Hallo und Guten Morgen/Tag/Abend an alle!

German 101 is just starting up! Welcome! Willkommen!
(Multilingual "Welcome" audioclip from old popular movie.)

After many years with all sections meeting in the same classroom, we have been assigned to three totally different classrooms, in two buildings, and with new technology in them. We practiced in them the week before classes, but there will probably be some confusion early in the quarter. Please be patient and flexible.

Several sections are full, and the others are close to it. Undoubtedly there are people who want to take the course but who are not yet registered, or are not registered in the section they really want. We expect to be able to accommodate everyone, but we may have to ask some people to register in a class other than the one they actually attend. (You are free to attend any meeting of any section - it's like having an unlimited use membership in a health club!)

As enrollment allows, the people who are waiting to get in will be accepted. Instructors will take attendance particularly carefully during the first week of class. Any one who is already registered for the course but does not attend at least one class during the first week can expect to be dropped from the course so that someone from the waiting list can be admitted. Where we think that someone in the course already has enough previous German (from classroom or from life) to be in a higher-level course, we will strongly encourage that person to visit the other courses. We will handle the re-registration later so that the person can return to our course if the other course is truly unsuitable.

The section staffing (contact info) is:

Staff contact information is available via the links above or on the course home page (to the upper left). Office hours will be added shortly.

On the first day of class, your instructor will conduct some "get-acquainted" activities, deal with general bureaucratic matters, and of course soon get into the teaching and learning of German. Sometime during the first week Dr. Fischer will visit and will present the background of the course (goals, policies), describe and demonstrate course materials, and answer questions of general interest. (Please save matters that concern yourself only for discussion, phone call, email OUTSIDE of class!).You will receive or download a basic course handout that introduces materials, policies, schedules, and the first assignment, which will be to get in touch with your instructor by email and to make sure you can keyboard the special German characters (ä/ö/ü/Ä/Ö/Ü/ß).

On the first day of class you will also receive the course CD-ROM, Wie, bitte? - Introductory German for Proficiency. It is used both for in-class teaching and for learning outside of class. The CD-ROM is the equivalent of a textbook package except: 1) you get it for free; 2) it has far more media resources than any printed textbook can have, and access to the media is much more convenient than with a book and an audio program.

There is no pre-printed textbook, since we're now well into the 21st century. But you can print text versions of many of the materials; files are on your CD and also on the course website. Please care for trees - print only what you really need, and try to find a two-sided printer.

During the first two weeks of class, particularly, we will also be promoting language learning by: 1) explaining best current thought and practice in language pedagogy; 2) inventorying your learning styles and presenting a range of learning strategies; 3) helping you locate and explore the learning materials; 4) determining proper placement of anyone in the course who has had previous experience with the language, whether in school, in the family, or through life experiences. Since enrollment is very high this year, we will be particularly energetic about encouraging "false beginners" who have already acquired the proficiency equivalent to German 101/102/103 to move to a course at a higher level. For most sections of first-year German, there is a section of second-year German that meets on the same days and at the same time.