German Classes, Intermediate to Advanced

by Annelize Esterhuizen

Our South Africa-Tübingen group this year consists of students from all over South Africa, all with different backgrounds and essentially different levels of German knowledge. As part of the program we were to receive further instruction in the German language. For this reason we were divided into two different groups, namely the beginners and then the intermediate to advanced students.

Our group consists of only about ten students, most of which have a rather good comprehension of German. As a result we are able to talk more freely in class, all in German of course. Our teacher is fluent in English, but as part of the instruction she speaks only German in class. Also, whenever she asks us what a specific word means, we are first to define it in German before we venture to English. Yet it is very convenient that she is able to speak and understand English as it helps greatly whenever we are unable to express ourselves or find the correct word in German.

Our classes are mostly rather informal and this forms a very comfortable atmosphere. It allows us to be more confident and daring in our attempts at the German language. The classes are mostly arranged according to certain main topics, for example winter, how to complain in a restaurant, friendship, moods etcetera.

As an additional part of the course we are planning to attempt our own German production. We will perform this during a ceremony on Thursday 26 January 2006. We have not yet decided exactly what the production will be about, but our stay in Tübingen seems to be a good subject to get our creative juices flowing.

All in all the classes are very enjoyable and contribute greatly to improving our German skills even further.