German - Post GCSE
This is a specialised subject for those who have a passion for the language and culture of the German speaking world. Class sizes are usually small and different aspects of the course are taught by two experiences A-Level teachers. Many recent students have experienced and then continued their studies of German at university or relocated to Germany for work, following success on the course. The course will offer you the opportunity to join in class discussions, develop grammatical accuracy, deepen text comprehension skills and study German texts/ film, as well as a weekly slot with a native speaker and the opportunity to travel to Berlin for a sixth form weekend exchange.
If there are further questions following the 4 induction activities below, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Streeter streeter.t@kings.peterborough.sch.uk or Mrs Attwell attwell.f@kings.peterborough.sch.uk
Course Specification
"Students study technological and social change, looking at the multicultural nature of German-speaking society. They will study highlights of German-speaking artistic culture, including art and architecture, and will learn how Germany's political landscape was formed.
Students will explore the influence of the past on present-day German-speaking communities. Throughout their studies, they will learn the language in the context of German-speaking countries and the issues and influences which have shaped them. Students will study texts and film and will have the opportunity to carry out independent research on an area of their choice.
Assessment tasks will be varied and cover listening, speaking, reading and writing skills." (Take from AQA Wesbite Introduction page)
Course books
AQA German A Level Textbook (Year 1 and Year 2 books) – OUP (provided by the department)
AQA German A Level and AS Grammar & Translation Workbook - OUP (provided by the department)
Task 1 THE COURSE (10 minutes):
Have a look at the core content and scheme of assessment. Our set literary texts/ film will be confirmed by the course teachers each year.
Students generally like the idea of the Speaking Exam consisting of a 5-6 minutes discussion based on a stimulus card (a bit like the photo card task at GCSE) and 9-10 minute presentation and discussion of a topic chosen by the student, the Individual Research Project. Topics must have a focus in a German speaking country and some examples are: The Building of the Berlin Wall 1961-1965, The Fall of the Berlin Wall, Cologne, Almanya – Willkommen in Deutschland – film study, Angela Merkel, The Bauhaus Movement.
Task 2 THE SPEAKING ELEMENT (15 minutes):
Have a look at the aptly named stimulus 'Learning Help on the Internet' and have a go at answering the 3 questions below by:
a) speaking out loud to yourself (or record yourself on your phone) without looking any words up – wing it and see how far you get.
AND
b) writing out full answers to the three questions, using dictionary / GCSE notes if you like.
We expect you to draw on your GCSE knowledge to form a platform for you to explore and extend your languages skills, so using set phrases you already know, and knowing to extend with other tenses, comparisons, reasoning and other peoples' opinions is brilliant. We will teach you new A-Level vocabulary and content in the course, which will build upon your current ability for a successful outcome.
Task 3 AUTHENTIC LISTENING (15 mins):
Watch to the news in German:
1. Nachrichten | DW – this website is for German learners and has daily news, with transcripts, with the option to listen to a slowed down version Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten. Find the news for today's date and watch it in the slowed format, once without and then with the transcript to read. How much did you get? Were there words you could only understand once you could see the written form?
2. Nachrichten in 100 Sekunden – this is a normal German news site with summary news in 100 seconds. You will find it quite fast, but hopefully some of the content will mirror what you just did above and you will be able to determine progress of listening understanding from this single 15 minute activtity.
Task 4 THE BERLIN TOPIC (20 mins):
In the first year of A-Level study one of the topics is Cultural Life in Berlin, past and present. We offer an opportunity to travel to Berlin as a group for a weekend (this is likely to be in Autumn 2021, given the current travel situation) to stay with sixth form exchange partners from a Berlin Grammar School. The trip, and return visit, have proved extremely popular and successful, adding much linguistic and cultural to our course.
Follow the links to answer the questions below about various key Berlin attractions to give you a flavour of this fascinating city:
Berlin ist eine faszinierende Stadt. Watch this overview video: https://youtu.be/NxxLBjbMfcI
Fernsehturm
Look at the website and watch the video to answer the 5 questions.
1. Was kostet ein Ticket, wenn man es von der Tageskasse kauft?
2. In welchem Jahr endete der Bau des Fernsehturms?
3. Wie viele Menschen besuchen den Fernsehturm täglich?
4. Wie hoch ist der Turm?
5. Warum wurde der Fernsehturm gebaut?
Die Berliner Mauer
Watch this overview of the history of the division of German and the Berlin Wall and answer questions 6-8.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9fQPzZ1-hg
6. In welchem Jahr begann der Bau der Berliner Mauer?
7. Wie viele Ostdeutschen haben die DDR bis 1961 verlassen?
8. Wieviele Wachtürme gab es?
East Side Gallery
Read the website to find the answers to questions 9-11.
https://www.visitberlin.de/de/east-side-gallery
9. Wie lang ist die Kunstmeile East Side Gallery(km)?
10. Wie viele Künstler bemalten die East Side Gallery?
11. Was bedeutet Denkmalschutz auf Englisch?
Der Reichstag
Visit the website and look at a photo to find the answers to 12-
https://www.visitberlin.de/en/reichstag-in-berlin
12. Was passierte im Jahr 1933?
13. What is the inscription on the front of the building and what does it mean in English?
14. Who restored the building in the 1990s and why did they use glass for the cupole (Kuppel)?
We look forward to welcoming you in September, but please do get in touch if you have any questions about the course: Mrs Streeter streeter.t@kings.peterborough.sch.uk or Mrs Attwell attwell.f@kings.peterborough.sch.uk
Year 11 - Preparing for A-Level German
If you have just finished Y11, there are two things that you can do in order to get your level of understanding up to where it should be for starting the AQA A-level course at Kings.
1. Improving your grammar understanding now will really ensure that you are ready to engage with the material in Y12. BBC Bitesize offers a comprehensive review of all GCSE grammar topics (all needed for A-Level) with content revision and test features; we highly recommend that you work through every topic before starting the A-Level course.
2. Engaging with authentic German as often as possible; this could be watching or reading the news, reading a German book or magazine, watching a German film or TV show, or watching the videos on thisislanguage.com. See our recommended sites below.
Website and online resources to support and strengthen your language learning
Deutsch Welle –DW Themen – global news in in German with story links to videos and audio
Deutsch Welle – Deutsch Lernen – home to "Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten" a daily audio news at a slower speed with transcript, Deutschtrainer feature and many links to other learner websites.
Thisislanguage.com – hundreds of authentic videos with interactive activities to complete, and some good grammar videos for revision prior to A Level. Log in required – contact Mrs Attwell to set up.
Goethe on Demand – lots of German films to stream on Vimeo free until 30/06/2020
ARD Mediathek – Geman films and TV streaming site (a bit like BBC iPlayer)
Goethe Institut A Level Site – Topic links for the A Level. Start with Family Life and do some reading and watching around this topic.
Step into German – lots of cultural learning and fun to be had on this website; German songs with lyrics, podcasts about current music and cinema, and a short film of the month to watch (with English subtitles) – put the website language into English, if you need help.
A Top 10 of German Magazines – with descriptions to help you choose which may be best for you. Simply click on the links and find something to read that interests you.