Overview
German 203: Introductory German II is a continuation of Athabasca University’s German 202. This course is intended for students who have completed German 202, one semester of university German or the equivalent.
In this course you reinforce and expand the speaking, listening, writing and reading skills you gained in German 202. You read about contemporary Germany, Switzerland and Austria and meet some important German authors.
Outline
Lesson 1: Homes, city life, public transportation and architecture
- two-way prepositions
- imperatives
- wissen/kennen
Lesson 2: Hotels, banking, official time telling
- der- and ein-words
- separable-prefix verbs
- flavoring particles
Lesson 3: Postal service, telephones and travel
- genitive case
- time expressions
- sentence structure
Lesson 4: Hobbies, leisure activities, physical fitness
- adjective endings
- reflexive verbs
- infinitives
Lesson 5: Entertainment
- verbs with prepositional objects
- da- and wo- compounds
- endings of unpreceded adjectives
Lesson 6: Relationships
- simple past
- conjunctions als, wann, wenn
- past perfect
Lesson 7: Professions, education, employment
- comparison of adjectives and adverbs
- future tense
- predicate nouns
- adjectival nouns
General Course Objectives
German 203: Introductory German II presents students
with the necessary skills to acquire a basic knowledge of the language
and to communicate in German. The textbook, Wie geht's, along with the
CD program, workbook / lab manual, and video component, are designed to achieve the following course objectives:
- Writing: Students will learn how to express themselves in German in simple sentences.
- Reading: After studying the Wie geht's? texts and learning
the necessary vocabulary, students will understand texts at a similar
level of difficulty.
- Speaking: Students will communicate in German with German
speakers using simple sentences modelled on dialogues and lab exercises.
- Aural Comprehension: Students will understand the German of
everyday situations spoken at moderate speed. The lab program and
pronunciation sections of the lab manual will enhance students'
listening skills.
Evaluation
The final grade in GERM 203 will be based on the grades
students achieve on the assignments and the oral and written exams. To receive credit for the course you must achieve an overall course grade of “D” (50 percent) or better and must achieve a minimum grade of 50 percent on the
written examination. All assignments are required in order to pass the
course. The following indicates the assignments for credit and their
weighting toward the final grade.
| 8 Written Assignments | 4 Oral Assignments | One Oral Exam | One Written Exam | Total |
| 20% | 10% | 20% | 50% | 100% |
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.
Course Materials
Textbooks and Electronic Materials
Sevin, Dieter and Ingrid Sevin. Wie geht's? An Introductory German Course. 8th ed. Boston: Thomson Heinle, 2007.
Wie geht's? Student Listening CD to accompany the “Hören Sie zu!” sections. (This CD is in the textbook.)
Wie geht's? Arbeitsbuch. Workbook/Lab Manual.
Wie geht's? Lab Audio CDs.
Wie geht's? DVD.
Wie geht's? Audioscript and Answer Key.
Optional: Horizon Wimba, an asynchronous voice discussion board and voice email program.
Other materials
Thomson Heinle provides a Wie geht's? website. The AU course guide and student manual are available on Moodle, the AU learning management system.
Challenge for Credit Course Overview
The Challenge for Credit process allows students to demonstrate that they have acquired a command of the general subject matter,
knowledge, intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in a university level course.
Full information for the Challenge for Credit can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.
Challenge Evaluation
To receive credit for the GERM 203 challenge registration, you must achieve a grade of at least “D” (50 percent) on each part of the examination.
| Oral Conversation | Exam | Total |
| 30% | 70% | 100% |
Undergraduate Challenge for Credit Course Registration Form
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines
occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery
methods may vary from their individualized-study counterparts.
