Why study German?
What comes to your mind when you think about Germany? Sausages, Beer, Audi, Volkswagen? GUTEN TAG! All of you have experienced a German connection at some stage of your life, in fact, it is hard to escape since Europe has moved so much closer in recent years. Weather at school or on holiday you have used your German language skills more or less successfully and don’t we all know the exhilarating feeling when we actually managed to make ourselves understood. So, why not continue with your progress and perfect you skills further? Here at Hurtwood you can!
We offer GCSE courses and AS and A-Level qualifications, which lead to a wide range of opportunities at Universities in the UK and abroad. German will be considered an asset with many subject combination and would open up vast possibilities for combined degrees such as Economics and Business.
Apart from interpreting or translation, German linguists are also in demand for journalism, banking, sales and marketing, as well as tourism, broadcasting and hotel management.
What skills do I need?
To start an A-level in German we would expect a student to have studied German at GCSE level or similar and you would have mastered the fundamentals such as the basic rules of grammar; the formation and use of the main tenses, the common irregular verbs, and the genders. However, we are flexible and offer extra tuition to students who need to bridge the gap. Our A-level course goes much further than just learning the vocabulary and talking about set topics. We are learning how to improve our general study skills, how to debate current affairs and find out what is the best way to undertake extensive research in preparation for Unit 3 and Unit 5.1.
How German is taught at Hurtwood
We are able to offer an excellent learning environment- our classroom is equipped with a projector board, Internet/ Satellite link and individual listening facilities. Our students enjoy taking part in tailor- made lessons because of the luxury of having very small class sizes. And, we speak German not only in the lessons but all around the campus!
SPECIFICATIONS
We follow the EDEXCEL Specification and students’ knowledge is currently examined in six units as outlined below.
Please note that the new students arriving at Hurtwood in September 2008 will be taught according to the new revised specification.
For more details please visit
www.edexcel.co.uk
Unit 1: Listening and Writing (1 hour) – AS 30%; AL 15%
Students will be required to listen to authentic recorded German material and to retrieve and convey information by responding to a range of mainly German test types and by producing personal responses in German and a guided summary in English. |
Unit 2: Reading and Writing (2 hours) – AS 40%; AL 20%
Students will be required to read authentic, printed German material and to retrieve and convey information by responding to a range of mainly German test types. They will also be required to write 140-160 words in the form of a letter, report or article in German based on a short printed German stimulus.
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Unit 3: Prepared Oral Topic (10-12 minutes) – AS 30%; AL15%
Students will be required to prepare a topic dealing with an aspect of culture and/or society in Germany and to present this topic to and discuss it with the examiner.
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Unit 4: Oral Discussion of Issues (15 minutes) – AL 15%
Students will be required to undertake research into an issue relating to the culture and/or society in Germany and to present this issue to and discuss it with the examiner. They will further be required to express a particular stance and defend this stance when challenged.
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Unit 5: Texts (2 hours) – AL 15%
Students will be required to answer questions in German on each of two literary texts, which may be contemporary or classical.
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Unit 6: Listening, Reading and Writing in Registers (2¾ hours) AL 20%
Students will be required to listen to authentic recorded German material and to retrieve and convey information by answering questions and by producing a summary in English. They will also be required to read authentic German printed material and to retrieve and convey information by responding to German questions, and to carry out a short translation exercise from English into German. Finally, students are expected to produce an extended piece of writing in German in response to a question or text. This may take the form of creative writing, a discursive essay or a task-based assignment.
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Suggested reading
Authentik online
Zeitschrift Der Spiegel (erhältlich in unserer Bibliothek)
Zeitungen/ Zeitschriften online
EDEXCEL Specification www.edexcel.co.uk and Past papers
For Unit 5.1:
F. Dürrenmatt: Der Besuch der alten Dame
A German- speaking region
What skills do I need?
To start courses in A-level French, German, Italian or Spanish we would expect a student to have studied it at GCSE level and gained an A grade pass. However, it should not be thought that A-level work is just a continuation of GCSE. It would certainly be expected that students would have mastered the fundamentals such as the basic rules of grammar, the formation and use of the main tenses, the common irregular verbs, and the genders. This is rather like learning the rules of a game before starting to play it.
But the A-level course goes much further, involving the skills of translation, both into and from English, and studying works of literature by major novelists, poets and dramatists in the chosen language.
After A-level
We offer GCSE courses and AS and A-Level qualifications, which lead to a wide range of opportunities at Universities in the UK and abroad. German will be considered an asset with any other subject combination and would open up many possibilities for combined degrees such as Economics and Business.
Modern Languages mix well with any combination of A-level subjects, although care should be taken where you are wanting to take specialist courses in the Sciences at degree level. Proficiency in a language is highly regarded for Business and Science, as well as for Arts and Humanities courses. If you wish to read single or joint Honours courses in French, Spanish or German at University, it is essential to take the subject at A-level. Apart from interpreting or translation, linguists are also in demand for
journalism, banking, sales and marketing, as well as tourism, broadcasting and hotel management.
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