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posted 8 October 200 - Project explanation:

Please read the directions for Stage 1 carefully, so that you don't overdo it. A major goal of Stage 1 is to confirm that you start our right, so that you don't invest a lot of time and effort that isn't useful. Here are the directions, taken straight from the project specifications, but with comments added in []:

2) Write down your three topics IN GERMAN, in your own handwriting. On that page you will be including some more information that is part of the next step.

[Stage 1 is a very short activity: Choose your three topics. Write them down in German - that's so you can practice saying them, because we want to be able to talk about them in class, and because they may be part of your oral test. Continue reading directions to see what else is in Stage 1:]

3) For EACH of your three topics, you will EVENTUALLY make a list of TWO nearby resources where you can find that topic connected somehow to the German language and German-speaking countries.

[So you'll be finding a total of 6 resources. But we didn't want you to chase down all 6 both you and we were sure you understood what information you needed. One person, for example, thought that listing just "Blockbuster" was enough as a resource for "Film." No. You need the address, phone number, etc. of a specific Blockbuster, whether or not that's the one you'll rent a movie from. This is a language course, and we will use that contact information to practice spelling and numbers, and also to show you how to express in German the features of American addresses that Germans find odd and sometimes must adapt their language to. One of these is the use of numbers as names for streets, for example "82nd Street." Back to the directions:]

Find ONE such resource for just ONE topic and write its name and location on the page with the names of topics.

Take your list of TOPICS and the information about your first RESOURCE to your instructor for approval of your spelling and pronunciation of the topics, and of your choice of resource. THIS IS STAGE 1.

[The bold print really said it all from the start: Stage 1 is the list of topics and the information for ONE resource for ONE topic. Unless you are exploring a really exotic source, stage 1 can be done in 5 minutes after you read the directions: Choose 3 topics, write them down, find a resource in the Yellow Pages, write down its contact information.

The next sentence in the directions makes the same point:]

4) Continue making your list of resources. This will be the BASIS FOR STAGE 2.

[So Stage 2 is where you do the heavy work (and maybe some play), AFTER we use Stage 1 to make sure you're headed in the right direction.]

posted 12 October 2005 - Good news about tutoring services: The PSU tutoring support office in Shattuck Hall asked for recommendations of tutors they could hire to provide free language tutoring. We suggested, and they took our advice, that they take on Abram Bergstrom, who was a TA for us two years ago and then spent the time after that in SW Germany. He knows the program and the materials, he's a friendly guy, and he has a career interest in improving student retention in college programs. Some of you have already met him when he visited you classes; he'll visit the rest of them by next week. By then we should have a schedule and contact info posted on the course website.

posted 9 October 2005 - Project #1 is ready to begin. The link is on the schedule page. Instructors will announce the start & due dates for their own sections.

posted 8 October 2005 - A class participant named Sabrina (email link: sabrinam@pdx.edu) find that she won't be using the photocopy package she bought, and so she wants to sell it. Anyone interested?

posted 1 October 2005 - Question and reply about Assignment 2:

Q: On assignment #2 I am not sure what question number four is asking. What is meant by "In our course, spoken German is often taught with model dialogs. Are there English translations of the dialogs?."
Thank you for your help.

A (from Fischer): We haven't yet got to systematic models of dialogs - another consequence of the doggone classroom technology problem. But soon you'll see and hear model conversations, like "Hello. Can I help you?" "Yes. I'd like a double room with a bath." Of course you'll see and hear those dialogs in German, and you can find them pretty easily in our materials.

How to find the German dialogs depends on which set(s) of resources you're using. If you're looking at the photocopies, do what you would with any book: check the table of contents (which, of course, would be at the front - unless you're doing, say, Japanese [or using a very old German book!]). If you're using the software, start pulling down menus; along the way you'll find out where other stuff is, which is another purpose for this assignment.

