Beginners German in UCD????

pc92

Hi,
I'm going into second year in UCD and I'm thinking about learning the German language. Iv never studied German before, so I was wondering if someone could tell me what module would suit me best??

Thanks

WeeBushy

There is an introduction to German module which would be the best place to start.

GobBass

Best to go about it through the Applied Languages Centre (ALC).

MatthewM

If you are thinking of doing it for a high grade then it is not a good idea. Spanish at beginners level in the ALC on the other hand is very very easy.

pc92

Thanks, I went to the ALC website and found a beginners german class there.
MatthewM - Have you done this german module?? My grades in second year dont affect my final degree so i don't mind not getting a high grade. I'm doing engineering so i figured basic german could come in handy in the future. But if the module is extremely hard and takes a lot of time i might give it a miss?? Why is it so hard to get a good grade in beginners german??

kkumk

I did it last year but dropped it before week 6 because I could see I wasn't going to get a very high grade and didn't want to ruin my GPA. It's quite a good class in terms of learning, the only problem is it moves very quickly. I'm doing German in the Goethe Institut now and even though I've done 54 hours of classes, we still haven't learned how to tell the time in German, which is something we did in week 3 or 4 in UCD.
I'd say give it a go as long as you're not just doing it for an easy A because you'd definetly have to put in a fair amount of work! But since your grades don't count this year you might as well! And I don't think its that time consuming either, I think its 2 hours a week and the homework is fairly simple stuff! Although I didn't do any of the assesment so don't take my word for it

Hoku

It's easy enough to pass a German language module. The assessment in them generally follows this structure:
10% - attendance and class participation
10% - homework
30% - mid-term test (happens around Week 6/7 I think)
50% - end-of-term 2-hour exam

It's possible to pass the exam before even walking into the exam hall. Many homework assignments are in the same format as the exam itself, so you get a fair idea of what you're up against.

Beginners' German could be slightly different though, as the above structure is for the German Language [1 | 2] [a | b] modules.

MatthewM

@pc92 Considering that it does not count towards your GPA and that you will have a bit of time to dedicate to it and you are right, German and Engineering go well together, then I would give it a shot. But be aware, as the poster above has said, the classes move very very fast, so your class would be say 2 hours, but you would have to dedicate around another 3-4 hours (excluding homework) to keep up. I did French 1 and 2 at the ALC and did German as part of my degree. I was however in final year when I did French and it proved to be a bad idea, as I just did not have the time. Unless you have a real ear for languages (which I dont) then it will take much more of your time time than an average elective.

The reason for it being so hard is the amount of content being thrown at you in a very short period of time. A mate did German and confirmed that this was the case. For some reason Arabic, German, French and possibly Russian seem to move rapidly but Spanish and Italian move more slowly. Mates who have studied Spanish 1 and 2 have commented on how well the course is outlined and in particular the summary of the course which every student gets around the time of the exams.

Another thing to bare in mind is that the ALC tend to have multiple assessments which for some reason all take place near or at the end of the semester.

All that said, studying languages can be very rewarding so if you do decide to do it, send me a message and I can give you a truck load of online resources to aid your learning.

pc92

Can anybody tell me which one of these is easiest, or are they both the same?? German Beginners A (GER10100) or German General Purposes 1 (LANG10100)??