German Beginners (full syllabus)

Did you know German and English follow similar grammatical rules? Join our small but lively German beginners class and you’ll be surprised by how much you can learn in a year.

Focusing on practical communication, you’ll explore key topics for business and travel, including introductions and occupations, ordering food in a restaurant, shopping and making travel arrangements.

You’ll develop an understanding of regular and irregular verbs in the present and perfect tenses, gender nouns and articles, as well as formal and informal word structures.

Your tutor will use a mix of media to also introduce elements of German culture into your learning.

Who is it for?

If you’re completely new to German, this course will get you started. You’ll gain a complete beginners knowledge of German over one year.

Timetable

The course is taught face-to face in central London and includes 60 hours of learning. It is taught across three terms, starting in October and finishing in July.

October – December (part 1)

• One evening per week (two-hour lessons) for 10 consecutive weeks.

Christmas Break

January – March (part 2)

• One evening per week (two-hour lessons) for 10 consecutive weeks.

Easter break

April/May – July (part 3)

• One evening per week (two-hour lessons) for 10 consecutive weeks.

Missed the October start date? We have other options available, starting in January or in April/May.

Benefits

• Taught in central London over one year, this course covers the full beginners syllabus (parts 1-3) at the lowest price
• Communicate at CEFR A1/A2 level of the Common European Framework Reference of languages
• Learn from experienced native speaker and gain a certificate from a London university

Throughout the year, you’ll learn to

• introduce yourself and talk about your family, jobs, professions and hobbies
• master the alphabet and German pronunciation
• use numbers, ask for and tell the time
• ask for information
• book a hotel room
• describe what happened at the weekend
• describe people, places and events
• express opinions, likes and dislikes
• talk about the distant past
• say where things are, give directions.

Grammatical structures

• including questions, answers and statements
• formal and informal structures (DU/SIE)
• present tense of regular and irregular verbs as well as the verbs "to have" (haben) and "to be" (sein)
• negative sentences, negation of nouns (nicht/kein)
• gender, articles and plural of nouns
• measurement nouns
• word order
• separable verbs
• modal verbs, prepositions with accusative and dative case
• perfect tense (regular and irregular), perfect tense with sein and haben
• comparative and superlative
• dative and accusative case in a sentence, direct and indirect object.

Chapters one to ten of the Willkommen course book will be covered.

You will be awarded an official City, University of London certificate on completion of the course if you attend over 70 per cent of the classes. The course is not formally accredited.

Assessment

Any assessment will be informal to help you evaluate your own progress.

Teaching

Your fun and interactive classes might include:

• role-playing
• classroom discussion
• pair and group work
• work on pronunciation and intonation
• grammar in context.

You’ll learn about elements of German culture with audio and video clips. Your homework will include more comprehensive grammar exercises and reading texts.

You will receive feedback from your tutor throughout the course. We’ll assess your progress on an on-going basis through homework and in class.

This course is aimed at those who have no prior experience of the language.

Know a little already? Skip the very basics and enrol onto part 2 or part 3 of the German Beginners course.

English requirements

You will need a good level of spoken and written English to enrol on this course.