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Elementary German 2: sprich weiter!

This short course continues your journey to Germany, Austria and Switzerland and progresses your skills needed for understanding and using the German language while travelling, living or working in a German-speaking country. You’ll learn to express your opinions on everything from the weather to what is important to you in life. You’ll also learn how to deal with everyday situations of mounting complexity. Grammar is explained in plain English and there are lots of opportunities to practise using tenses, correct endings and word order. You’ll also deepen your awareness of the cultural diversity of German-speaking countries.

After successfully completing this short course, you will receive a digital badge. This can be shared on social media, added to email signatures or act as a certificate.

Standalone study only

You will not be awarded credits for studying this course. It is available for standalone study only and cannot be counted towards an OU qualification.

Short course

Short course code

LGXG005

Credits

This is a non-credit bearing course.

Study method

Distance Learning

Short course cost

See Registration

Entry requirements

See Entry requirements
Course details Entry requirements Registration Study materials

What you will study

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.

You will learn

After completing this course, you should be able to:

  • communicate in increasingly complex situations, for example, knowing what to do if you lose something valuable, and how to complain about poor service, understand train announcements, and deal with disruption to your travel plans and problems when driving
  • express your opinions on a variety of themes and topics, such as lifestyle, daily routines, leisure activities, landscapes and geography, and travelling
  • talk about past events, using the perfect tense and imperfect tense, where appropriate
  • understand statistical information and make comparisons
  • improve your German pronunciation and intonation
  • enhance your intercultural understanding through engaging with learning materials which reflect German-speaking countries and their people and through learning about places and sightseeing in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. For example, you will look in depth at things like changes in family life and population structure, how life in the countryside has changed and some important German writers.

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).

Learner support

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.

If you have a disability

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.

Regulations

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.


Entry requirements

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.

Course length

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.

Register

Start End England fee Register
At anytime before registration end date Jun 2025 - see Entry requirements for more detail £195.00

Registration closes 31/07/2024

Register

Ways to pay

Credit/Debit Card – We accept American Express, Mastercard, Visa and Visa Electron.

Sponsorship – If this course is geared towards your job or developing your career, you could ask your employer to sponsor you by paying some or all of the fees. Your sponsor just needs to complete a simple form to confirm how much they will be paying and we will invoice them.

The fee information provided here is valid for short courses starting in the 2024/25 academic year. Fees typically increase annually. For further information about the University's fee policy, visit our Fee Rules.

Can you study an Access module for free?

Depending on eligibility and availability of places, you could apply to study your Access module for free.

To qualify, you must:

  1. be resident in England
  2. have a household income of less than £25,000 (or be in receipt of a qualifying benefit)
  3. have not completed one year or more on any full-time undergraduate programme at FHEQ level 4 or above or successfully completed 30 credits or more of OU study within the last 10 years

How to apply to study an Access module for free

Once you've started the registration process, either online or over the phone, we'll contact you about your payment options. This will include instructions on how you can apply to study for free if you are eligible and funded places are still available.

If you're unsure if you meet the criteria to study for free, you can check with one of our friendly advisers on +44 (0)300 303 0069, or you can request a call back.

Not eligible to study for free?

Don't worry! We offer a choice of flexible ways to help spread the cost of your Access module. The most popular options include:

  • monthly payments through OUSBA
  • part-time tuition fee loan (you'll need to be registered on a qualification for this option)

To explore all the options available to you, visit Fees and Funding.

What's included

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:

  • a unit-by-unit study planner
  • course-specific materials and activities
  • audio content
  • discussion forums
  • support from language-specialist learning advisers.

Computing requirements

You'll need broadband internet access and a desktop or laptop computer with an up-to-date version of Windows (10 or 11), or macOS Ventura or higher.

Functionality may be limited on mobile devices. For example, voice recorder activities, which are common in language short courses, may not work on iOS/Apple devices.

Our module websites comply with web standards and any modern browser is suitable for most activities.

Our OU Study mobile App will operate on all current, supported versions of Android and iOS. It's not available on Kindle.

It's also possible to access some module materials on a mobile phone, tablet device or Chromebook. However, as you may be asked to install additional software or use certain applications, you'll also require a desktop or laptop as described above.