Weekly Email for German 101-231 – 5. April 2020

Virtual Schokoladenstunde: Mondays 5:00-6:00 p.m.: here with Silvia Grzeskowiak, and Wednesdays 11-12: here with Mary Gell

• Schokoladenstunde will take place virtually for the remainder of the semester.  All students at all levels are welcome to join to chat and play games in German.
• If you ask Silvia or Mary to email your instructor that you participated, you can use this to make up 2 “A&P points” in 101-232.

Max Kade Kaffeestunde & Deutschtisch 

• These events are on hiatus for now. We will let you know if they resume virtually in some form!
• 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 is open Mon-Thu 1-4 pm.

• We’ve created a sign-up Google doc for the (virtual) German Lab. The details are explained in the document. Most important:
  • instructors will check the document at the beginning of their German Lab hour, and will leave the lab for that hour if no one has signed up ==> please sign up in advance
  • note the dates on the document: please sign up only for the current week. Dates will be updated on Thursday afternoons or Fridays
  • the Google doc includes the link to the BlueJeans meeting room for the German Lab
  • Please bookmark the link to the Google doc!
• Visit 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 then! Then if you get stuck on something, you can just click on the German Lab link 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 Please notify the LRC if you notice problems (e.g. outdated records etc.).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!

Ann Arbor Stammtisch

• We assume Stammtisch is on hiatus for now. Please let us know if you have information about virtual meetings of the Stammtisch, so we can include it here!
• 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 Mechthild Heerde-Olind at heerdeolind@yahoo.com for the current location and for more information.
• 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.
• For the remainder of the semester, Mary and Kalli will continue to be able to advise you remotely.
• Mary Rodena-Krasan (mkrasan@umich.edu):
  • Mary’s “walk in/open-ended” office hours will be Tuesdays 12-2 p.m. and Thursdays 10-12 p.m. All other appointments can be scheduled via the traditional advising portal calendar (see below), but these times do not need advance notice. If you happen to enter the meeting while someone is “in the office”, Mary will give you a time frame and ask you to rejoin the meeting at that later time.
  • Mary’s Zoom Link for Office Hours: https://zoom.us/j/384427573
• Karl-Georg Federhofer (kallimz@umich.edu):
  • Kalli’s available office hours this week:
    Monday, April 6: 9:30-11:30, 2:30-4:30 p.m.,

    Tuesday, April 7: 10-12 p.m.,

    Wednesday, April 8: 9:30-11:30, 1:30-4:30 p.m.,

    Thursday, April 9: 9-12, 2:30-4:30 p.m.,

    Friday, April 10: 10-11:30, 1:30-4:30 p.m.,
    and by appointment
  • Kalli’s Zoom Link for Office Hours: https://zoom.us/j/909147087
• 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

• Fulbright Program for U.S. Students 2021/2022: Virtual Information Session (Wednesday, April 8; 11-12 p.m.)
• Fulbright U.S. Student Program 2021-2022 (Friday, August 28; University of Michigan Campus Application Deadline)
• LSA Internship Funding Page

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!

Study Advice: “Adjusting Your Study Habits During COVID”

• If you are looking for ways to structure studying under these new circumstances, here is some great advice for adjusting your study habits. VIELEN Dank to the German Club’s Paul Chamberlain for finding this. It is full of excellent advice. I am a big fan of the “Pomodoro method” for focussed “mono-tasking.”