German Upper Intermediate (Full Syllabus)

This year-long online course will train you to discuss and debate more complex topics in German at a more advanced level. You will read authentic resources, such as newspapers and biographies, and draw on elements of German culture, such as politics, education, film and food to have in-depth conversations with your tutor and peers.

Our class sizes are small, so we can tailor the topics around your areas of interest and there will be plenty of opportunities for one-to-one support.

By the end of the 30 weeks you will be communicating at a high CEFR B2 level of the Common European Framework Reference of language learning.

Who is it for?

Join us here if you have completed our intermediate syllabus or have studied formally elsewhere for at least 180 hours. You may have a rusty A-level qualification or may have lived in a German speaking country for some time, or you can speak at CEFR B1 level. See the eligibility section.

Timetable

This course takes place one evening a week at 18:30 for 10 weeks.

The course includes 60 hours of learning and 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.

Benefits

• It’s cheaper to sign up for the full course than paying for each part separately
• Improve your communication with German-speakers
• Learn from a highly qualified German tutor alongside a small group of peers
• Learn at an established London university.

By the end of this course you will be able to:

* speak fluently on prepared topics and vocabulary
* talk about the future and make hypotheses
* give notions of time and duration
* express enthusiasm, indifference and dislikes, with an enriched and expanded vocabulary
* express intention, judgement and opinions
* justify choices, approve and disapprove
* talk about social current affairs and modern society in German-speaking countries
* handle scenarios involved in moving abroad
* talk in detail about health and the environment
* discuss news and current affairs with a critical approach
* write formal/ informal emails expressing disagreement/ agreement
* use vocabulary and expressions when comparing, disagreeing and expressing intention
* use argumentation – developing a critical point of view on a topic.

Grammatical structures:

* revision of all tenses, including present, future, conditional, perfect and imperfect
* pronouns: possessive, reflexive, relativen pronous
* comparative and superlative
* restriction and negation
* conditional and past conditional
* consolidation of place and time adverbs and connectives
* impersonal forms and passive sentences
* word order in subordinate clauses with conjunctions
* prepositions after verbs and adjectives

Assessment and certificates

There is no formal assessment, and you won’t receive a qualification, but you will be awarded an official City St George's, University of London certificate on completion of the course. You must attend over 70 per cent of the classes to be eligible for the certificate.
Although there isn’t an exam, your tutor will assess and feedback on your progress throughout the course, helping you to continue improving and developing your skills.
Teaching

Teaching on the course involves a variety of styles. Some activities are led by the tutor, while others involve role-play, pair work and group work. You will also need to do some independent research in your own time and bring this to the lesson. We mix group teaching with digital learning via our e-learning platform, Moodle.

It is the right level if one of the following applies:

* you can communicate at CEFR B1 level, according to the Common European Framework Reference of languages
* You have completed our full German intermediate syllabus, or equivalent elsewhere (at least 180 hours of formal study)
* You have a rusty A-level or have lived in a German speaking country for some time.

You should already be able to:

* Use a variety of conjunctions to connect clauses such as ‘obwohl, damit, nachdem’
* Use the Perfect Tense confidently to talk about past events
* Understand short authentic resources such as news videos
* Express your opinion and views using a variety of expressions
* Speak about future plans and daily activities at work and at home

English requirements

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