Lederhosen: Now the truth can be told!

Guys wearing Lederhosen

A question arose in class as to why "Lederhosen" or, actually, "lederhosen" (in English, not capitalized) is plural.  In German this traditional Bavarian article of clothing is referred to as "eine Lederhose", but in English, it is used only in the plural, "lederhosen".  This is, linguistically, something called the "plurale tantum" (plural as such, plural only).  Think of "scissors," for which there is no singular form!  Alles klar?  

Additional Practice for Various Topics on the Final

Here are some links to resources from GROW (German Resources on the Web) to review some of the topics that will be on the final:

The Imperative

Modal Verbs

Prepositions: von or aus?

Dative prepositions 

Dative prepositions

Dative prepositions

Two-way prepositions: accusative or dative - this is a good one to review the concepts introduced in connection with these prepositions

Two-way prepositions: the verbs liegen/legen/ stehen/stellen hângen/stecken.  Note: Herr Curtis put in an incorrect "correct" answer for No. 4.  It is "stecken".

Two-way prepositions (location only)

German 10B: Topics for final presentation on 5/19

The presentation should be not less than 5 minutes but no longer than 6 minutes in length.  Therefore, it is important to run through your prepared presentation and time yourself before presenting it.  Choose from one of these topics, based on the material covered in chapters 4-6.  

Kapitel 4: Mein Tag.  Describe your day from morning to evening, creating a smooth narrative that includes time designations (um ... or von ... bis, or jeden Montag, etc.  See page 142 for a list.)   Include mealtimes and what you have for each meal.  2) use at least two modal verbs, saying what you have to do, are supposed to do, may not do, etc.).  You could look at Übung 1, p. 126, for some inspiration.  How interesting can you make your day sound to your classmates?  What is your mood during the day?  Please include one "Unterhaltung", which can be something as simple as watching a show on TV (give the name of the show).  Of course, this narrative does not have to reflect reality, word for word!  For some vocabulary on how to describe your (bad) mood (and just for fun), go here.     

Kapitel 5:  Einkaufen.  Bring in 2 (2) articles of clothing and/or accessories.  Prepare a 3 minute description of each: where did you purchase this (use the present perfect tense in each case here), what is it made of (Der Hut ist aus Wolle, u.s.w.), what color it is, what size, does it fit you (use the dative), do you like it (use the dative) and why (use "denn"), in what situation, in which season, would you wear such an item?  How long have you had these items? Anything else you can think of.  Tell a story about these articles!  

Kapitel 6:   Wir gehen aus.  Go to Yelp Deutschland (yelp.de), go to Berlin, and research and find a restaurant or cafe in Berlin that you might like to one day visit and eat at.  Describe the menu, give 2 examples each of: Vorspeise, Hauptgericht, Beilage, Nachspeise, Getränke.  How much would the typical meal cost?  What days and times is it open?  Include one of the Yelp reviews (read excerpts to the class).  If there are photos, use some adjectives to describe the interior, the restaurant's atmosphere.  Or put photos on a flashdrive to show the class.  Describe the general area that the restaurant is located (z.B.: Es liegt in der Mitte Berlins, zwischen .... und .....)  How would you get the restaurant (see "Route Berechnen" on Yelp.)  Bring a printout of the restaurant's menu!  Or show photos of the restaurant on a laptop. Your choice need not serve "German" food, but could be international in flavor. 

Above all, have fun with this! 

German 1B: General topics for the final, Spring 2015

Here are the topics in general for the final exam, so that you can focus on the essentials.  

I.  A) Listening section on favorite activities and b) identify seasons 

II.  1. Write sentences on the following: 1.  Your daily routine, what you have to do
                                                             2.  What you are wearing
                                                              3.  Your leisure time activities 
                                                              4.  What you like to eat for various meals 

2.  Which words don't fit? 

3.  Match vocabulary to definitions 

III.  Grammatik

a.  Personal pronouns: accusative and dative fill in blanks

b.  Fill in blanks with correct forms of verbs, include modals and separable prefix verbs.

c.  Connect sentences using coordinating conjunctions

d.  Write sentences answering questions wo or wohin using two-way prepositions.  Review the verbs used for placement and location, Kapitel 6. 

e.  Write sentences describing activities using the present perfect tense (haben or sein + past participle)

f.  Comparisons using "als" 

g.  Sentences using the imperative (command) form. 

