German Level 1

German Level 1

Course Description

Level 1 Classes: This course is suitable for people with very little or no prior knowledge of the language, who would like to begin to communicate in German, particularly in a holiday context. By the end of the course, you will be able to formulate simple statements and questions in an everyday setting and to understand the most basic written and spoken language.  

In Level 1, we will work at the A1 level of the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).  

Term duration: 10 x weekly 2-hour classes, Wednesday evenings, 6:15pm to 8:15pm

Communicative themes may include: 

• Asking questions and giving answers about our person – e.g. Wie ist Ihr Name? Ich heiße Erika. 

• Introducing others – e.g. Darf ich vorstellen, das ist Mark. 

• Asking about wellbeing – e.g. Wie geht es Ihnen? 

• Spelling  

• Numbers to 100 

• Telling time – e.g. Wie viel Uhr ist es? 

• Names of the days of the week and the months – e.g. Montag, Donnerstag; Januar, Oktober 

• Daily activities – e.g. Ich frühstücke um 8 Uhr. 

• Leisure time – e.g. In meiner Freizeit spiele ich Gitarre. 

• Asking for directions – e.g. Entschuldigung, bitte, wo ist hier eine Apotheke? 

• Introduction to ordering food and drink, and paying – e.g. Ich hätte gern eine Pizza und ein Bier. Ich möchte bezahlen, bitte. 

Key grammatical points may include: 

• Present tense of verbs, the formal and the informal form – e.g. Sie kommen aus Norwich. / Du wohnst in Yarmouth. 

• Sentence structure and word order 

• Question words – e.g. wer, wie, was, wo 

• Negation – e.g. nicht, kein 

• Separable verbs – e.g. Ich stehe um 7 Uhr auf.  

• Use of adverb gern – e.g. Ich lese gern. 

• Noun gender – masculine, feminine, neuter 

• In/definite articles – e.g. ein/eine/ein - der/die/das 

• Personal pronouns – e.g. ich, du/Sie, er/sie/es, wir, ihr, sie 

• Adverbs of time – e.g. morgen, heute Abend, ... 

• Accusative noun case – e.g. Ich esse eine Pizza. Ich trinke einen Kaffee. 

Please note that we adapt the pace of the class to the needs and interests of the group, so the listed themes and grammar may be subject to change and are not meant to be exhaustive. 

Homework may be set between classes, though we do understand that constraints of everyday life may make it difficult to complete the task. You are under no obligation to complete the homework, but revision of the weekly lessons is strongly encouraged to allow you to make excellent progress and to benefit fully from the course.  

Each week you will practise most if not all four communicative skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). You will be encouraged to take an active part in all activities, including games, pair and group work as well as individual tasks. We aim to establish a friendly, inclusive atmosphere in the classroom so that all course participants can express themselves freely and increase their confidence in language use. 

CEFR levels indicated on our level descriptors are not a guarantee that you can take the associated German exam for this level. If you would like to take an external German exam, for instance the Goethe-Zertifikat A1 (there is an exam centre in London), please speak to your tutor to discuss what they think would be most appropriate.