Weekly Email for German 101-231 – 20. Januar 2020

Schokoladenstunde (with games!): Mondays 5:15-6:15 p.m. (with Silvia Grzeskowiak), and Wednesdays 11-12 (with Mary Gell) in the Language Resource Center in North Quad.

• To prevent conflicts with MLK-Day events, there will be no Schokoladenstunde today (Monday 1/20).
• 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 Mondays by Silvia Grzeskowiak, and on Wednesdays by Mary Gell.
• If you ask Silvia or 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 (Thursdays 9-10 pm) & Deutschtisch (Sundays 6-7 pm)

• Kaffeestunde at the Max Kade Haus takes place Thursdays 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 Reid (gordreid@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 6-7 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 Reid (gordreid@umich.edu).
• German students at all levels (101 and up) are welcome at all Max Kade events. You can make up “A&P Tally” points in 101-232 by attending Max Kade Deutschtisch or Kaffeestunde. Just ask Reid 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!

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.

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 are:
    TTH 11-12:30, 1:30-4 p.m.

    and by appointment
• Karl-Georg Federhofer (MLB 3422; kallimz@umich.edu):
  • His office hours this week are:
    Monday, January 20: 9:30-10:30, 11-1 p.m.,
    Tuesday, January 21: 10-12:30 p.m.,
    Wednesday, January 22: 9:30-11:30, 1:30-4:30 p.m.,
    Thursday, January 23: 10-12:30, 2:30-4:30 p.m.,
    Friday, January 24: 9:30-11:30, 1:30-4:30,

    and by appointment
• To reach either advisor: germanadvising@umich.edu
• You can also schedule appointments with Mary & Kalli by clicking here
• …and you can contact Kalli via text message (734-277-7341) or via Facebook (Kalli Federhofer)

German Peer Advisors/Mentors

If you would like to get in touch with a peer mentor in our Department, please write to: germanmentors@umich.edu. Their expertise includes:

• Current classes and potential courses
• Study abroad, internship, and traveling in Germany
• Academic requirements (major/minor, LSA language requirement) and combination (engineering, pre-health, etc.)
• Max Kade House
• Departmental scholarships/fellowships
• On- and off-campus German opportunities (German Club, German Day, etc.)
• Career/job search
• Getting involved – enhancing your undergraduate experience with the German Department

• LSA Internship Funding Page
• Walter & Florence E. Aupperle Scholarship Fund for German Majors at the University of Michigan and Eastern Michigan University: $2,000-$8,000 (Tuesday, March 10, 3 p.m; Application Deadline. Here is information about how to apply for the Aupperle Scholarship)

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

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.

Sign up here for the International Center’s Global Engagement and Education Abroad email list. Weekly emails include info on workshops regarding travel and work abroad, conversation groups, cultural info sessions etc. SEHR interessant!

Kafka Meets Charlie Brown: Good Ol’ Gregor Brown (auf Englisch): This cartoon imagines how the characters from Peanuts might live through the events of Kafka’s Metamorphosis (Die Verwandlung)

German Cartoon Series – Lists for Language Learners: Here are a few lists to choose from:

• Learnoutlive: 12 German Cartoon Series [List from 2015]
• FluentU: 5 German Cartoons with English Subtitles [List from 2015 – scroll down the page to find this heading and the links!]
• FluentU: YouTube’s 10 Best Cartoons for Advanced German Language Learners[List from 2017; despite the title, the list also includes items for beginning/intermediate students, such as the Peppa Pig series.]
• Duolingo Thread on German Cartoons [started in 2015; see various user recommendations]