German With Happy: Intermediate

Prerequisites

The Intermediate class is designed for learners who already have a solid understanding of the fundamentals of German.

While the repetition and revision of grammar is a necessary part of learning. you should speak, read, write and comprehend German to approximately A1 level before joining the Intermediate course.

If you have learned German for several years elsewhere then the Intermediate course may well be right for you. You should be more or less familiar with the following:

• The present, perfect, future and simple past tenses of German verbs
• The nominative, accusative and dative cases and the prepositions that invoke them.
• Reflexive, modal, separable and inseparable verbs in all of the above tenses.
• Common vocab that lets you confidently speak basic German on a wide variety of topics.
• The order of ideas in German sentences, including where word order is modified by tense.

If you're unsure about any of these topics, you may well prefer to start with the Continuers' course for at least a term to refresh your memory and to calibrate your experience against the class.

If you're in doubt I would be delighted to help advise you on the right course for you. Please contact me to discuss!

Course Content

Practical skills

The Intermediate course is the most advanced German With Happy course. Much of the lesson is delivered in German, including a long session of conversation each time. In addition we dive deeper into the German-speaking world and take our grammar further to access a wider range of reading, listening and viewing material.

Grammar

Advancing our understanding of grammar is critical to become a competent user of a language. As well as thoroughly revising and practicing the skills we met in Continuers' we'll be spreading our wings to understand and use more advanced constructions with attention paid to accuracy and understanding. The goal here is to stretch the range of material we can understand and to gain the confidence to express ourselves more fully than a Beginners' course would permit.

Cultural context

It wouldn't be a German With Happy course without a wide range of audio-visual, musical and culinary content! But as we enjoy video and audio material together we'll be uncovering the way German speakers think. Language and culture are inseparable: they each inform the other and to master German is to understand the world of its native speakers.

As usual we will be watching and discussing a German-language TV show together, one episode per week, but the conversation will be largely in German. You'll need to be ready to summarise the events of the episode but also reflect on the scenes and themes that you most (or least!) enjoyed, make predictions about future plot twists and tie it together with other cultural content in the course.

The Fun Way

As the Intermediate class has been together the longest, we are now the firmest of friends. Hearty laughter, mutual support and the sharing of treats is how we roll. Of course, there will be songs and comedy, video clips, audio, games and much, much more!

Next steps

As the Intermediate course is Happy's most advanced classroom offering, it will be growing with you for as long as our journey together lasts. As new pals join us from the Continuers' course we'll be revisiting every grammar topic regularly while also stretching our wings and reaching new heights.

Students who want an even bigger challenge, faster progress, or who feel the Intermediate course is a little daunting may be interested in taking up private tuition with Happy instead, or in addition to, the Intermediate course. Private tuition is available all the way up to undergraduate-standard German.

Finding the right course for you

For all courses other than Beginners', I recommend interested students get in touch to discuss their experience and find the right home for them.

This is especially true of the Intermediate course as the pace is fast and the students bright. The Continuers' course may be a better starting choice for many students, with a progression to Intermediate if we're confident you're ready for the challenge!