German Language Services

Programmes

Learn German in a friendly, relaxed, and supportive environment

Beginners’ Course – Step by Step through the Essentials

This course is designed to be accessible even for absolute beginners, but if you know some German already, you’ll find it an excellent refresher course.
You will learn how to introduce yourself and to cope with simple situations in shops, at work, on the telephone, at the doctor’s and at hotels. You will learn basic sentence structures and vocabulary to help you to communicate simple messages in everyday situations: describing people and their personalities, asking the way, giving directions, discussing homes and families, asking for and giving opinions on various topics. Each class lays out clearly stated objectives. Explanations are in English to begin with, then German gradually takes over.

Intermediate Course – Already Speak German? Speak It Better!

This course is designed to optimize your competence in speaking and writing, to increase your vocabulary, to deepen your grammar usage, and to help you develop consistent habits of self-correction. We will work on spoken German through different practical topics to allow you to feel comfortable speaking without depending on a dictionary. The course is varied, with a wide range of mixed-media material that has been selected in order to build up your confidence in different language skills. The structure of the material allows you to evaluate your progress regularly and provides confidence-building strategies to improve your learning skills. This course is organized around content- based modules that may include literary texts, films or an oral presentations.

Conversation – Practice Your German!

This course is centred around realistic dialogues that cover situations you are likely to encounter while abroad on holiday or business.
The emphasis is on intensive oral practice. Through goal-oriented dialogues, participants are guided step by step towards active command of the language, preparing them to face real-life situations with all their complexities. The oral lessons are often backed up by literary texts, newspaper articles, videos, CDs, etc.
Students are encouraged to use German actively without worrying about grammatical imperfections.

Contemporary and Classical German Literature

This class offers an introduction to German literature.
The goal is to advance your proficiency in reading and discussing literature through practice in analyzing German literary texts. The course will introduce voices of contemporary German prose and poetry and educate you in cross-cultural perspectives and communication in contemporary German society.

This is a seminar course, not a lecture; so you are encouraged to participate actively in the discussion. Normally we will discuss the readings in German, but you may occasionally switch to English to express a particular point. You should try to use German, however, even if you make mistakes.

Discussion will focus mainly on the literature, but grammar and vocabulary issues will be considered whenever questions or difficulties arise.

German for Travellers – Be Able to Speak (at least) Basic German Before Going to Germany

With essential knowledge of German language, communication, especially in times of emergency will not be a hassle. German for Travellers gives you confidence communicating during your trip. This course will prepare you to use simple, conversational German effectively in common travel situations such as meeting people, finding accommodation, travelling, and eating out. Each session involves learning a clearly-defined set of key expressions and practice with the class in fun, real-life travel situations.
German for Travellers focuses on developing your speaking and listening skills. There is no formal grammar teaching and little emphasis on reading or writing skills. We use contemporary and colloquial German. The course also offers an insight into culture and protocol.