This intermediate course is designed to lead the student up to a level of language capacity from where he (she) can do more work of his (her) own when still acquiring the German language. According to our goal that consists in working towards the ZERTIFIKAT DaF (Deutsch als Fremdsprache), the content of this course has been shaped according to the requirements of that diploma.

In Detail:

Although in this course we stress the necessity of being active in speaking, we must emphasize in writing and reading capabilities since many of the students taking this course are law students and therefore they are supposed to work on German texts pretty soon in their student career.

Our point of departure is a course book on the late beginner or early intermediate level (presently Sprachkurs Deutsch 1 & 2) that provides basic insights into the functioning as well as the manifoldness of forms that characterize German. Since man has to acquire his knowledge of the world through his language, it is essential to develop a good descriptive language at an early stage, to the point where the student becomes able to express more and more situations that surround him (her) in everyday life.

The study of (surface) grammar is being enhanced and deepened according to the attained level. But in order to give a more coherent view of these grammatical entities, we will also have to study whole categories of words in their relationship to others, going well beyond the boundaries of any present textbook. Every category of word (in the conventional grammar) is being studied in depth. Moreover, we will emphasize on sentence pattern. Every student should become able in making sentences at his (her) own and not being dependent on the very few means of expression he (she) otherwise may copy from a course book.

A very important part of our learning will be the treatment of speech acts that should contribute to our better knowledge on how to respond to given sentences. In connection with this, there will be given many references to the