IV.  A reading passage 

V.  A "Kultur" question based on one of the Landeskunde Info passages 

German 1B/10B: Assignment for 5/12: Kapitel 7

Continue to work on Kapitel 7, workbook/lab manual.  These are to be handed in on the evening of the final, so that you can use them as study guides.  10B students, please hand in the lab manuals on the evening of the final. 
   
THEMA 3, p. 212 

Die Jahreszeiten- Das Wetter 

Write answers to A, 1-7 and complete B, 1-6, match with the pictures below. 

Study Neue Wörter, p. 213 and Wortschatz, das Wetter, pp. 232-233.  Make flashcards with Quia or some other program that you might know of for your smart phone. 

Akt. 7, p. 214.  Write correct alphabet answers, using the map as your reference. 

Listen to Akt. 8, p. 215 and check answers.  Be sure to note the temperatures.  

Read "Landeskunde-Info", p. 215.  

WRITE a 2-3 sentences for Akt. 9, p. 215 to read to the class.  Give the weather for your actual "Heimatstadt", rather than where you currently live. 

THEN, write a brief weather report for a day in the past: Gestern, Vorgestern.  Use the present perfect tense.  Write 2 sentences using the comparative and als. You can use the present perfect or not.    Beispiel: Heute ist es wärmer in Oakland als in San Francisco. 

THEN,  watch the short video (at the end of this page) and describe the weather.  Magst du solches Wetter oder nicht?  Warum oder warum nicht?  

Grammatik im Kontext: 

Read "Expressing comparisons: The Comparative".  p. 226: review notes, esp.  at bottom of p. 226, "als" and fill in the blanks for Übung 13, write comparative sentences using the example as a guide for Übung 14.  Note: you could use actual weather conditions for answers to 5-7.    

Note that, unlike in English, you would not try to form the comparative in German using "mehr" (the equivalent of "more").  

Read Expressing Equality, p. 228 and write 7 sentences for Übung 15.  

Übung 16 will be done in class, but it would be helpful if you formulate questions beforehand.  

Review of assigned sections of Kapitel 7 test.  

The general topics for the final and final presentation (1B/10B, respectively) will be posted separately.  

German 1B/10B: Assignment for 5/5/15: Kapitel 7

10B students please note:  Looking at the calendar, I have decided that the 10B students will give their final presentations, as originally planned, on the evening of the scheduled final, 5/19.  10B students wll take the listening section with the 1B students, as usual, and then we will hold the presentations in another, nearby classroom.  I will have a laptop, if not a projector, for students who prepare some sort of Power Point presentation.  I will endeavor to have a laptop and projector that works (!), but cannot guarantee that.  The topics for this longer, final presentation, will be posted along with the assignment for next week.  

Begin (or continue) working on the workbook/lab manual for Kapitel 7.

P. 210, Thema 2: Hobbys ...

Study Neue Wörter, p. 210.  Wie verbringen Sie Ihre Freizeit?  Complete Schritt 1 to complete in class with Schritt 2. 

P. 211.  Listen to Akt. 3 and check the correct answers. 

Akt. 4: be prepared to do this in class.  Prepare a short list of 3-5 things that you like to do.  Add some other items to the short list in the book. 

Akt. 5 will be done in class. 

Listen to Akt. 6 and check the correct answers.  When something "stimmt nicht", jot down the correct answer.  

