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Level of this university German course?

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sofiapofia
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United Kingdom
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Speaks: Swedish, Hindi, Portuguese, English*, Marathi
Studies: German, Danish, Sanskrit, Icelandic

 
 Message 1 of 7
09 August 2011 at 11:11pm | IP Logged 
I am about to start this course next term and it runs over a term (12 weeks) This is the synopsis of the
module:
"This module, with five four contact hours per week, brings students to a level of proficiency in both written
and spoken German enabling them to participate effectively in university modules, placements abroad and
to pursue careers involving fluent use of German. Attention is paid to developing fundamental linguistic skills
(listening, speaking, reading and writing). Specific attention will also be paid to morphology and syntax."

Will I be at a low C1 level after this module. I have to study in Germany next year and I'm a bit worried
whether or not I'll be able to manage.

Sorry that I can't provide any more information; I don't have access to any more than this. Oh and one of
the set texts of this module is :

Deutsches Universal-wörter-buch Neue Rechtschreibung published by Duden
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Sprachgenie
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Speaks: German*, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Faroese, Icelandic, Flemish, Persian, Swiss-German
Studies: English, Belarusian

 
 Message 2 of 7
10 August 2011 at 1:07am | IP Logged 
You should use the course to supplement your own studies. The course alone will never prepare you for what you'll need in Germany.
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sofiapofia
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United Kingdom
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88 posts - 103 votes 
Speaks: Swedish, Hindi, Portuguese, English*, Marathi
Studies: German, Danish, Sanskrit, Icelandic

 
 Message 3 of 7
10 August 2011 at 2:13am | IP Logged 
Sprachgenie wrote:
You should use the course to supplement your own studies. The course alone will
never prepare you for what you'll need in Germany.


Well considering I've pretty much taught myself German and managed to get on to an advanced course in
my University and that I talk regularly with my boyfriend in German, I guess I do know how to supplement
my university studies.

My question was more to find out if this course 'sounded' as though it brought students to a high B2 or low
C1 level and not whether it was adequate enough to prepare me for my six months in a German university
next year.
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The Stephen
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 Message 4 of 7
10 August 2011 at 8:21am | IP Logged 
sofiapofia wrote:
"This module, with five four contact hours per week,


Is this a typo or something else? I ask because I think hours per week would be important to know, to get a better idea of how much you can expect to improve with the course.

Quote:
brings students to a level of proficiency in both written
and spoken German enabling them to participate effectively in university modules, placements abroad and
to pursue careers involving fluent use of German. Attention is paid to developing fundamental linguistic skills
(listening, speaking, reading and writing). Specific attention will also be paid to morphology and syntax."


I think most of this can be said of a very wide range of courses, but I think the 'fluency' part limits it to B1 or higher (if I'm not mistaken, fluency on the CEFR scale starts at B1 or a little above that). The part I put in bold though is, I think, the important part. That definitely says 'advanced' to me. I'll go out on a limb and say this course guarantees B2 at the very least. Any level after that I would unfortunately have to put in the "maybe" category. But C1 or not, it sounds like it would be a good opportunity to at least review and consolidate what you've learned so far. You can always use more confidence with speaking!

Quote:
Deutsches Universal-wörter-buch Neue Rechtschreibung published by Duden


Now this is interesting. Is this the only text? If there is no workbook then this would indeed be a pretty serious class!

Sorry I can't give a more definite answer.

By the way: What is a 'module'? Is it just a synonym for class or course? I don't think we use that word in regards to school in the US.
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Doitsujin
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 Message 5 of 7
10 August 2011 at 9:31am | IP Logged 
sofiapofia wrote:
Will I be at a low C1 level after this module.

Unfortunately, the course description is to vague to know for sure.

sofiapofia wrote:
I have to study in Germany next year and I'm a bit worried whether or not I'll be able to manage.

AFAIK, most universities will only admit students who passed the TestDAF test or an equivalent test. In addition, you'll also most likely have to take the DSH test.
For more information see the DAAD web site.

sofiapofia wrote:
Oh and one of the set texts of this module is :
Deutsches Universalwörterbuch Neue Rechtschreibung published by Duden

BTW, you can get this comprehensive monolingual German dictionary for free, if you dowload the Kindle app for PCs or smartphones. (It'll be downloaded on demand as soon as you try to look up a word in German language ebook for the first time.)

Good luck!
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sofiapofia
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United Kingdom
Joined 4945 days ago

88 posts - 103 votes 
Speaks: Swedish, Hindi, Portuguese, English*, Marathi
Studies: German, Danish, Sanskrit, Icelandic

 
 Message 6 of 7
10 August 2011 at 9:58am | IP Logged 
The Stephen wrote:
[QUOTE=sofiapofia]"This module, with five four contact hours per week,


Is this a typo or something else? I ask because I think hours per week would be important to know, to get a
better idea of how much you can expect to improve with the course.


A module is the same as a course in America. This particular module has four contact hours but we are
expected to put in six extra hours outside classrooms hours. Since our terms are 12 weeks each, it would
amount to 120 hours of studying for the course.

The book I mentioned is one of the books on the set list. Also this is a translation heavy course and from
what I've seen (module handbook and past papers) it's basically English to German translation.

Thanks for your help! I agree it would be a B2 level course.
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sofiapofia
Pentaglot
Groupie
United Kingdom
Joined 4945 days ago

88 posts - 103 votes 
Speaks: Swedish, Hindi, Portuguese, English*, Marathi
Studies: German, Danish, Sanskrit, Icelandic

 
 Message 7 of 7
10 August 2011 at 10:03am | IP Logged 
Doitsujin wrote:
Will I be at a low C1 level after this module.



I don't need to do those German tests, I study German and Linguistics at university and will spend part of
my year abroad as an Erasmus exchange in Germany. Thanks for the Kindle tip :)

Edited by sofiapofia on 10 August 2011 at 10:04am



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