German 2211: Intermediate German 1 Fall 2006 ... - McDaniel College

German 2211: Intermediate German 1 Fall 2006 

MWF 11:30-12:30 p.m. in BMC 100 

Dr. Esa 

Office Hours: BMC 109: MWF 2-3 p.m., TTH 9-10 a.m. and by appointment: 

: (410)857-2462 (campus ext. 2462) E-mail: mesa@mcdaniel.edu 

Web site for the course: http://www2.mcdaniel.edu/german/2211 

Course Description: Welcome to German 2211: Intermediate German I - German Language and 

Culture! This course is the first course in the second-year sequence at McDaniel College. It is designed 

for students who have studied German previously and wish to improve their reading, writing, listening, 

and speaking abilities. The course will be enhanced by selected videos that are closely related to the 

material studied. You will also have the opportunity to write essays and answer essay questions on tests 

in German. 

After successful completion of this course you will be able to handle a variety of communicative tasks in 

German, such as: 

• participating in conversations in German about topics of general interest such as leisure time 

activities and hobbies, talking about yourself and your family, ordering meals, talking about films 

and more 

• giving oral presentations in German about various topics 

• reading and understanding the main ideas of German texts such as short stories, poems, 

newspaper and magazine articles, and Internet pages 

• understanding authentic German language used in films, short videos and other media 

• composing short essays on different topics related to the readings 

• understanding and appreciating some new aspects of German culture and the important role of 

Germany in the European Union and the world. 

Required Books: 

• German in Review, by K. Sparks and Van Horn Vail. 4 th ed. Thomson & Heinle (GiR) 

• Einer singt falsch, Felix & Theo, Langenscheidt 

• Oktoberfest, Felix & Theo, Langenscheidt 

• Oh, wie schön ist Panama, Janosch, Beltz 

• Post für den Tiger, Janosch, Beltz 

• Collins: German-English-German Dictionary (or any other dictionary) 

Important: Doing your homework (written or otherwise) is absolutely vital. You must be prepared for 

every class. Read the assigned texts and study the vocabulary prior to the meeting time. Please 

keep in mind that you are expected to practice German eight hours per week outside of class. 

The Honor Code will be strictly enforced. Students must write out and sign the honor pledge at the end 

of all assignments, tests and essays. The honor pledge is posted in every classroom. 

Plagiarism is using another person’s words or ideas in a direct or indirect way without proper 

acknowledgment. Whenever using two or more important words, they must be placed in quotation 

marks. 

Please join the German Club and support it by attending cultural events sponsored by both. 

Changes to all aspects of this syllabus are at the discretion of the instructor. 

He reserves the right to amend the terms and conditions of this syllabus as 

he sees fit at any point during the semester.

German 2211 2 

Special need: If you have any special needs, please share them with your instructor so that he/she may 

accommodate them as directed by Student Academic Services. Please give your instructor the 

written notice from that office outlining these accommodations by the end of the first week of classes. 

Thank you! 

Classroom Deportment: In order to have an optimal teaching and learning environment, please keep 

the following guidelines in mind: arrive promptly and dressed properly for the classroom (no caps, no 

pajamas); treat everyone in the class with courtesy; turn off your cell phones before class; give the 

instructor your complete attention. 

Tutoring is available. Hours and name of the tutor will be announced in class. 

Grading: 

Preparation, Participation & Konversationsstunde 20% 

Quizzes 20% 

Group Presentations 20% 

Portfolio 20% 

Final Exam 20% 

TOTAL 100% 

Grading Scale: 

A+ 97 – 100% C+ 77 – 79% 

A 93 – 96% C 73 – 76% 

A- 90 – 92% C- 70 – 72% 

B+ 87 – 89% D+ 67 – 69% 

B 83 – 86% D 63 – 66% 

B- 80 – 82% D- 60 – 62% 

Requirements 

Students are required to attend all classes, a couple of evening lectures and concerts recommended by 

the instructor, see all films, and participate in classroom discussions and in other group activities. All 

readings listed on the syllabus are required, and should be completed by the day for which they are assigned. 

Attendance is mandatory. Three (3) unexcused absences will lower the final grade by 3%, four (4) by 6% 

and so on. Excused absences are at the discretion of the instructor. Absences caused by college 

related activities or religious holidays are only excused if the instructor is made aware of them in 

advance. Please provide a written excuse for each class hour missed. 

Daily Preparation & Class participation: Daily preparation and active participation in class are very 

crucial for improving your language skills. Please read all required pages for each class hour, study 

the vocabulary, and prepare the exercises assigned. Be active in class. Speak up, speak out, throw 

your hat into the ring! “Use it or lose it!” 

Regular attendance is an obvious requirement to get a good participation grade. Your participationgrade 

is based on the following evaluation: 

A shows total preparation; original comments and constant references to assigned materials; 

B noteworthy oral participation, with full understanding of the material/ participates voluntarily often; 

C participates once in a while/ participates by request only; 

D present, but no participation; 

F absent. 

Konversationsstunde. Anna-Lena Schenck, the German Assistant from Berlin, will set up a time for a 

weekly conversation hour with the entire class. The conversations will be conducted entirely in 

German. Anna-Lena will have a sign up sheet for each week. Each time you miss or don’t participate 

in the Konversationsstunde, you will lose 1% of the final grade. 

