Offered on: Wednesdays: 6:15-8:45 pm. Enroll now!

The emphasis of this beginner class is on pronunciation, vocabulary building, basic grammar, and basic conversation. This course is for those students with little or no ability in the language. Introduction to basic listening, reading, speaking and writing skills will be addressed throughout the course. Dialogues, readings, and cultural notes included are depicted in what life is like in Germany today. Previous German not required.

Objective: To introduce German to students who never took the language at school or had German in their lives at all. This course aims to provide beginning students with a practical basic command of the language.

Learning Outcome: At the end of this course, students will be able to engage in basic conversations about most common everyday situations and write simple notes and phrases. Such functional skills as self-introduction, seeking and finding information, expressing interests, looking for housing, shopping, discussing family, friends, cultural celebrations, and entertainment options, telling time, and making plans will be acquired.

Topics: Regular and irregular verbs in the present tense, simple past tense, possessive adjectives, plural forms of German nouns, gender of nouns, alphabet, colors, numbers, telling time, ask basic questions, use of the definite and indefinite articles, prepositions, pronouns, nominatives, accusatives, word order and cases, expressions of time and season, and imperatives.

Textbook: Colloquial German by Routledge, 2nd edition, $55 including tax.

Offered on: Thursdays: 6:15-8:45 pm. Enroll now!

This course is the continuation of the Basic 1 level and for students who have taken formal instruction a while ago, or have previous informal exposure to the language. Building on the introductory level, students will learn to conduct simple conversations on a range of everyday subjects. Listening, reading, speaking and writing skills will be addressed throughout the course.

Objective: Students will build on their vocabulary, grammar, listening, and communicative skills by acquiring more sophisticated forms and applications to be able to express their ideas and desires easily at a basic beginner’s level.

Learning Outcome: Upon completing this level, students will be able to converse comfortably on most everyday routine situations speaking in the present and past tenses. They will be able to say or express their ideas, sentences and desires easily at a basic beginner's level. They will learn enough vocabulary to continue with German Basic 3.

Topics: The past participle, present perfect, dative, genitive, conjunctions, comparatives, interrogatives, adjectives, and adverbs, demonstrative pronouns, accusative pronouns, da- and wo- compounds, prepositional contractions, ordinal numbers, stem changing verbs, independent and dependent clauses, and complementary infinitives.

Textbook: Colloquial German by Routledge, 2nd edition, $55 including tax.

Offered on: Tuesdays: 6:15-8:45 pm. Enroll now!

This course is ideal for those who have a basic foundation in German. Students will continue to build upon the competencies acquired in Basic 2 to improve their listening and speaking skills through structured dialogues and other practical activities. This level continues to expand necessary grammar skills that will enable students to understand, read, write and translate sentences and paragraphs. This course is well-suited for students who have completed at least one semester of college-level German or the equivalent at a language institute.

Objective: Continuing to build upon the previously learned skills, students will acquire additional vocabulary and grammatical forms to enable them to engage in complex conversations and to write proficiently Students will also be introduced to contemporary life and culture in German-speaking countries.

Learning Outcome: By the end of this course, students will be able to have a basic conversation based on daily routine activities. They will be able to say or express their ideas with a full command of adjectives, adverbs and prepositional phrases. They will be able to understand and be understood in three major tenses, present, past, and future with some combinations of imperfect, conditional and subjunctive, as well as the passive voice. The average student will have acquired an active vocabulary of approximately 1,200 words together with many more words in speech and writing. The student is ready for intermediate level courses.

Topics: Narrative, descriptive, and indirect forms of speech, comparisons, attributes, the past perfect, and the future, negatives, the subjunctive, reflexive verbs, modals, relative clauses and pronouns, passive and impersonal passive voices.

Textbook: Colloquial German by Routledge, 2nd edition, $55 including tax.

Offered on: Mondays: 6:15-8:45 pm. Enroll now!

This low intermediate level course presupposes a basic knowledge of German. This class is ideal for those who studied German a long time ago and need a refresher, and those who have studied basic grammar but don't feel as though they can adequately use it in conversation. Also, this course is ideal for those who grew up in German-speaking families but never took a formal German course. Listening, reading, speaking and writing skills, vocabulary, and grammar are integral components the course.

Objective: To introduce students to a variety of strategies for learning German at home or at the office and to practice at the institute. This program will focus on the development of all four language skills, listening, speaking, reading, and writing; together with a fifth skill, culture, which is an integral part of this program.

Learning Outcome: Students will be comfortable having a conversation based on daily events and to express their ideas in writing. Students will be familiar with appropriate vocabulary and will know the necessary grammatical structures to briefly discuss traveling, literature, and environmental concerns.

Topics: Students will review and expand their knowledge of verb conjugations, composite and verbal nouns, prepositions, direct and indirect object constructions, the imperative, infinitive usages, possessives, and conjunctions.

Textbook: Complete German All-in-One, $42 including tax.

