German Group Classes

3 Basic and 3 Intermediate levels plus German for Travelers

Classes meet once per week for 2.5 hours

Small class size (max. 9 students)

Experienced, native-speaking teachers

Four 10-week terms per year

Affordable tuition

Conveniently located at Dupont Circle

$340 for 1 level, $20 early-sign up discount through Sept. 1, 2010

The German Language Program at ILI consists of four 10-week terms throughout the year. We are offering three Basic and three Intermediate levels. In addition, we are also offering now German for Travelers. Classes meet at the Institute once a week in the evening or on Saturday mornings. Our teachers are all native-speaking and experienced. The German Language Program integrates speaking, listening, reading and writing. We maintain small class sizes to enable adequate time for conversation in every class. To find your level, please refer to the level description or use our self-evaluation guide. If you have further questions, please call Francisco Todd, ILI's Foreign Language Coordinator, at 202-686-5610 ext. 105.

Level Description

Basic 1: The emphasis of this beginner class is on pronunciation, vocabulary building, basic grammar, and basic conversation. This course is for those students with little or no ability in the language. Introduction to basic listening, reading, speaking and writing skills will be addressed throughout the course. Dialogues, readings, and cultural notes included are depicted in what life is like in Germany today. Previous German not required. Basic 1A and C are identical in content.

Objective:	To introduce German to students who never took the language at school or had German in their lives at all. This course aims to provide beginning students with a practical basic command of the language.
Learning Outcome:	At the end of this course, students will be able to engage in basic conversations about most common everyday situations and write simple notes and phrases. Such functional skills as self-introduction, seeking and finding information, expressing interests, looking for housing, shopping, discussing family, friends, cultural celebrations, and entertainment options, telling time, and making plans will be acquired.
Topics:	Regular and irregular verbs in the present tense, simple past tense, possessive adjectives, plural forms of German nouns, gender of nouns, alphabet, colors, numbers, telling time, ask basic questions, use of the definite and indefinite articles, prepositions, pronouns, nominatives, accusatives, word order and cases, expressions of time and season, and imperatives.
Textbook:	"Deutsch: Na klar!", 5th edition, $110 and workbook "Deutsch: Na klar!", $60
Lessons:	Introduction and chapters 1-4 & additional workbook exercises & complementary culture and vocabulary units. Supplementary listening material.

Basic 1A: Tuesdays: 6:15 pm - 8:45 pm
Basic 1C: Saturdays: 10 am - 12:30 pm

Basic 2: This course is the continuation of the Basic 1 level and for students who have taken formal instruction a while ago, or have previous informal exposure to the language. Building on the introductory level, students will learn to conduct simple conversations on a range of everyday subjects. Listening, reading, speaking and writing skills will be addressed throughout the course.

Objective:	Students will build on their vocabulary, grammar, listening, and communicative skills by acquiring more sophisticated forms and applications to be able to express their ideas and desires easily at a basic beginner’s level.
Learning Outcome:	Upon completing this level, students will be able to converse comfortably on most everyday routine situations speaking in the present and past tenses. Students will acquire additional vocabulary to discuss a range of topics including clothing, grocery shopping, ordering in restaurants, sports, hobbies, the seasons, the weather, health, accommodations, and getting around town.
Topics:	The past participle, present perfect, dative, genitive, conjunctions, comparatives, interrogatives, adjectives, and adverbs, demonstrative pronouns, accusative pronouns, da- and wo- compounds, prepositional contractions, ordinal numbers, stem changing verbs, independent and dependent clauses, and complementary infinitives.
Textbook:	"Deutsch: Na klar!", 5th edition, $110 and workbook "Deutsch: Na klar!", $60
Lessons:	Chapters 5-9 & additional workbook exercises with complementary culture and vocabulary units. Supplementary listening material.

Basic 2: Thursdays: 6:15 pm - 8:45 pm

Basic 3: This course is ideal for those who have a basic foundation in German. Students will continue to build upon the competencies acquired in Basic 2 to improve on their listening and speaking skills through structured dialogues and other practical activities. This level continues to expand necessary grammar skills that will enable students to understand, read, write and translate sentences and paragraphs. This course is well-suited for students who have completed at least one semester of college-level German or the equivalent at a language institute.

