Dear all,

German Day takes place this year on Friday, MARCH 15. Middle and High School students from around South East Michigan will come to UofM to compete in various categories. This is the biggest outreach event of the year at UofM, and we need 80-100 volunteers to make it happen. Volunteers greet participants, hand out prizes, give directions, act as doorkeepers, etc. It’s fun, you can practice your German, you can make new friends and reconnect with former teachers and classmates. You get a free t-shirt, and you can make up absences, at the rate of 2 “A&P Tally” make-up points per hour you volunteer. We need volunteers between 8am-2pm Friday, March 15, preferably for 2 hours but 1 hour is also helpful. Most volunteers are needed from 10am-12pmPlease sign up here by February 28! More info is here. Questions? Email Shubhangi Dabak at dabaks@umich.edu.

As we complete a hectic first half of the term, you may want to get some much-deserved relaxation this Tuesday through Yoga with Iris (auf Deutsch!) in North Quad.

mass meeting for all students participating in Goethe Institut spring/summer classes will be held on Sunday, March 24, 5 p.m., Angell Hall Auditorium D.

Boston University PhD student is looking for German students to participate in linguistics experiment. See the grey section for more details!

Other highlights from this week’s email, and what section to check for more details:

  • Yoga mit Iris Tue 2/25 – Upcoming Deadlines & Events
  • Study Abroad, Internships, Scholarship Deadlines – Study Abroad/Internships/Scholarship Info AND Upcoming Deadlines & Events
  • International Academic Peer Advisor and Summer Academic Peer Advisor positions. Apply by March 1 – Upcoming Deadlines & Events
  • “Never Look Away” at Michigan Theater – Local Events and Opportunities
  • German Lab, Schokoladenstunde, Conversation/Free-Writing hour,Kaffeestunde, and Deutschtisch – Conversation and Free-Writing Hours, German Lab
  • German Club Stammtisch Wed 2/27 – German Club
  • Advising Hours – German Courses & Majoring/Minoring in German
  • Conversation Partner Options – Miscellaneous
  • Tom Hanks on Driving on the Autobahn – Miscellaneous
  • Google “Suchgeschichten” [“Search stories”] – Miscellaneous
  • Boston University PhD student is looking for German students to participate in linguistics experiment – Miscellaneous

Schokoladenstunde (with games!): Tuesdays 5-6 and Wednesdays 11-12, in the Language Resource Center in North Quad.

  • Schokoladenstunde will take place in the comfy seating area between the two computer classrooms in the Language Resource Center. There will be some German chocolate there 🙂  All students at all levels are welcome to come and chat and play games in German (e.g. Tabu etc.). Schokoladenstunde will be facilitated on Tuesdays by Mary Gell, and on Wednesdays by Silvia Grzeskowiak.
  • If you ask Silvia/Mary to email your instructor that you were there, you can use this to make up 2 “A&P points” in 101-232.

Max Kade Kaffeestunde (Tuesdays 9-10 pm) & Deutschtisch (Sundays 7-8 pm)

Please contact Jon (jonjan@umich.edu) to find out when/whether these events will take place this week!

  • Kaffeestunde at the Max Kade Haus takes place Tuesdays 9-10 pm in the Said Lounge on the Residential Side of North Quad – but please check this page for occasional updates!
    • The Said Lounge is in the residential portion of North Quad, which is only open to residents ==> when you go, please email Jon (jonjan@umich.edu), so that someone can come to the front door and let you in. You can also just knock on the door of the residential portion and tell a residence staff member that you are there for the Max Kade House event, and you will be let in.
  • Deutschtisch in the North Quad dining hall: Sundays 7-8 pm.
    • You will need a meal plan or Entrée Plus to enter, or you can purchase a meal at the door (note that this is not cheap) – but you may also be allowed to come in just to talk and not eat, if you say at the door that you are there for the Max Kade event.
    • The group has yellow signs with “Max Kade Deutschtisch” to identify where they are sitting.
    • For questions, contact Jon (jonjan@umich.edu).
  • German students at all levels (101 and up) are welcome at all Max Kade events. You can make up “A&P” points in 101-232 by attending Max Kade Deutschtisch or Kaffeestunde [NOT Spazierstunde!]. Just ask Jon to email your instructor that you were there!

German Lab in Alcove B in the Language Resource Center in North Quad is open Mon-Thu 1-4 pm.

  • The German Lab is open Monday-Thursday 1-4 every week. It’s in Alcove B in the LRC (ground level of North Quad, Room 1500).
  • Go to the German Lab for any kind of help (except we can’t proofread your essays for you): if you need help with homework or a test review sheet (we can proofread your test essays for German 101-231), if you need grammar topics explained or reviewed or need more practice, if you just want to speak some German for fun and/or for your AMD etc. If you have time in the afternoons from 1-4, do your homework in the LRC! Then if you get stuck on something, you can just stop by the German Lab alcove so we can get you unstuck.
  • Click here for more info!

