‘Bridging the Gap’ A Level German Transition

Contents: ● Why study German? ● Preparing for A Level ● A Level Language Essentials ● Suggested weekly activities ● Film, TV, Book Recommendations ● Key websites

1 The Benefits of Learning German Studying A level German not only will enable you to learn the German language, but also you will gain in-depth insight into the cultural, social, political and artistic aspects of the German-speaking country/countries you will study.

Follow these links to find out some of thebenefits of learning German - 4 reasons to learn a language https://www.ted.com/talks/ john_mcwhorter_4_reasons_to_learn_a_new_language?utm _source=tedcomshare&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tedspread

- 7 secrets from Ted translators https://blog.ted.com/how-to-learn-a-new-language-7-secrets-from-ted- translators/

- The benefits of bilingualism https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2018/03/27/learn-foreign-language- benefits-bili ngualism/ Why learn German? https://www.fluentu.com/blog/german/why-learn-german/ ______Further research Find out some basic facts about the geography, history, politics and culture of Germany and one other German-speaking country. Here’s a link to a helpful website - https://www.tatsachen-ueber-deutschland.de/de/jugend Preparing for A Level Organisation Organisation is key to success in any A Level. To have a strong start to the year, prepare the following: -1 Lever Arch Folder -Dividers in the folder, labelled with the following titles: 1/ Die Umwelt – the environment 2/ Das deutsche Schulsystem – the german school system 3/ Die Welt der Arbeit – the world of work 4/ Die Musik – music 5/ Die Medien – media 6/ Feste und Tradition – Festivals and Tradition 7/ Grammar 8/ Das Leben der Anderen – Film Study – The Lives of Others - A4 lined paper

2 A Level Language Essentials It’s important to start Year 12 equipped with the essentials. Below are four tasks which aim to develop your knowledge of key verbs and more sophisticated language structures.

3 Suggested weekly activities

Independent work is key to be successful at A Level. Here is a suggestion of tasks you can do, to keep up your German! ● Read/watch/listen toat least one article/news video every week, print it, translate the words you don’t understand and use the Cornell note taking technique to summarise it in English or even in simple German! Make a note of 10 new words you looked up. ● Go to the last page ‘Useful Websites’ to find a range of news article websites. ❏ Remember to file the work in your independent work section in your folder, so you can be proud of how much you have done

● Do some grammarexercises on a regular basis. See the ‘Useful websites’ section at the end of this document to find recommended grammar websites. You could also complete the grammar exercises and translation in your Stimmt! Grammar book. ❏ Remember to file the work in your independent work section in your folder, so you can be proud of how much you have done

● Have fun learning German and about German culture ! Look through the book, film and TV recommendations on the next page and have a go! You will be surprised how quickly your language improves by just having a go at a few of these suggestions. Viel Spaß! ❏ Remember to file the work in your independent work section in your folder, so you can be proud of how much you have done

4 Just for fun! German book, film and TV recommendations Here is a list of recommendations for you to watch and read in your own time. It is perfectly fine for you to watch the films/tv series with subtitles, if anything this will help you pick up more of the target language being used as well as bilingual translations of the books, or reading a plot summary in English first so that you get the gist whilst reading the German. FILMS: Das Leben der Anderen(The Lives of Others) – set in East Germany during the Cold War, following the lives of the STASI and artisits. Goodbye Lenin!– set in East Germany before, during and after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Almanya – Willkommen in Deutschland– the story of three generations of a Tu r k i s h immigrant family in Germany. Die Fetten Jahre sind vorbei – three activists are forced to kidnap a businessman when their campaign goes wrong… Die Welle –An experiment led by a secondary school teacher to demonstrate what life is like under a dictatorship that spins horribly out of control… KeinOhrHasen+ ZweiOhrKüken - (romantic comedy – a bit of light relief!) Press reporter Ludo is sentenced to 8 months, but is released on probation on the condition that he works 300 hours for a local day care centre…. TV: Deutschland ’83, Deutschland ’86, Deutschland ’89– tv drama set in East Germany during the Berlin Wall. Further recommendations for TV box sets: https://medium.com/@germanyinuk/the-best-german-tv-shows-streaming-right-now-in- the-uk-9ab 9f01e4b07

BOOKS: Harry Potter - all the Harry Potter books are free to download on Amazon in German. Die Verwandlung/ Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka– there are several free online versions in German and English. Der Besuch der alten Dame by Friedrich Dürrenmatt– an A Level text, copies in German and English available to buy online. German Stories/ Deutsche Erzählungen: A Bilingual Anthology by Harry Steinhauer– a collection of short stories by famous German authors in both German and English.

5 Extending your learning - Useful websites

Look at these websites. They will be invaluable during your A level German course. Visit each one and make notes on their usefulness and purpose.

General help https://www.thoughtco.com/german-4133073

Slowly-spoken news http://www.dw.com/de/deutsch-lernen/nachrichten/s-8030

News in 100 seconds in German https://www.tagesschau.de/multimedia/video/video-413501.html

Listening and Reading on a range of cultural topics https://slowgerman.com/

Links to listening https://www.learning-german-online.org/listening-comprehension

Where is German spoken in the world? http://www.fr.de/kultur/sprachen-289-millionen-menschen-sprechen-deutsch- a-370615

Great video clips http://www.spiegel.de/video/

A fun way to practise listening (and singing!) http://www.lyricstraining.de

Verb practice https://german.net/exercises/verbs/

Grammar Practice and explanation https://coerll.utexas.edu/gg/

Translator in context https://www.linguee.com/

German Pronunciation (Excellent preparation for speaking tests!) http://www.acapela-group.com/text-to-speech-interactive-demo.html

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