German

This class is predicated on the neuropsychology of auditory phenomena. Processes of human response to aspects of daily life such as conversation and music are explored via the reading of detailed research papers and in-class discussion of relevant topics.

This course is designed for beginners with basic knowledge of German. This course helps students expand their competences in listening, speaking, reading and writing, and deepens their knowledge of grammar as well as their knowledge of the German culture. By the end of the four-week course students are able to deal with everyday situations in a German-speaking environment and to conduct simple conversations. Students develop reading strategies that allow for the understanding of simple newspaper and magazine articles as well as more detailed short literary texts. In addition, students improve their essay writing skills, and are able to write short texts on different topics, revise, and proofread them. Finally, students are able to understand more detailed discussions on familiar topics.

This pre-semester course prepares foreign students for academic study at a German university. The focus is on the introduction and consolidation of basic grammatical structures, as well as on the continuous development of a basic vocabulary. Student develop listening, reading, speaking and writing skills for specific everyday situations, work on oral and written exercises, and are introduced to independent learning methods. They work with and reflect on cultural topics in everyday situations in Germany, in Berlin, and at the university. In this class at the A1 level according to CEFR, students review and learn basic grammar points and are systematically introduced to basic vocabulary. All four skills are developed and applied to everyday situations and some study-related situations. The A1 level is split into two courses, the A1.1 course covers the first half of the level and the A1.2 course covers the second half of the level.

By studying vocabulary and grammar intensively, as well as practicing speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills, students revise and develop what was learned at level A1, improving communicative competencies. This makes students better prepared for studying and daily life in Germany and enables them to proceed to level B1. The A2 level is split into two courses, the A2.1 course covers the first half of the level and the A2.2 course covers the second half of the level.

Students explore the relationships of architecture and city planning to ideology, society and politics. Specifically, the course entails the development of these relationships in the context of Berlin across a number of different political eras, including the Empire, the Weimar Republic, National Socialism, the Cold War and the subsequent time which has elapsed since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Course contents range from shorter texts and lectures to long, involved city explorations and possibly exhibition visits.