Conversation and Free-Writing Hour: Fridays 11-12, 3117 MLB

  • Informal conversation and free-writing activities. Open to all levels of students.
  • Conducted by Shubhangi Dabak (dabaks@umich.edu) – contact her for more info!
  • If you ask Shubhangi to email your instructor that you were there, you can use this to make up 2 “A&P points” in 101-232.

LRC Conversation Partner Site

Go to this page to sign up or find a conversation partner. Please notify the LRC if you notice problems (e.g. outdated records etc.). Don’t be shy: the more people sign up, the better the site will work!

RC Coffee Hour: Mondays 4-5, Greene Lounge, East Quad

  • All are welcome to come to this German conversation hour!
  • This is NOT something you can do to make up an absence, but you can still go for fun and/or write about it for an AMD.

Ann Arbor Stammtisch

  • A German Stammtisch meets once a week, usually on Thursdays at 8:00 pm at Grizzly Peak or another bar near Main Street. Join the email list to stay up-to-date on where and when the group will meet.
  • There’s also a facebook page: look for “German Table / Stammtisch”
  • Alternatively, contact Andy Kasten at apkindland@yahoo.de for the current location and for more information. Wherever the Stammtisch meets, he’ll be wearing a VfB Stuttgart soccer jersey — Debitel on the front, Bordon #5 on the back. It’s white with a red collar and stripes.
  • This is NOT something you can do to make up an absence, but you can still go for fun and/or write about it for an AMD.

German Club – “Stammtisch (Wednesday, February 27; 7-8 p.m., Michigan League Underground)

Questions/Comments: email Parker Hill (pbhill@umich.edu)

Email germaneboard@umich.edu to get put on the email list, or “like” the club on Facebook at facebook.com/germanclubumich for updates!

Please note that by attending German Club meetings, you can make up “A&P” points in German 101-232. Just ask one of the German Club officers to email your instructor (or write a note) saying you were there!

Faculty Advisors Mary Rodena-Krasan & Kalli Federhofer

  • Contact our two faculty advisors, Mary or Kalli, for advice on study abroad, internships abroad, a German major/minor, upper-level German courses, career opportunities in German, study-abroad and work-abroad opportunities, etc. They have frequent office hours in Fall/Winter, as follows:
  • Mary Rodena-Krasan (MLB 3128; mkrasan@umich.edu):
    • Her office hours in the Winter term are:
      T,TH 11-4 p.m.
  • Karl-Georg Federhofer (MLB 3422; kallimz@umich.edu):
    • His next office hours will take place on these days:
      Monday, February 25: 10-11:30, 1:30-4:30 p.m.,
      Tuesday, February 26: 10-12:30 p.m.,
      Wednesday, February 27: 11-11:30, 1:30-4:30 p.m.,
      Thursday, February 28: 10-12:30, 2:30-4:30 p.m.,
      Friday, March 1: 10-11:30; 1:30-4:30 p.m.,
      and by appointment
  • To reach either advisor: germanadvising@umich.edu
  • You can also schedule appointments with Mary & Kalli by clicking here

This page will only include entries in this category when there is a job/internship etc. aimed at German students at all levels. To see more internship and job opportunities, scroll through Kalli’s blog, addressed to all upper-level German students

“Never Look Away” – Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck; 2018 (Opens Friday, March 1; Michigan Theater)

There are two German Department facebook groups:

  • “German Advising at University of Michigan” [Read news here!]
    • Join this group to see much of the information you see in this email, as well as other relevant info, in the form of individual announcement posts.
  • “German Program at University of Michigan – Vorwärts Blau!” [Post things here!]
    • You are encouraged to join this group to in order to read and post interesting/fun items related to German language and culture. If you have trouble joining the group or posting something, please email Hartmut!

AND there is a German Department facebook page. Check it out: https://www.facebook.com/umichGerman/

You can find weekly updates similar to this email but with lots more content on this blog.

We also encourage you to join us on our LinkedIn site: ‘University of Michigan German Department’

You can also follow us on Twitter: @umichGerman

  • Conversation Partner Options: Various options for finding conversation partners are listed on this page.
  • Tom Hanks on Driving on the Autobahn: This clip of Tom Hanks talking to David Letterman is a few years old, but still fun 🙂
  • Google “Suchgeschichten” [“Search stories”]: This is a collection of 6 cute, short videos telling a story via series of screen captures of Google searches.
  • Boston University PhD student is looking for German students to participate in linguistics experiment: Here is the email from the student:

My name is Megan Brown and I am a PhD student in the linguistics department at Boston University.  I am doing an experiment investigating the way that adults learn German as a second or third language.  I was hoping that you might be able to send information to German students in your program to see if they would be interested in participating?  The experiment is completely online and students can take it on their own computer.  It takes roughly 30 minutes to complete.

There is no monetary compensation for participating but it is a great opportunity for students to practice their German and help researchers to understand how adult language learning works.

I have attached a link to the survey as well as a PDF advertisement.  If you or any of your students have any questions about the project, please feel free to contact me.  Thank you!

https://bostonu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0DH1cX68oa0AmDH

Megan Brown
M.A. Applied Linguistics
B.S. Cognitive Science, B.A. Linguistics & Psychology
Boston University