(In person) Low Intermediate German Monday 6:30pm - 7:30pm PT (May 6th to June 10th) Instructor: Carolyn
This class will meet in-person from May 6th to June 10th.
About the instructor: Carolyn holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in German from UC Berkeley and a B.Mus. (Bachelor of Music) from McGill University. Her research in the German Department at UC Berkeley focused on the development of German noun inflection since 1350, and, more generally, on frequency effects in language change. Before moving to Berkeley in 2006, she spent two years in Freiburg (Breisgau), Germany, studying German and Scandinavian Linguistics and Literature at the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität and exploring the Black Forest. She has been teaching German continuously since 2008 at various institutions in the Bay Area, including UC Berkeley, the German School of Fremont, the Bay Area Kinderstube (BAKS+, an after-school full immersion program for children who speak German at home), and, of course, PLA (since 2019), and has worked with both children and adults at all levels of proficiency. She has also taught English — both ESL/EFL and composition classes for native speakers — and has done a fair amount of proofreading and translating. Since 2018, she has held a part-time position at McGraw Hill Higher Education in the World Languages department, where her duties include creating and editing online activities to accompany McGraw Hill’s many college language textbooks. When she’s not teaching or tinkering with language textbooks, she enjoys taking long walks in the Berkeley hills, singing, playing the piano, watching German detective series, and making things out of yarn.
About the class: A low intermediate German class builds upon the foundational knowledge of German language and grammar acquired in beginner-level courses. At this level, students are expected to have a solid grasp of the basic elements of German grammar, such as verb conjugation, noun declension, and sentence structure.
In a low intermediate German class, students will focus on improving their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills in the language. They will learn to communicate more effectively and fluently in a variety of situations, including expressing opinions, discussing current events, and talking about personal experiences.
The course also covers more advanced topics such as the use of idiomatic expressions, the nuances of word choice and meaning, and the cultural context of the language. Students will continue to expand their vocabulary and work on improving their pronunciation and intonation.