GERM UN2101

In this course, which was conducted entirely in German, we continued to practice our language skills, cultural awareness, and critical thinking. We studied a wide range of topics (from politics and poetry to art) as well as art, texts, and films. We also practiced extensively our conversation skills, and learned new vocabulary. We learned grammar in the context of the topics. I also improved my writing skills in the forms of vocabulary lists and essays, as well as my speaking skill in oral presentations and conversations in class.

This course is such an immersive and genuinely fun way to build on the Elementary German skills we'd covered so far. I enjoyed the application of the basic German into movies, films, historical contexts — the textbook is interesting and the German department has clearly invested a lot of time into ensuring no lessons are boring/ just sit-down lectures. Engaging.

A huge amount of German vocabulary and grammar, obviously. I really improved my reading and writing in German. I also learned a lot about different important aspects of recent German history.

In Intermediate German we further refined our skills in the German language. Moreover, we covered topics on: Travel, the Comedian Harmonists, the DDR/Stasi, and Migration.

I learned a lot about German culture in the 20th century. It was interesting to see how arts, human rights, and freedom were affected by the events of Nazi Germany and the Secret Police. I learned about the different perspectives regarding the DDR and saw why there were various thoughts about the system. Alongside the history, I learned grammatical concepts that gave me the option to explore how to articulate my ideas.

I feel like it is harder for me to point to specific things I learned than in the Elementary sequence, but my general conversational and reading abilities definitely increased by a lot. I have a better grasp of sentence constructions and an expanded vocabulary.

We learned effectively all the necessary skills to speak German in an intermediate level.

I learned more about German History and culture. I also learned about german grammar, vocabulary, and everything else you could expect from a foreign language course.

If you want to learn German then take this course! 1 Columbia University: Arts & Sciences Spring 2023 Course: GERMUN2101_001_2023_1-INTERMEDIATEGERMANI : GERMUN2101_001_2023_1 - INTERMEDIATE GERMAN I Instructor: Simona Vaidean

German history, adding to german speaking/reading skills, german culture