Almost 100 million people speak German as their main language. Most of them live in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, making German one of the most widely used languages in Europe. Now associated with economic success, science and technology, German also has a long-standing reputation as the language of poets and thinkers.
Elementary Germany 2: sprich weiter! offers you an excellent opportunity to develop your knowledge of the German language. You’ll continue to develop the essentials of speaking, listening, reading and writing in German. You’ll also improve your key skills that will enhance your future study of the language.
The course is delivered in 16 user-friendly, ‘bite-sized’ units, each comprising 3–4 hours study. You can study these at your own pace, to fit in with your own schedule and lifestyle.
There is plenty of audio material, mostly based on authentic interviews with native speakers of German, and a wide variety of speaking activities will aid your pronunciation.
You will also practise using important grammatical features such as the dative case, prepositions, possessive articles, subordinate clauses, separable verbs, modal verbs and the perfect and imperfect tense.
As you work through the activities and quiz in each unit, you’ll have the support of a specialist learning adviser, who will moderate forum activities, answer any language questions you post on the discussion pages and add extra tips, activities and topical ‘snippets’ to the course forum.
Please note that although this course is non-accredited, it can be used towards the module Making your learning count (YXM130) to gain OU credits.
After completing this course, you should be able to:
The course is designed to help you achieve a level of language proficiency equivalent to level B1 of the Council of Europe Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR).
You will have access to discussion forums that you are strongly encouraged to participate in as these forums combine support from fellow students with input from a language-specialist learning adviser. Other support is available via the StudentHome website and Computing Helpdesk.
The course is made up of 16 units, with each unit expected to take about 3–4 hours to study. In total, you’ll need around 64 hours to complete the course.
You can begin at any time during the life of the course and study at your own pace. The course will be open to you for a time period of between 6 and 18 months depending on your course registration date and you will be advised of the specific time limitations upon enrolment.
All learning materials are delivered entirely online and there is no formal tuition for this course.
Your study is self-directed and you’ll have access to a course website, which includes:
As a student of The Open University, you should be aware of the content of the academic regulations, which are available on our Student Policies and Regulations website.
There are no entry requirements for this course.
However, it's beneficial if you have some basic knowledge of German, similar or equivalent to the language, skills and vocabulary practised in Beginners German 1: fang an! (LGXG001), Beginners German 2: mit vergnügen! (LGXG002), Beginners German 3: richtig so! (LGXG003), and/or Elementary German 1: sprechen und verstehen (LGXG004).
If you have any doubt about the suitability of the course, please contact us.
The course is delivered online and makes use of a variety of online resources. If you use specialist hardware or software to assist you in using a computer or the internet you are advised to contact us about support which can be given to meet your needs.
The OU strives to make all aspects of study accessible to everyone and this Accessibility Statement outlines what studying LGXG005 involves. You should use this information to inform your study preparations and any discussions with us about how we can meet your needs.