Objective:	Continuing to build upon the previously learned skills, students will acquire additional vocabulary and grammatical forms to enable them to engage in complex conversations and to write proficiently Students will also be introduced to contemporary life and culture in German-speaking countries.
Learning Outcome:	By the end of this course, students will be able to express their ideas with a full command of standard grammatical forms and on topics such as traveling, the future, professional life, finances, media and technology, global issues and the environment. The average student will have acquired an active vocabulary of approximately 1,200 words together with many more words in speech and writing. The student is ready for intermediate level courses.
Topics:	Narrative, descriptive, and indirect forms of speech, comparisons, attributes, the past perfect, and the future, negatives, the subjunctive, reflexive verbs, modals, relative clauses and pronouns, passive and impersonal passive voices.
Textbook:	"Deutsch: Na klar!", 5th edition, $110 and workbook "Deutsch: Na klar!", $60
Lessons:	Chapters 10-14 & additional workbook exercises with complementary culture and vocabulary units. Supplementary listening material.

Basic 3: Wednesdays: 6:15 pm - 8:45 pm

Intermediate 1: This low Intermediate level course presupposes a basic knowledge of German. This class is ideal for those who studied German a long time ago and need a refresher, and those who have studied basic grammar but don't feel as though they can adequately use it in conversation. Also, this course is ideal for those who grew up in German-speaking families but never took a formal German course. Listening, reading, speaking and writing skills, vocabulary, and grammar are integral components the course.

Objective:	To introduce students to a variety of strategies for learning German at home or at the office and to practice at the institute. This program will focus on the development of all four language skills, listening, speaking, reading, and writing; together with a fifth skill, culture, which is an integral part of this program.
Learning Outcome:	Students will be comfortable having a conversation based on daily events and to express their ideas in writing. Students will be familiar with appropriate vocabulary and will know the necessary grammatical structures to briefly discuss traveling, literature, and environmental concerns.
Topics:	Students will review and expand their knowledge of verb conjugations, composite and verbal nouns, prepositions, direct and indirect object constructions, the imperative, infinitive usages, possessives, and conjunctions.
Textbook:	“Anders Gedacht: Text and Context in the German-Speaking World”, $120
Lessons:	Introduction & Einheit 1-2 and varied supplementary material.

Intermediate 1: Mondays: 6:15 pm - 8:45 pm

Intermediate 2: This course is for the student who is at a mid-intermediate level and who is looking for stronger reading comprehension and writing skills. Students at this level need to have a solid foundation of the language, and are looking to expand their knowledge of the more complex forms of German. Listening, reading, speaking and writing skills will be addressed throughout the course.

Objective:	To become much more comfortable understanding and using the proper verb tenses as they relate to moods while speaking German. This program will continue to focus on the development of all four language skills, listening, speaking, reading, and writing; together with a fifth skill, culture, which is an integral part of this program.
Learning Outcome:	Students will be able to comfortably explain past events in both past tenses during routine conversations and plan activities in future tenses. Students will acquire a wider use of idiomatic expressions and will become more comfortable navigating German Internet sites.
Topics:	By studying about multiculturalism, music, and the historical aspects of Switzerland, Germany, and Austria, students will review uses of the infinitive, the subjunctive, auxiliary and reflexive verbs, relative clauses, the passive, and the possessive forms.
Textbook:	“Anders Gedacht: Text and Context in the German-Speaking World”, $120
Lessons:	Einheit 3-5 and varied supplementary material.

Intermediate 2: Wednesdays: 6:15 pm - 8:45 pm

Intermediate 3: This is the final conversational review grammar based course. This course is for students who are at a high intermediate level and don’t feel ready for the more advanced levels. Students at this level are able to handle everyday conversations with ease but are eager to expand their cultural and idiomatic knowledge of German, as well as wrap-up their learning of advanced grammar. Listening, reading, speaking and writing skills will be addressed throughout the course.