Why are we asking you about this? Many language students believe that language learning involves translation, and so they expect to translate what they encounter, or even have translations provided to them. So do / can / did you find English translations of the dialogs after you located the German versions of the dialogs?

Thanks for having the courage and confidence to ask, rather than remaining silent and accomplishing nothing. I'll post your question (anonymously, of course) to the course website "What's new?" section, so that others will benefit. Since our course does not grade on the curve, if you help other people it does not hurt your own grade.

General comment: If your Q&A exchange with us continues to be this active, we will set up a separate area on the website so that the "What's New?" section doesn't get too long to manage.

posted 27 & 29 September 2005 - Comments about Assignment 1:

problems with software, general technology, etc.: We can't help you if we don't know you're having problems, and it helps us to know where the problems are and how seriously you are working to help solve them and to learn German. Here's an excerpt from Dr. Fischer's message to a student who was having problems accessing some of the materials:

'This next part may seem obvious or even childish to you, but it's worth saying: When you had a problem with our course, you did all sorts of positive things. Here they are: 1) You got in touch with me early, rather than later or never and just stewing and fuming about it. 2) You gave me some information to work with, rather than just squawking. 3) You used some of your new German ("Guten Abend", "MfG"), which told me that you really cared about the course and were not just raising a stink after making a trivial effort and then using a trivial problem as an excuse to slack off and blame me. I appreciate that greatly!"

"das deutchse ABC" (student writing on Assignment 1) - This is a good occasion to talk about errors and error correction. 1) The basic policy in first-year German is to note and count errors that can be avoided using the German that has been presented, and within that only those that, if you were to correct them, would raise your score by one number on the 6-level scoring guide. Marking errors that are beyond that is not likely to produce good learning, and it may be pointlessly discouraging. 2) Not all errors are created equal, which is one major reason why we do not count points on individual errors, but instead score your work against the profiles in the scoring guide. Slight spelling errors, where meaning is not affected, are not severely weighted. But some errors that may look minor to us may actually be serious. Speakers of English often distort the German letter combinations "ie" and "ei." But "Wein" means "wine" and "Wien" is the city of Vienna in Austria. Another kind of serious error has to do with culture, and misspelling "deutsch" illustrates it. It's a noticeable and annoying to them as "Untied States" would be to us (unless we were sure humor was intended). "deutchse" doesn't many anything - the word simply does not exist. But do be careful to spell "deutsch" correctly, because there are similar words that do mean something: "Dusche" means "shower" (bath, not rain).

"Mein Name ist [Beckie, Joshua]": Germans/Austrians/Swiss use last names more readily than we do, until they know people better. The younger generation is loosening up a little, but it's still safer to assume that they will offer and expect in return the last name, especially if the situation is not clearly very informal.

Many people have incorrectly constructed email e-addresscards. When someone auto-adds them to an addressbook you show up just as [e-nickname]@xxx.yyy. Of course that's your email, but it appears in the field where your human name should show. The results: Your name is alphabetized by your nickname, rather than by last name; if your e-nickname is much different from your human name it's hard for people to know who you are when they're going through what may be hundreds of names (even worse if someone uses a colorful but very different name, such as - true stories from a couple years back, and probably not a good idea in an academic setting - "honeygirl" or "whoflungpoo")

If you're not sure what this means, try sending yourself an email and then auto-adding yourself to your addressbook.

posted 26 September 2005 - The entry-page for Assignment #1 had an incorrect linkto the scoring guide for that assignment. The link has been fixed. Similarly, the link below to Assignment #2 has been activited. Sorry for an inconvenience.

posted 25 September 2005 - German 101 begins 27 and 28 September. We are in various classrooms, but hope to return to NH446, which has housed us for years, or at least to some other one room for all sections. Assignment #1 and Assignment #2 are ready to for you to begin. For the course schedule and links to activities as they come on-line, click to the left on "101" under the "schedule & assignments" title at the top.

