Fall 2024-Courses in German

For more information, please visit https://classes.berkeley.edu/(link is external)

German 1: Elementary German I

5 units

Classes meet three or five times a week. All four foreign language skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening) are addressed to help students acquire communicative competence in the German language while being sensitized to the links between language and culture.

German 1 is for students with no prior knowledge of German.


German 2: Elementary German II

5 units

Classes meet three or five times a week. In German 2, students will continue to develop communicative competence in the German language and expand their sensitivity toward the relationship between language and culture. While all language skills will be addressed, additional emphasis will be on the various styles of written and spoken German. Prerequisite: German 1 or equivalent.


German 3: Intermediate German I
Topics in German Language and Cultural History

5 Units

Classes meet three or five times a week. While continuing to expand students’ communicative competence in German, this content-driven course will provide insights into postwar German history and cultural trends. The primary focus will be on the development of literacy skills (critical reading and writing), vocabulary expansion, and a thorough review of structural concepts. Students will be guided toward expressing themselves on more abstract topics, such as language and power in society, multiculturalism, rebellion and protest, and social justice, and toward drawing connections between texts and contexts by using a variety of text genres (journalistic, historical, short story, poetry, drama, advertising, film).


German 4: Intermediate German II
Topics in German Language and Culture

5 Units

Classes meet three or five times a week. In this fourth-semester German language course, students work on strengthening their interpretative abilities as well as their written and oral forms of expression. While continuing the development of communicative competence and literacy skills, students will discuss a variety of texts and films and try to find innovative ways in which to engage with familiar presuppositions about who we are, about what determines our values and actions, and about the function and power of language.


German 100: Introduction to Reading Culture

4 Units
Instructor: Jeroen Dewulf

This course offers an introduction to the history of German literature, with a focus on reading culture. This course is intended to acquaint students with selected works from German cultural history and to familiarize them with various methods of interpretation and analysis. Required for all German majors. Fulfills the Letters & Science requirement in Arts and Literature or International Studies. Taught in German. Students with native fluency in German are only eligible to enroll if instructor approves.
Prerequisite: German 4 or equivalent proficiency level in German.

Taught in German.


German 101: Advanced German Conversation, Composition, and Style

4 Units
Instructor: Niko Euba

Focusing on five central themes, this advanced-level language course will help students improve and expand on spoken and written language functions by utilizing a variety of works from different genres in journalism, broadcasting, literature, fine arts, and cinema. The final goal is to enable students to participate in the academic discourse (written and spoken) to a linguistic and stylistic level appropriate for advanced students of German in upper-division courses. Fulfills the Letters & Science breadth requirement in Arts and Literature or International Studies. Taught in German. Students with native fluency in German are not eligible to enroll. Prerequisite: German 4.

Taught in German.


German 102D:

Advanced Language Practice: Pop Culture in German-speaking Countries

3 Units
Instructor: Sabine Lenz

Focusing on popular culture in German-speaking countries, this advanced-level language course will help students to improve and expand on spoken and written language functions utilizing a variety of works from different genres in journalism, broadcasting, literature, fine arts, music and the cinema. Readings, screenings, discussions, and writing assignments will advance students’ language skills and further develop their communicative competencies in German at a linguistic and stylistic level appropriate for an advanced student.

Taught in German.