Grammar
The student (who applies him- or herself) will build on his or her firm foundation of basic grammar by coming to understand and correctly employ more advanced principles and structures. Specifically: gender patterns, Konjunktiv I, Partizipialkonstruktionen, rules of punctuation, Ausklammerung, modal particles, and the more difficult forms of the relative clause.
Writing
The student will gain in fluency, accuracy, and idiomatic correctness in his or her writing German through frequent writing assignments, both formal and informal. The student will learn to revise based on expert feedback. The student will also gain confidence in moving between different registers or styles.
Listening
The student will become considerably more proficient at understanding spoken German as presented in the German media.
Reading
The student will gain competency in reading difficult German texts of various styles. The student will also acquire non-language-specific skills in close reading and literary analysis.
Culture
The student (including returned missionaries) will be become profoundly more familiar with modern German life by regularly watching and discussing the German news and other television/video broadcasts. The student will also become more familiar with post-war German history through select literary texts. In general, the student will become aware of German and/or European perspectives that may differ from his or her own, or that may have never even occurred to the student.
Vocabulary
The student will expand his or her vocabulary considerably by watching the German media and maintaining a vocabulary list that will be employed for certain writing assignments.
Speaking
The student will develop his or her speaking proficiency through participation in group and class discussions, although serious improvement will require extracurricular involvement on the student's own initiative. Come to Stammtisch, hang out at the German house, go to the weekly Filmabend, find a German-speaking partner, or best of all: go abroad on an internship or study program!
Pronunciation
The student will improve the accuracy of his or her pronunciation through repeated exposure to native German (e.g. the German news) and spontaneous pronunciation guidance in class.
