The First-Year German website (which you are using here) manages the bureaucratic part of the course and delivers the materials (schedule, assignments, etc.) that are particular to first-year German at Portland State University.

The learning materials are being developed for use beyond PSU. They are available in two ways: 1) on the DVD disk; 2) as files that can be downloaded and and used on your computer, viewed or played on mobile devices, or (some of them) printed on paper. The two collections contain many of the same materials, allowing of course for the HUGE difference between printed publications and computer-delivered resources. Here is a description of the two packages, followed by a comparative list of what they contain:

• Wie, bitte? main package DVDs (free of charge) will be distributed to new students during the first week of classes. Replacements will be readily available form your instructor and the WLL tech lab (NH Third Floor). Blank discs and duplications services are financed by your tech fee for the course, as are some of the laptops used by instructors.

• The Wie, bitte? main package is also available as a download, which is a particular value to those who use laptops without disk drives. The download is a single but very large compressed ("zipped") file. Download time over a private fast connection like Comcast is about half an hour. Over a PSU connection the file downloads in about 3 minutes. It will fit on a cheap thumbdrive (2 GB is enough), from which it can be copied to a laptop. Or you can unzip it to the thumbdrive and run it from there.

• The Wie, bitte? PDFs (link to download) are in the standard .pdf format and can be viewed on devices or printed on paper. The PDFs include dialogs, vocabulary lists, and the Reference Grammar. Of course you cannot mouse a word and hear it, as you can with the software. Since it would be prohibitively expensive for you to print each color graphic in the Wie, bitte? materials, those files are not offered here. Identical versions of the Wie, bitte? PDFs are on on the DVD (folder / directory "media", then folder / directory "WB_pdf_2008") and on the website via this link. The Wie, bitte? software also has a direct link to the printable files, by way of the "Main Resources" menu button.

• Some resources involve many sound links and would be confusing as conventional text files; these include the Kontext "Overviews" and "Structures" (grammar) sections. You can print them directly, for each Kontext, from the DVD, from within the Wie, bitte? software. The term "Kontext", instead of "chapter", is used because the fundamental teaching approach is not academic or "bookish", but rather communicative, and all communication occurs in contexts which shape the language that is used inthem.

• Some resources that are under revision are provided temporarily from the course website (link: "TEMPORARY Wie, bitte? Resources") and in alternate PDF files on the Wie, bitte? disk.

• You may also want to load the Wie, bitte? dialog audio files onto an audio player, smart phone, or notepad. From this link you can download all the dialogs as a single "zipped" file. You can also find the dialogs in the folder / directory "media" on your disk (more information).

• If you simply must print one of the Wie, bitte? graphics, there are ways to capture them from the screen and then print them. It is not the purpose of our program to teach that skill.

Here is a picture of the "Wie, bitte?" main screen after a Context has been selected. This will help you locate the buttons and fields mentioned in this Survey.

The chart below shows where each kind of resource is located in the Wie, bitte? courseware and the collection of printable files, where it is possible to have a printable file. Use this image of the Wie, bitte? navigation screen to help you locate the menu-buttons the chart mentions:

	The resources listed below exist in one or both of the two main packages. The DVD version is far more complete than the paper version.
Read across each row BELOW to see where its materials are located in the packages listed to the RIGHT.	Wie, bitte? on DVD	Wie, bitte? printable files (identical on disc and on website)
Top level organization (main parts of the package of learning materials)	On the Wie, bitte? opener screen, use the "Main Resources" button (at the left of every screen) to select basic learning materials.	Table of Contents (.pdf from course website)
Table of Contexts	Mouse “Choose Context” at the left of every major screen.	Table of Contents (.pdf from course website)
Book Covers	The Wie, bitte? startup splash screen shows a different graphic each time you start the software.	Front cover (pdf from course website) • Back cover (pdf from course website)
Kontext Overviews	Choose “Overview” from the “Context Resources” menu (available only after “Choose Context” has been used.	print from CD-ROM (see information at left), using the "<PRINT THIS FIELD" button
Kontext Graphics	Choose “Graphics & Movies” from the “Context Resources” menu.	Ordinary pictures would be too expensive to include, even in black & white. Movies would be impossible.
Kontext Dialogs	Choose “Dialogs” from the "Context Resources" menu	Dialogs (.pdf from course website)
Kontext Broadcast Clips	Choose “Broadcast Clips” from the “Context Resources” menu	not present; you can't hear paper
Kontext Websites	Choose “Websites” from the “Context Resources” menu	not present; paper is not the internet; but of course you can print pages from the internet
Kontext Glossary	Choose “Glossary” from the “Context Resources” menu.	Kontext Glossaries (.pdf from course website)
Kontext Structures	Choose “Structures” from the “Context Resources” menu.	print the fields from CD-ROM, using the "<PRINT THIS FIELD" button
Kontext Culture & Language	not yet available	not present
Situations: speaking activities	Choose "Context Activities" and then "Situations"	not available
exit self-evaluation for each Kontext	not yet available; will be provided in class or from website	not yet available; will be provided in class or from website
All Graphics	Choose “Graphics & Movies (All)” from the “Main Resources” menu	impossibly expensive to photocopy, even in black & white
Main (Cumulative) Glossary	Choose “Main Glossary” from the "Main Resources" menu	Main Glossary (.pdf from course website)
All Broadcast Clips	Choose “Broadcasts (All)” from the “Main Resources” menu	not present, because it is impossible to print sounds
All Websites	Choose “Websites (All)” from the “Main Resources” menu	not present; paper is not the internet; but of course you can print pages from the internet
Survival Vocabulary	menu button "Main Resources"	not available
Survival Grammar	menu button "Main Resources"	not available
Checklist of Common Errors in German	menu button "Main Resources"	not available
Ready Facts (maps, etc.)	menu button "Main Resources"	not available
Grammar Index (interlinked grammar explanations)	menu button "Main Resources"	not available
Reference Grammar	Links on the “Overview” and “Structures” screens of the Kontexte; also via menu button "Main Resources"	Reference Grammar (.pdf from course website)
Purpose Statement, Study Guide, etc.	Link from the "HELP" menu	not present; will be discussed in class
Word Search (finds words in graphics and sounds)	menu button "Main Resources"	impossible in conventional print medium
ACTFL Language Proficiency Guidelines	short version: pdf on course website; direct link: www.actfl.org
Interactive Software: Cosmo Cabaret, Telefon, Briefsteller	on DVD, at top level of file structure	impossible in conventional print medium