German IV Honors

In this pre-AP course students continue to develop their proficiency in the three strands of communicative competence: interacting with other speakers of the language, understanding authentic oral and written messages in the target language and making oral and written presentations in the target language. This highly rigorous curriculum requires students to analyze and synthesize authentic materials and exchange and support opinions on a variety of topics related to contemporary and historical events and issues, at a proficiency level commensurate with their study. Students comprehend spoken and written texts from a variety of authentic sources as well as produce compositions containing well-developed ideas on various topics. Units of study are thematic in nature and grammatical points are presented and practiced in context throughout the year. Vocabulary is introduced via short readings, ranging from the radio play “Das Mysteriose Konzert” by Hans Konig to contemporary articles, interviews, songs, film and the popular children’s novel “Emil und die Detektive” by Erich Kastner. During the course of the year, students refine their control of the major verb tenses (present, past, future and conditional) and focus on clear and consistent use of tense in sequencing events. The course is taught in German and students are expected to use German with the instructor and with each other in the classroom.