Introductory German - what is it like? (2 Viewers)

[jaimebien]

I'm doing a unit of introductory German in Semester Two. I have also picked Junior French Advanced. While doing French in high school has equipped me with the skills to learn a new language, I wonder what it's really like at uni level. Of course, you have to put in a lot of work to do well, but how much guidance is there for the course (even more important because this is a language)? I mean guidance as in actual help, not just learning from a lecturer speaking all the way in front.

Finally, how do most people cope with the work of doing a language with the rest of the their subjects? I'm doing humanities subjects and I realise that there will be a lot of reading and writing.

(In Semester 1, I'm doing one unit of each of the following: Media and Communications, English, History, French.

For Semester 2, one unit of: Media and Communications, English, French, German.)

 

[jb_nc]

Grunts and guttural sounds, mostly.

 

[ledzeppelin]

From what others tell me, French at Sydney is not very good, at least in first year anyway
If you've studied another language, I don't think you'd have too much trouble with Introductory German

 

[jaimebien]

I tried calling the language department today and it wasn't available. On the enrolment day, I spoke to some American lecturers who taught Yiddish...can't say they were very helpful in giving advice.

Anyway, I'm perserving with the jnr units of French because the snr units deal with French literature and cinema.

 

[xxstef]

well im not in uni yet, but i do german. good choice!

i went the other way, im doing german extension atm, but also learning french myself (past beginners level now, yay!). learning the 2nd language is definitely easier coz you know good techniques.

go for it, itll be fun. (and yes, if i happen to do arts, im planning on doing german, french and spanish!)

 

[jaimebien]

xxstef, I'm definitely looking forward to it! My concern now is how to cope with learning two languages simultaneously. My high school French teacher said that it shouldn't be a problem since I'm learning French at an advanced level and German at a beginner's level. How are you coping with German and French in high school? (I mean, I know it's not uni, but surely some skills and universal.)

 

[xxstef]

well im not doing french for my hsc, im just learning it myself coz i like learning languages, so i guess its a little different.

i think you'll find german quite easy to begin with. then the grammar gets harder and itll take a while to get your head around word order (which isnt a problem with french coz its so similar to english word order - i.e. i say german is harder than french), but after a little while the correct word order becomes natural and its pretty much vocab from then on.

its better that youre doing one at adv level and one at beginners,and that theyre from different language families, that way you wont get them mixed up.really, its just like another totally different subject.

anyway, enough rambling, hope that helps and have fun!

 

[D.]

Although it was back in 1st semester 2006, intro. German @ USyd was in my experience not very good. The course materials were poorly chosen, and it was run by a foreign exchange post-grad student who, while competent in her own right, was soon replaced by another meaning it had no permanent co-ordinator from what I could tell. Hopefully, though things have changed.

 

[jaimebien]

Can you tell me more about what it was like? How much one-on-one was there? I mean, I know at uni that's a lot to ask, but it is still a language.

At the moment, my biggest concern is that I'll be doing advanced French and intro German in the first semester. I reakky do want to study German a lot but if a poor course means I'll have to put even more time and effort into excelling in it, maybe I might not be able to cope with two languages in one semester. I was thinking of swapping German with a history unit I had planned to do in Semester 1 in the second year. What do you think?

 

[LaurenHarvey]

Advanced French is terribly dreary that is more of a concern lol

 

[xxstef]

german isnt thaat hard. im sure with your already gotten language learning skills, you'll find it alright.

 

[jaimebien]

Haha, yeah. Well, I've decided to take German in the second year instead and do a History unit instead this semester. The reason I chose to do that was because the initial plan meant I would do zero German in the second year and that would make it hard to pick up again in the third year. After swapping, I can do German (and French) each year.