation.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS: Regular attendance and active participation are
mandatory, as these are essential for meeting the course objectives, and the only way to
demonstrate oral improvement. “Active” participation means preparing all homework
assignments well and applying them orally in class. If you speak only when called on, or
only when sure you have the right answer, you will miss opportunities to develop fluency
and competency. Language learning involves dedicated preparation and the willingness
to risk making mistakes! Therefore, both irregular attendance and classroom passivity
lower grades. More than three unexcused absences lower your course grade by .2 for
each class hour missed. Late assignments may not be accepted, and quiz make-ups are
by the instructor’s discretion only.
WRITING: Essays (Aufsätze) and the corrected re-writes (Korrektur) are due on
scheduled dates – check the syllabus in advance. The corrected re-write will improve
your original “first version” grade. Essays will be evaluated for grammar, complexity,
and content. The essays should be handed-in, not e-mailed, and DOUBLE SPACED and
TYPED. German word-processing software, including spell-check and grammar guides,
is available in the Language Acquisition Center (AAH-311). You will be writing five
essays during the course of the semester.
READING: The texts from the Reading and Activities book are accompanied by content
of discussion questions, which are considered part of the preparation of the text. They
will often be the basis for classroom discussion. For the play, a handout of short
questions for each reading assignment will be the basis for class discussion. Filling it out
and turning it in are required, as they demonstrate your level of preparation. Your
instructor will not correct and grade these handouts, but only evaluate your
comprehension of the text. These handouts are also appropriate for noting new
vocabulary or idiomatic phrases.
GRAMMAR ASSIGNMENTS: Carefully work through the assigned pages the red
grammar and complete the exercises in a separate notebook. Extra grammar explanations
and answer keys will be posted in WebCt. Note any questions you want to bring to the
professor’s attention in a different colored ink. Be certain to bring the notebook to class
for grading on quiz days. Look over the planned materials for the following day’s
classroom work to make it easier in class.
QUIZZES: Several short quizzes will check students’ acquisition of grammar and
comprehension of daily classroom instruction.
MIDTERM AND FINAL EXAM: Both exams will cover grammar and reading texts,
and include a writing component. The location of the final exam will be announced later
in the semester.
EVALUATION:
Daily classroom participation, including homework notebook:
Guide to Audiocassette work and Fokus Deutsch:
Essays:
Quizzes:
Midterm exam:
Final exam:
20%
10%
20%
15%
15%
20%
STUNDENPLAN:
This syllabus is an outline and is subject to change according to the needs of the class.
Any changes will be announced in class.
Turn in all assignments out of the blue Guide, all Fokus Deutsch chapters, and any other
assignments the instructor specifically requests. Assignments out of the blue Guide to the
Audiocassette Program and Fokus Deutsch chapters appear in blue below.
NOTE: Vocabulary lists accompanying the chapters appear at the end of each chapter in
the Readings and Activities book and should be studied and learned. They are not always
explicitly assigned, but studying them will make writing assignments and in-class
discussions much easier.
Thema
für die
Woche
Sich
kennenlernen
Class
Day:
Date Classroom work and dialogue:
After class,
at-home preparation:
1
Aug. Einleitung und Kennenlernen
20
(R+A 41-42 mit einem Partner)
Grammar 1-4, 6-13, 14-16
2
22
Grammar, 20-25
R&A S. 10-11, 12-15
CD Anfang Kap. 1, Guide 1-5
3
24
CD Anfang Kap. 3, Guide 23-26
R+A 43 mit einem Partner, schreiben Sie
zusammen einen Dialog
(weiterer Wortschatz auf S. 62)
R&A S. 10-11, 12-15,
R&A Lesen Sie S. 37 Murtat
Pileuncli (Wortschatz S. 39)
Beginnen Sie den ersten
Aufsatz: R&A S. 16 (a oder b);
schreiben Sie 12 komplexe
Sätze (=Hauptsatz und
Nebensatz) oder 22 Zeilen
(wenn Sie Thema a bearbeiten)
Am 31. August abgeben
Bist du
Deutsch
Die
nähere
Umwelt
kleinere
Freuden
4
27
R&A S. 37 Seving Ginar
5
29
Fokus Deutsch #34 besprechen
R&A 34-35 (Wortschatz S. 39)
R&A S. 37-38 wiederholen
Grammar 25-29
Fokus Deutsch #34
Grammar 29-36
6
31
CD Ende Kap. 2 und Guide
20-21: „Wer braucht dringend
ein Zimmer?“
Grammar 38-45
Fokus Deutsch #28
7
Sept
3
5
Review: What is case?