Quizzes: You will have 4 quizzes based on the grammar book and the four books we will read. Missed 

quizzes may not be made up, and will be recorded as zeros unless a valid excuse is presented to the 

instructor.


Group Presentation: The students will be divided up into small groups and are expected to work 

together on two oral presentations: The first group presentation is about the film Lola rennt and it is 

scheduled for October 18 th and 20 th . You’ll receive further information later on in the semester. The 

second group presentation will be about a creative idea. Write your own play and perform it. Make a 

German music video using various pictures from the Internet and the audio track. Make a film from 

one of the books you have read (I’ll give you more details on this). Study simple dialogues or 

sketches and perform them with others. Play a scene from your daily life, etc. The second group 

presentation is scheduled for December 4 th and 6 th . 

Portfolio: A portfolio is a collection of your own work. It includes materials connected with the class. 

Portfolios include samples of evidence that demonstrate the progress of your language learning. You 

can either use a 1” ring binder with at least 4 tab dividers, or submit everything digitally on a CD, via 

Blackboard or put it on the server in the Foreign Language Lab. I’ll show you how this works. I will 

collect the portfolio twice in the semester. Each time I collect the portfolio, I’ll read it, make some 

comments and give you 100 points. If you don’t submit the portfolio you don’t receive any points. 

However, I do give extra points for creative and comprehensive portfolios. 

Your portfolio will consist of 4 parts: homework assignments, vocabulary lists, speaking samples and 

oral interviews that must be submitted either on a CD or posted on the server in the foreign language 

lab, and finally a reflection part. 

• Homework Assignments/ Essays: Homework will include assigned exercises in the 

grammar book as well as additional essays on the books we will read. Essays (at least 250 

words each) will be graded on quality of the content, use of vocabulary, grammatical 

accuracy, and comprehensibility. You will write the essays twice. I will read your first drafts 

and return them back to you with suggestions and comments. Your corrections should 

incorporate my suggestions. The final grade for the essays is the average of both drafts. If 

you miss the first deadline for the essays, you’ll lose the chance to rewrite them. 

• Weekly Vocabulary lists: This is your own Wörterbuch (dictionary). To accomplish this 

successfully, you must take notes in class on a daily basis. I would use a good composition 

book just for this purpose and then type up the vocabulary on a weekly basis. Record words, 

phrases, idiomatic expressions, and grammar points that are of interest and importance to 

you. This is not limited only to items covered in class. You can also include items you 

encounter outside of class. You may want to collect German words and phrases about one or 

two areas you like to speak and write about: your favorite German (US) musician, painter, 

writer, or about your favorite sport, about your hobbies, leisure time activities, about politics, 

etc. I would recommend starting with words and phrases and then move to whole sentences 

and then paragraphs. By the end of the semester, you’ll be comfortable writing short essays 

about these topics. 

• Speaking samples: You’ll record yourself four times in the semester using the foreign 

language lab: 

1. At the beginning of the semester you’ll tell the instructor something about yourself (your 

name, age, major, hobbies, etc.); due September 18 th . 

2. In the second part, you will talk record what you have done in an entire week and then 

talk about that in the past tense or present perfect, due October 13 th . 

3. In the third part, together with a partner, perform excerpts from one of the books we read 

in class; due November 6 th . 

4. At the end of the semester, you will talk about what you have done during the entire 

semester. Tell us about what you have learned, what courses you had, and which you 

liked the most and why. Talk about any field trips you have taken or films you have seen,


etc. Be creative and use your imagination. Don’t read from a text you have already 

written. Try to speak freely just using talking points. Due December 1 st . 

You may save these samples directly onto your folder in the Foreign Language Lab or send 

them to me via e-mail. speaking samples 1 and 3 must be sent to me when they are due, 

2 and 4 must be submitted (along with 1 and 3) when the portfolio is due. However, I 

would suggest that you don’t wait until the last minute. Try to record yourself more than one 

time before you decide to submit the recording. You will not be able to erase your recording 

once you have saved it onto the server. 

• Reflections: In this section you’ll reflect about the learning process itself, about what and 

how you learned, and also about the German language and culture. Include short comments 

in German and deeper, reflective pieces in English. There are no limits of how much you can 

write here. I would suggest that you record your reflections every week and then write up a 

summary before the fall break and at the end of semester when the portfolio is due. 

Final Exam: The final exam will cover all the materials studied in the Fall semester. Keep and correct all 

of your quizzes. They will be very helpful as a review for the final exam. 

Extra Credit: There are many ways to earn extra credit. You can attend cultural events recommended by 

instructor, write up summaries in German, and include these in your portfolio, clearly marked as extra 

credit with title of event, place and date of event, and by whom it was sponsored . You can help with 

German-American Day on October 17 th and earn either some money or extra credit. You can also 

conduct and oral interview or exam with the instructor. The oral interviews will take place in the last 

two weeks of classes and questions will be asked about the books we have read in the semester. 

Viel Spaß und Erfolg!

German 2211: Intermediate German 1 Fall 2006 ... - McDaniel College

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