LN744 German: Level One (Fast Track)

No previous knowledge of German required, but students should: demonstrate commitment to regular attendance, completion of homework and all assessments; dedicate at least two hours per week for coursework in addition to classes. Students are expected to be experienced language learners with a basic knowledge of English/German grammar terms.

Course Aim:

To develop the ability to use German effectively for purposes of practical communication at a basic level in familiar domestic, work and social contexts.
To establish the skills, language and attitudes required to promote and facilitate further study of German. To acquire basic literacy.
To master the pronunciation of German sounds.
To have basic knowledge of grammatical gender, word-formation, word-order in the sentence.
To deal with a range of predictable simple language tasks using a limited range of language to meet the needs of differing but familiar situations and topics.
To familiarise students with the background to German speaking countries, including culture and civil societies.
To bring students to level A1/A2 CEFR.

Communicative Content:

Asking for and giving personal information, directions and opinions.
Describing people, objects, feelings and places.
Talking about likes and dislikes, expressing preferences and making comparisons.
Talking about actions.
Expressing intentions, ignorance and proposing alternatives.
Expressing frequency.
Talking about past events and experiences.
Talking about habitual actions in the past.
Talking about festive events, invitations, plans.
Asking for and giving advice.

Structural Content: Introducing the basics of German grammar in the following areas:

Grammatical gender and plural of nouns.
Present tense of regular, modal and some irregular/strong verbs.
Direct and indirect objects; complements.
Possessive pronouns.
Prepositions taking the dative and/or accusative case.
Present perfect of regular and irregular/strong verbs.
Frequency adverbs; numbers.
Combining of Perfect and Präteritum.
Expressions of time.
All three forms of the imperative.
Introduction to subordinate clauses.

16 hours of classes in the MT. 22 hours of classes in the LT. 2 hours of classes in the ST.

This is a 40 hour-course. Please refer to the LSE timetable for course teaching arrangements.

DaF kompakt neu A1, Kursbuch und Arbeitsbuch & 2 CDs (Ernst Klett Publishers) 2016, ISBN: 978-3-12-676313-4.

Continuous assessment (70%) in the MT and LT.
Oral examination (30%) in the LT.

Department: Language Centre

Total students 2019/20: Unavailable

Average class size 2019/20: 11

Please note that during 2020/21 academic year some variation to teaching and learning activities may be required to respond to changes in public health advice and/or to account for the situation of students in attendance on campus and those studying online during the early part of the academic year. For assessment, this may involve changes to mode of delivery and/or the format or weighting of assessments. Changes will only be made if required and students will be notified about any changes to teaching or assessment plans at the earliest opportunity.