Introduces the basic skills of reading, writing, speaking, and listening in German within communicative contexts. Covers the elementary pronunciation and grammatical principles necessary for comprehending and expressing simple ideas in both spoken and written German. Presents the cultures of German-speaking countries.
Goals, Topics, and Objectives
GER-131 is designed to enable students to reach the Novice Mid level on the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) proficiency scale, focusing on language learning through communication, cultures, connections, comparisons, and communities.
- Greetings, introductions, and farewells
- Phonetics and alphabet
- Numbers
- Present-tense verbs
- Commands
- Gender, number, and case agreement
- Prepositions
- Negation
- Word order
- Pronouns
- Vocabulary
- Geography
- Culture
- Use appropriate greetings, introductions, and farewells
- Demonstrate knowledge of phonetics and the alphabet through the comprehensible pronunciation and spelling of German words
- Recognize and produce numbers, dates, and times
- Demonstrate correct usage of present-tense verbs, including regular, irregular, seperable-prefix, and modal verbs
- Recognize and produce simple formal and informal commands
- Demonstrate knowledge of gender and number agreement of nouns, definite and indefinite articles, and possessive pronouns in nominative and accusative cases
- Recognize and produce select accusative (and dative) prepositions
- Employ nicht and kein to negate sentences
- Develop syntactically correct statements, yes/no questions, and questions using interrogatives
- Demonstrate correct usage of nominative and accusative pronouns
- Write about, speak about, and interpret situations similar to those presented in each chapter/unit of the textbook
- Recognize major geographical features of German-speaking countries
- Compare and contrast elements of German-speaking countries' cultures that differ from the U.S. norm
Note: A grade of C- is not transferable and is not accepted by some programs at HFC.
Assessment and Requirements
Assessment of academic achievement will be identified and implemented by the class instructor. Methods will include, but not be limited to:
- Participation
- Weekly/regular quizzes
- Homework assignments
- Chapter/unit tests
- Oral/receptive-expressive exam(s)
- Departmental writing assessment
- Midterm/final exam
All sections of this level will use a textbook (and any accompanying materials) selected by the course coordinator and approved by the World Languages Committee.
Outcomes
- Humanities and Fine Arts
- Humanities
- Category 5: Humanities and Fine Arts