Offered on: Tuesdays: 6:15-8:45 pm. Enroll now!

This course is for the student who is at a mid-intermediate level and looking for stronger reading comprehension and writing skills. Students at this level need to have a solid foundation of the language, and are looking to expand their knowledge of the more complex forms of German. Listening, reading, speaking and writing skills will be addressed throughout the course.

Objective: To become much more comfortable understanding and using the proper verb tenses as they relate to moods while speaking German. This program will continue to focus on the development of all four language skills, listening, speaking, reading, and writing; together with a fifth skill, culture, which is an integral part of this program.

Learning Outcome: Students will be able to comfortably explain past events in both past tenses during routine conversations and plan activities in future tenses. Students will acquire a wider use of idiomatic expressions and will become more comfortable navigating German Internet sites.

Topics: By studying about current aspects of daily, real-life situations in Germany such as visiting the doctor or dentist, as well as speaking on the phone and working online, students will review uses of the infinitive, auxiliary and reflexive verbs, relative clauses, the passive, and the possessive forms, accusative uses, and several verb tenses.

Textbook: Complete German All-in-One, $42 including tax.

Offered on: Thursdays: 6:15-8:45 pm. Enroll now!

This is the final conversational review grammar-based course. This course is for students who are at a high intermediate level and don’t feel ready for the more advanced levels. Students at this level are able to handle everyday conversations with ease but are eager to expand their cultural and idiomatic knowledge of German, as well as wrap-up their learning of advanced grammar. Listening, reading, speaking and writing skills will be addressed throughout the course.

Objective: This level will end covering all the grammatical structures needed to send the student into real-life situations speaking German and to get them ready for the more advanced courses with a full command of the language’s most important verb tenses. This program will continue to focus on the development of all four language skills, listening, speaking, reading, and writing; together with a fifth skill, culture, which is an integral part of this program.

Learning Outcome: Students will be able have a conversation with native speakers about different subjects using the right conjugations and right words when talking or expressing specific points of view. They will become familiar and comfortable using the more complex verb tenses and idiomatic expressions.

Topics: Students will acquire enough fluency to be able to express thoughts and ideas, give detailed information about various means of transportation, directions, and detailed descriptions of areas, cities and towns in German-speaking countries. Students will review and master grammatical forms such as complex infinitive constructions, conjunctions, subjunctives, adjectival modalities, the participle, relative clauses, the passive, negatives, comparatives and superlatives, indicatives and demonstratives.

Textbook: Complete German All-in-One, $42 including tax.

Offered on: Mondays: 6:15-8:45 pm. Enroll now!

This level is to gain an advanced command of German. There will be a review of previous material covered in the Intermediate 3 level, but the focus of this class will be on advanced topics: complex grammar, such as the present perfect conjugated with "haben" and "sein," the present perfect of separable and modal verbs, the passive voice, and more sophisticated vocabulary and themes in the German-speaking world.

Objective: This level will cover vocabulary and structures which will allow the learner to become autonomous when fulfilling functions such as shopping, dining out or describing one’s professional life or studies. While the content of this level will continue to enrich the four language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing, learners will also have the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of idiomatic speech and the culture and etiquette of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Learning Outcome: Students will be able have a conversation with native speakers about different subjects using the correct conjugations and appropriate vocabulary when conversing or expressing specific points of view. Learners will also be able to make purchases with an understanding of local practices. They will be able to express themselves accurately in a variety of different social and professional situations and will be acquainted with local customs such as appropriate etiquette when dining out.

Topics: Students will function with ease when making purchases of clothing and food, and be able to express likes, dislikes, tastes and to make comparisons. Students will discuss dining out and learn about various regional specialties. They will also describe their studies and their professional lives and have the opportunity to become conversant with different aspects of Germanic culture and customs. Current social, economic, historical, political and other topics from the German-speaking world will also form the basis of classroom discussions.

Textbook: Complete German All-in-One, $42 including tax.

Offered on: Wednesdays: 6:15-8:45 pm. Enroll now!

This level is to gain an advanced command of German. There will be a review of previous material covered in the Pre-Advanced level

Objective: The objective is to bring the speaking, listening, reading and writing skills up to the level where the students understand and control the most complex grammar and syntax. The students will focus on clarity and precision while using the language. A wealth of new and more complex vocabulary and idiomatic expressions will be introduced together with exposure to more cultural/social topics.

Learning Outcome: Students will be able to converse on a variety of topics using accurate grammar and syntax. They will understand and express not only the straightforward but also opinion, common idiomatic expressions and point of view. Learners will become accustomed to using this vocabulary and grammar and syntax with ease. They will understand and be able to use more nuanced expression, and opinions.

Topics:The class will cover more complex articles and audio such as opinion pieces and editorials on topics such as history, politics, government, business, economics, international relations, foreign affairs, society, culture, science, and technology. They will also read poems and have an introduction to literature.

Textbook: Complete German All-in-One, $42 including tax.