R&A 23-25, 38C mit einem Partner
(Wortschatz S. 39)
ERSTEN AUFSATZ ABGEBEN
FERIEN: Tag der Arbeit
Quiz: Case; articles, der and ein- word
endings, personal pronouns
Fokus Deutsch #28
8
7
R&A S. 92-93 besprechen
9
10
Review: Adjective endings
R&A S. 84-85, 86-87 mit einem Partner
10
12
11
14
TBA: Bringen Sie R&A ins
Klassenzimmer
R&A S. 2-3, 178, 180, 104
12
17
R&A S. 91A-92 “Drei
Variationen über meine
Großmutter” (Wortschatz
S. 100)
CD Kap. 5 and Guide 52-53
After reading and listening,
underline all the nouns in the
text and write above them the
pronouns that would replace
them
Grammatik S. 60-63, 66-69
Beginnen Sie den zweiten
Aufsatz: 15 komplexe Sätze
zum Thema a) R&A 38 C
(Wortschatz S. 39) oder b)
R&A 93 D (Wortschatz 100)
Grammar S. 70 -75 A
CD Anfang Kap. 5 and Guide
47-50 E
Grammar 78 (4.12:
Comparison...) – 85 D
Wiederholen Sie die
Grammatik
Grammar S. 87- 90
13
19
14
21
15
24
Quiz: Pronouns, adjectives and adjective
endings
R&A S. 4-5
Grammar S. 90: “Blumenpracht gegen
das Großstadt-Grau“
ZWEITEN AUFSATZ ABGEBEN:
R&A 38C oder 93D
R&A S. 213, 227
Review: Two-case prepositions
R&A S. 149-153, Handout
Grammar S. 91 (Dative
prepositions) – 96
Grammar S. 96-101
Lernen Sie alle Präpositionen
auswendig! R&A S. 149-153
Grammar 102-107
Freizeit
und
Ferien
Älter
werden
16
26
CD Kap. 5 und Guide 54-57 „Einkaufen
am Samstag“
17
28
18
Oct.
1
19
3
R&A S. 166-167
Grammar 105
Handouts: Da- und Wo- compounds
Quiz: Präpositionen, Da- und Wocompounds
Fokus Deutsch #31
Fokus Deutsch #31 und #32 besprechen
20
5
21
8
CD Kap. 7 und Guide S. 74 „Aktivurlaub
in Kärnten: Sport, Spiel, Spaß”
Handout: Midterm Review
DRITTEN AUFSATZ ABGEBEN:
Fünfzehn komplexe Sätze zum Thema
R&A S. 168D oder R & A S. 191 #2
Midterm Review
22
10
Midterm Exam
23
12
24
16
R&A S.69
Video: Einschulung in Deutschland
Video: Geschichte der Jugendbewegung
25
18
26
20
Fokus Deutsch #25
R&A 68
CD Kap. 4 and Guide S. 37 „Ein
Stadtbummel“ und S. 38 Aufforderungen
und Befehle“
R&A S. 166-167
Beginnen Sie den dritten
Aufsatz: Fünfzehn komplexe
Sätze zum Thema R&A S.
168D oder 152: „Ich bin ein
dreizehn jähriges Kind, und ich
spiele gern...“
(Wortschatz S. 170)
Fokus Deutsch #31 und #32
Grammar S. 17-19, weak
nouns and adjectival nouns
Grammar S. 64-65, adverbial
word order
Midterm Review
Review for midterm
No late assignments accepted
after midterm review
Ruhetag!! Oder, besser,
beginnen Sie den vierten
Aufsatz: 18 komplexe Sätze
zum Thema a) „Ich gehe am
Wochenende einkaufen und
mit Freunden aus“ oder b)
„Mein nächster Urlaub wird
besser...“ Sonst beginnen Sie
Morgen!
Grammar S. 108 -115
Grammar S. 155-162
Fokus Deutsch #25
Grammar 162- 164, 116-117
(Separable-prefix verbs)
Grammar S. 120 – 123
Memorize impersonal and
dative verb lists
27
23
Fokus Deutsch #36
28
25
29
27
R&A S. 70 - 71
VIERTEN AUFSATZ ABGEBEN: 18
komplexe Sätze zum Thema a) „Ich gehe
am Wochenende einkaufen und mit
Freunden aus“ oder b) „Mein nächster
Urlaub wird besser...“
Quiz: verbs in present, imperative forms,
modal constructions and infinitives
Biedermann 3-9
30
30
Biedermann 3 -19, line 6
31
32
33
Nov.
1
3
6
34
35
8
10
36
13
Quiz: Biedermann
Biedermann19 – 33
Biedermann, 35 – 49
Quiz
Biedermann, 51 – 67
Biedermann 68 – 84
Biedermann 84-104
Quiz
Biedermann, 105-134
37
15
38
17
39
20
40
41
27
29
42
Dec.
1
Biedermann, 137-156
FÜNFTEN AUFSATZ ABGEBEN
Biedermann, 157-177
Handout: Text Review Sheets
TBA
Handout: Grammar Review Sheets
Text Review
Grammar Topics Review
Fokus Deutsch #36 beenden
Grammar S. 125 (Modals) 127, 153-154 (use of werden)
Grammar S. 131 (Verbs + zu +
Infinitive) - 132
Biedermann 3 –9 very
carefully, then 11- 19, line 6
Biedermann19 – 33
Handout: Questions to text
Biedermann, 35 – 49 (48 – 49
very carefully)
Biedermann, 51 – 67
Biedermann 68 – 84, line 15
Handout: Questions to text
Biedermann 84-104
Biedermann, 105-134
Biedermann, 137-156
Handout: Questions to text
Biedermann, 157-177
Comprehensive Biedermann
Review
Text Review
Grammar Review
Comprehensive Grammar
Review
Final Semester Review
FINAL EXAM: THURSDAY, DEC. 6, 2-5 pm ROOM TBA