Weekly Email for German 101-231 – 11. März 2019

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

NOTES: This will NOT take place on German Day (March 15). On March 22, it will take place in 3030 MLB instead of 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 Food and Movie Night: Wednesday, March 13, 7 pm: Language Resource Center, Video Viewing Room

German Club – “Stammtisch“ (Thursday, March 14; 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, March 11: 10-11:30, 1:30-3 p.m.,
    Tuesday, March 12: 10-12:30 p.m.,
    Wednesday, March 13: 10-11:30, 1:30-4:30 p.m.,
    Thursday, March 14: 11:30-12:30, 2:30-4 p.m.,
    Friday, March 15: 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

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

• Goethe Institut Spring/Summer 2019 – Mass Meeting (Sunday, March 24; 5 p.m., Angell Hall Auditorium D)
• German Department Funding for Spring/Summer Language Courses at a Goethe Institut in Germany  (Monday, March 25; Application Deadline)
• German Department Funding for Summer Internships (Monday, March 25; Application Deadline)
• German Department Funding for Studying at Middlebury College German Language School – Summer 2019 (Monday, March 25; Application Deadline)
• Study Abroad in Germany – Winter 2020 Term in Tübingen (Sunday, September 15; Application Deadline)
• LSA Internship Funding Page
• Fulbright Program for U.S. Students 2020/2021: English Teaching Assistantship – Information Sessions (Tuesday, March 12; 12-1 p.m., Weiser Hall 447)
• Heinz Prechter Scholarships for Internships in Germany (Monday, April 1; Application Deadline)
• Mark and Myra Sorensen International Travel Scholarship (Sunday, April 28; Application Deadline)
• LSA Internship Scholarship (Saturday, June 8; Final Application Deadline)

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 (Monday, March 11: 7;15 p.m.; Tuesday, March 12: 3 p.m.; Wednesday, March 13: 7 p.m.; Thursday, March 14: 2:45 p.m; State Theatre)

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.

HelloTalk: Free App for finding Conversation Partners anywhere; includes speech recognition!

• Check out this free app (Android and iOS) for finding conversation partners around the world and at home. Click here for more info on HelloTalk.

learnoutlive German Resources

learnoutlive is a great collection of ideas and resources for learning German, with a great motto: “If it sounds too harsh, you’re trying too hard” 🙂

David Lynch’s Interview Project Germany

• Interview Project Germany – German Version
• Interview Project Germany – English Version
• The project crew went on a road trip through Germany in 2011 and recorded short interviews (about 5 mins each) with 50 people they met along the way. Each video is briefly introduced by David Lynch, and accompanied by a German text summary; there is an option to turn on English subtitles. Going to the /en version of the site lets you see the summaries in English, and the videos automatically appear with subtitles. Based on a similar series filmed in the U.S. in 2009-2010: http://interviewproject.davidlynch.com/  Watching the German version with subtitles is great listening practice, and also a chance to hear a variety of German dialects!