Objective:	This level will end covering all the grammatical structures needed to send the student into real-life situations speaking German and to get them ready for the more advanced courses. To have full command of the language’s most important verb tenses. This program will continue to focus on the development of all four language skills, listening, speaking, reading, and writing; together with a fifth skill, culture, which is an integral part of this program.
Learning Outcome:	Students will be able have a conversation with native speakers about different subjects using the right conjugations and right words when talking or expressing specific points of view. They will become familiar and comfortable using the more complex verb tenses and idiomatic expressions.
Topics:	By discussing the Holocaust and how to overcome tragedy, familiarizing themselves with the art scene in Germany, aspects of German history, and the German cinema, students will review and master grammatical forms such as complex infinitive constructions, conjunctions, subjunctives, adjectival modalities, the participle, relative clauses, the passive, negatives, comparatives and superlatives, indicatives and demonstratives.
Textbook:	“Anders Gedacht: Text and Context in the German-Speaking World”, $120
Lessons:	Einheit 6-9 and varied supplemental material.

Intermediate 3: Thursdays: 6:15 pm - 8:45 pm

German for Travelers: This course is designed with the social traveler in mind. Using a phrase book/travelers guide the student will practice basic phrases for everyday use while traveling, through in-classroom role-plays, enabling them to communicate instantly on a host of topics: restaurants, shopping, hotel check-ins, health and medical situations, essential services, boat, plane and train travel, much more. Vacation travelers will find everything they need for a smooth, successful trip with the combination of the use of the phrase book/travelers guide and real-life classroom instruction. Tuition: $160.

Textbook: Phrase Book, cost included in the tuition.

Length of program: Saturdays, 12:30-2:30 pm; 5 weeks.

Program Details

2010 Schedule:

Winter Term	Jan. 11 - Mar. 20, 2010	Deadline: Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Spring Term	Apr. 5 - June 12, 2010	Deadline: Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Summer Term	June 28 - Sept. 4, 2010	Deadline: Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Fall Term	Sept. 20 - Dec. 4, 2010	Deadline: Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Tuition: $340 for one level. Early sign-up discount through Sept. 1, 2010: $20 for one level. $160 for Traveler class. Please click here to apply on-line.

Duration: Classes meet once weekly in the evening or on Saturday mornings for 10 weeks. Each session is 2.5 hours.

Refunds: No refunds are issued once classes have started.

Textbooks: May be purchased at the time of registration or at the Institute before or on the first day of class. Prices are subject to change at any time.

Attendance & Tardiness Policy: It is important for students to attend every class meeting. It is also important that they arrive on time for class. We cover a lot of material in each class. The instructor cannot repeat material for students who are absent or come late. Students will be marked absent when they do not come to class. Students who arrive 15 minutes after the advertised starting time will be marked late. For every 3 times that the student is marked as late, it will count as a missed hour. If we notice that a student’s attendance is in danger of falling below 70%, we will issue an attendance report to the student.

Performance Measurements: Our program requires each student to participate in weekly quizzes, which will be graded, based on a “Pass” or “Fail” system. There will be a final quiz that will measure the sum of the instructional objectives for the course. Grades are verbally communicated to students at the end of each class/course, and are marked on the attendance/performance sheet. Students must have completed and passed at least 70% of the quizzes to move to the next level.

ACCET Certification: ILI’s foreign language group programs are now accredited by ACCET (Accrediting Council for Continuing Education & Training), and we also offer 2.5 Continuing Education Units (CEU’s) per every successfully completed course, 5.0 for the accelerated courses. Upon request, our Certificates of Completion can include the CEU’s earned per semester.

Certificates of Completion: We issue certificates at the end of the semester and they can be ordered at the front desk. In order to be eligible to receive a certificate or pass to the next level, you are required to attend a minimum of 70% of the classes and have a “Passing” grade. We will need a couple of days in order to verify your attendance and passing grade before issuing the certificate.

Inclement Weather: Classes are cancelled in accordance with federal government closings (not school closings!) due to inclement weather. Please check public announcements on radio, TV and the Web; or call ILI at (202) 362-2505.

Cancellation/Substitution: The International Language Institute reserves the right to cancel any class if deemed necessary. Prior to commencement of class, students will be given a full refund. In the event of cancellation after the commencement of class, the pro-rata portion of the unexpended tuition will be refunded within $5. The prorated amount of refundable monies will be determined by the ratio of classes completed to the total number of classes in the scheduled program. The International Language Institute reserves the right to assign substitute instructors whenever necessary.

Location: See address below.

Questions? Please call Francisco Todd, Foreign Language Coordinator of ILI, at 202-686-5610 extension 105.