Learning Environment
Hearing and speaking are the most important aspect of learning a foreign language. While it is necessary to drill vocabulary, grammatical patterns and structures when learning new ways of expressing yourself as an adult learner, it also is equally important to mimic the learning patterns you used to learn your mother tongue. How did you learn to speak? How did you learn to communicate simple and then more complex thoughts and expressions? If we had the same amount of time that you had as a child - and could surround you totally with native speakers - , then we could successfully recreate that environment. But since we don't have that opportunity, we have to create structures that closely resemble the ideal learning situation.
In class, we use German as much as possible - even if that means that you don't understand everything. Repetition of familiar items of vocabulary and short response answers are methods that mirror your own early learning experience. We talk about current events - events on the campus, in the state and the country, in Germany and the world - similar to what you might have overheard in your parents' conversation. Not always will you know all the words, but when you were younger as well you had to guess at the sense and meaning. Having to stretch that way, guessing at meaning, is a natural way to learn. Probably the best experiences to teach that are the German Tables, where we meet for lunch and speak German. Most of the time it is common,ordinary conversation that you would have at any lunch table - films you've seen, stuff you've had to do, things you plan to do, or would like to do, homework, work, books - just easy conversation. It all takes place in German and you can share your thoughts with students in junior and senior level classes, returnees from study abroad semesters, and occasional German visitors in a non-threatening, familiar setting that prepares you for your own study abroad experience. It makes learning fun.