Students studying a degree in Modern languages must choose a second language between the ones which The University of Deusto offers, including Chinese, German, Italian and French. In all the languages you start from the beginning. Last year, the book used in the German Language was Schritte International 1 written by Daniela Niebisch, Sylvette Penning-Hiemstra, Franz Specht, Monika Bovermann and Monika Reimann, and in the second year the book we are using is the sequel of the former called Schrritte International 2.
There are lots of reasons why studying German, as The Goethe-Insitut, a public German cultural institution which encourages the knowledge of the German language abroad as well as teaching the German culture and traditions, explains:
“Whatever plans you may have for the future, knowledge of German will increase your options. When you learn German you acquire a range of skills which can improve the quality of both your work and private life: Business, The global career, Tourism and hospitality industry, Science and Research, Communication, Cultural understanding…”.
After finishing both books, the level you will have gotten is A1 that according to The European framework of Reference for Languages will be Basic User. A Basic User is able to:
” Understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrasesaimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type. Can introduce him/herself and others and can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where he/she lives, people he/she knows and things he/she has. Can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help”.
Both books prepare the students for the Prüfung Start Deutsch 1, which is the exam for the A1 level. Each lesson begins with an entertaining photo audio story which introduces you to the units. In each books there is a total of 7 lessons, and although they are short lessons, it make learning easier. There are also some games to interact with partners as well as some reading and listening exams.
References:
- © Hueber, Schritte International 1. 16.12.2010, Consultation date: December 15, 2010. From: <http://www.hueber.es/huebershop/detail.html?refresh=true&action=show&isbn=978-3-19-001851-2&elka_id=345738&selected_elka_id=345738&theme=hes&redirect=true>
- © Hueber, Schritte International 2, 16.12.2010, Consultation date: December 15, 2010. From: <http://www.hueber.es/huebershop/detail.html?action=show&elka_id=345739&isbn=978-3-19-001852-9&selected_elka_id=499556&p=407983:407984:499554:499556>
- The Goethe-Institut, Ten Reasons to learn German, 2010, Consultation Date: December 15, 2010. From<http://www.goethe.de/lrn/prj/zgd/en867247.htm>
- The council of Europe, Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: learning, teaching, assessment, Conultation Date: December 15, 2010. From: <http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/source/Framework_EN.pdf>
Filed under: German Language 