Grammatik im Kontext: 

P. 220: read about Strong Verbs.  Note that German strong verbs often parallel strong verbs in English, i.e., ones that have a vowel change (write > wrote, take > took, drink > drank).  While this knowledge does not necessarily  mean you can come up with the past participle for strong verbs just by guessing, at the very least, you will know that new verbs you encounter are not "weak" verbs. You will therefore not attempt to say:  Ich habe zu viel Bier getrinkt!  

P. 221, Übung 6.  Fill in the blanks.  The verbs with their past participles are listed on p. 220.

Übung 7, fill in the blanks with the correct past participle. 

P. 223: read about Mixed Verbs.  Write 4 sentences, one each, for bringen, denken, kennen and wissen in the past tense.  Tip:  You can say you are thinking about a certain person or thing or idea by using denken + an + accusative.  Try to work in a dative object, just for fun!

Read: The Use of Haben and Sein as Auxiliary, pp. 221-222.  

Übung 8: fill in blanks

P. 223.  Read about Mixed verbs 
  Pp. 223-224.  Read about Past Participles of Verbs with Prefixes.  

Übung 10, Schritt 1.  Complete the chart. 

Schritt 2: Write sentences for 1-5, per the example.  

P. 225, Übung 11: Complete the sentences with the correct past participle.  If you're unsure, look it up!  There is an Appendix in the back of the book with a list of common verbs and their principle parts, or you can look here, a good online dictionary.  

Übung 12 will be done in class.  Prepare to answer the question of "Was hast du letztes Wochenende gemacht?"  

For additional practice with using "haben" or "sein", click here.  Here is a short exercise with past participles.  


   

German 1B/10C: Assignment for 4/28/15: Kapitel 7: Freizeit und Sport

Begin Kapitel 7.   After working through the Grammatik, begin workbook and lab manual for Kapitel 7. 

Announcements (please read):  The last office hour will be held on 5/19, the evening of the final. 

For 4/28: 

Read “Kostbare Zeit”, p. 207, Answer A, listen to B and answer questions.

A, p. 208: Be prepared to answer questions for A, based on San Franciscio or Bay Area locations.  Z.B: Wo kann man in SF Rad fahren?  Wo kann man Tennis spielen? 

Thema 1, p. 208, read and study, prepare answers to B.

Study, repeat, learn: Wortschatz, pp. 232-233 

Write Akt. 1. 

Read Sprach-Info, p. 210

Akt. 2 will be done in class, prepare to say which sports you enjoy, how often (see Sprach-Info, assigned above), where.  

Read Landeskunde-Info, p. 223 and prepare answers to the questions. 

Grammatik im Kontext: 

Read: Connecting Ideas: Coordinating conjunctions, p. 216.  These 5 conjunctions function similarly to English.  

Read: Expressing a contrast: aber vs. sondern, p. 216.  This is a little trickier.  Write the correct answers to Übung 1, p. 217.  Read the sentences carefully.  Ask yourself, is there a negative in the first contrasted element and are there two mutually exclusive ideas juxtaposed?  If so, then you must use sondern! 

Read and study:  The Present Perfect Tense, p. 217-218 + Analyse

Read "The Use of haben or sein as auxiliary", pp. 221-222.  Note, especially, that the majority of verbs will use "haben" + past participle in the present perfect tense.  Note that "sein" is used with verbs that indicate movement from one place to another: gehen and fahren, for example.   Another category of verbs that take "sein" are those that show a change in condition by showing a transition from one state of being to another or if they indicate a process.  Got that?  Here's an example: 

First state of being             Transition                New state of being

ich bin wach (awake)         ich schlafe ein         ich schlafe 

Thus, "einschlafen" requires "sein" in the present perfect, as it indicates a change in condition:  Ich bin eingeschlafen.  We will discuss this very engaging concept further in class. 

Listen to Übung 3, p. 219 and check boxes. 

Write answers to Übung 4, p. 219

THEN, write 4-5 sentences in the present perfect tense telling about a visit you made to a restaurant.  

Übung 5, p. 220: check the boxes, as appropriate and be prepared to complete in class with a neighbor.