Assignments ##1 & 2 are intended to help you get a strong start in the course and to help the staff identify problems that people have as they get started. All sorts of things can interfere with a good start. While we wait to see what this year's start-up problems are, you might read the items below to see what came up last year:

Fall 2004 - Issues that emerged from Assignments ##1 & 2:

The information we are getting from your responses in Assignment #2 tells us four things: 1) The majority of you are comfortable with the basic intent of the course and the classroom activities, but 2) some of you are uncertain about important procedures and policies (tests, etc.); 3) some of you are puzzled about how to study a language; and 4) some of you are having difficulty accessing the on-line and CD-ROM materials.

About (2) procedures and policies: These are explained in much detail in the Course Description which was the focus of Assignment #1. The email you sent us was to have been sent only after you read the entire Description. If you still have questions, first re-read the Course Description. After that, send your questions immediately and directly to Dr. Fischer. If important questions turn up repeatedly, answers to them will be put on this page and in the course FAQ.

About (3) study techniques: In all sections, the staff has demonstrated the use of materials and techniques for learning. What you see and do in class is part of what you should use and do outside class - and it's what you'll encounter too in tests. For detailed advice about study activities and a checklist for completing a Kontext unit, re-read the Course Description (page 3 especially), and look at the Study Advice and Checklist (direct link here), which resides on the Course Documents page. A good idea, too, is to arrange an appointment with you instructor (direct link to contact info). After that, send your questions immediately and directly to Dr. Fischer. If important questions turn up repeatedly, answers to them will be put on this page and in the course FAQ.

About (3) study techniques: In all sections, the sta

About (4) accessing materials: If you have completed Assignment #2 and are still having difficulties, send your questions immediately and directly to Dr. Fischer. If important questions turn up repeatedly, answers to them will be put on this page and in the course FAQ.

If you are having major difficulties with your own technology, for example in playing sounds or getting pages to display as they do in class, clearing up those difficulties (or changing your study schedule to use PSU labs) is your responsibility. The software programming and the file creation conform to common standards, the software is checked when it is revised, and it runs properly on PSU computers and a wide range of student equipment. The requirement to use a specified browser and plug-ins, in this case Internet Explorer and QuickTime, is a common practice in Technology-Enhanced Teaching. Acquiring and installing such software is your responsibility, as is setting preferences. The difficulty here is no greater than people handle when they download and play music files or set up their instant-messaging.

Something we have noticed repeatedly, however, is that computer users (whether people in the course, or the people who do their technology for them) may alter their computer configurations, sometimes intentionally and sometimes not, in ways that cause problems with our materials.

Not everyone has or can afford the latest technology for personal use. Our materials, however, work fine on common computers and operating systems that are even several years out of date. In almost all cases, a mid-priced computer acquired within the past couple of years, set up straight out of the box and as the manual directs, works just fine.

Such resources are now regarded as were typewriters a generation ago: students are assumed to understand they need them and to furnish them themselves. A different problem is internet connection. Our classroom polling shows that 75% of first-year German students have fast connections (cable, DSL) readily available, often in their homes. But some students live in unserved ares, and some can't afford better connections than just modems over phone lines. PSU labs are readily available to all students, and they should be adequate for studying for the course - if you can arrange your schedule for that, which again is beyond our control and resources. You may find it most convenient to use the resources in the Foreign Language Learning Lab (NH394-N) opposite the entrance to the Foreign Language Department main office).

If you are in some aid program, for example veterans' education benefits, which can help supply you with technology for your studies, we will provide you with support documentation to show what you need for the course.

Dr. Fischer has spent many years and considerable pizza money making the PSU tech staff happy, and they are nice people anyway. If you are having very specific tech problems (error messages about MIME types, settings, etc.), they may be able to help you. Go to SMC 18 (basement of Smith Center) and mention the course and Dr. Fischer's name. If you are using a laptop, bring it with you.