3 - Der Stil

3 - Der Stil

Der Stil A

Learning Objectives

In these activities, you show that you can:

  • discuss topics of identity formation related to different regions in Germany and the US
  • use the subjunctive mood with “wäre” and “hätte”.
  • interpret short texts and videos and identify relevant information about Germany’s regions and their challenges
  • communicate with others in spoken conversation on topics related to self-identification, using a variety of practiced or memorized words, phrases, simple sentences, and questions

Scenarios

You are engaging in discussions about the role of cities / specific regions for identity formation.

  1. You introduce yourselves to each other by name, and ask how you are.
  2. You determine if you should ‘duzen’ (using the informal ‘du’) or ‘Siezen’ (using formal ‘Sie’); note: in German the person of higher rank or older age will determine.
  3. You share about your interests, likes/dislikes, habits, interests and preferences related to specific regions in your home country, in Germany, their stereotypes and what they are known for, using high-frequency words.
  4. You prepare by reviewing information on regions in Germany, important factors for self-identification, and your ideal life (e.g. where do you want to live?) and compare it with your home country.
  5. You say goodbye depending on whether you’ll see each other again; note: “Bis später” only works if you really will see each other again. If you use it, the other person will likely say “Ach ja? Wann?”

Tools

Vocabulary

  • die Abbildung – der Augenblick – die Funktion – das Material – die Wirkung
  • aus*sprechen – auf*tauchen – auf*treten – eignen – ein*fallen – ein*gehen – untersuchen
  • jeweilig – lediglich – mittlerweile – somit – vielmehr
  • fest – praktisch – speziell -

Grammar and Structures

These grammatical structures can help you in the upcoming tasks.

Untitled

StructureUsage
verb forms in subjunctive
The present subjunctive uses forms of würde most frequently. Würden combines with all verbs, but it is standard to use special forms for haben and sein in lieu of using würden with them. ich wäre, du wärest, er/ sie / es wäre, wir wären, ihr wäret, sie wären. ich hätte, du hättest, er / sie / es hätte, wir hätten, ihr hättet, sie hätten. The subjunctive using hätte is composed on the simple past form of haben (hatte), to which it adds an umlaut and the same endings used with wäre:
present vs. past tense subjunctive:The subjunctive mood can be used with present or past tense
In present tense, use subjunctive (here Konjunktiv II) to speculate or provide a hypothesis. Wenn ich viel Geld hätte, wäre ich reich. To create a past tense subjunctive, add the subjunctive forms of "haben" or "sein" to the past (Perfekt) participle. Ich hätte im Lotto gewonnen. Ich wäre nach Hause gegangen.
“woulda, coulda, shoulda”
“Hätte, hätte, Fahrradkette…”

Cultural Knowledge

Note the following information:

Untitled

FactEffect
Generally speaking, Germans identify with their home region much more than with a state.
Depending on the context, there are different answers to the question “Where are you from?” Germany, Lower Saxony, Hannover, etc. Identity can be marked by the region in which one grew up, or by the place one considers home. Regions are not synonymous with states (Bundesländer). For example, the region Franconia (Franken) spans a few states, including the former GDR. Even though a “Franke” strictly speaking could have been born in Bavaria, this does not mean that he would say he is a Bavarian. Ever!
Many regions have a healthy rivalry with each other that lends itself to mockery and jokes.
“Wie nennt man in Bayern die attraktiven und sympathischen Menschen? – Franken.”

Tasks

Activity 1: Interpreting Information

  1. Listening/viewing/reading
In preparation for the upcoming oral parts, please review the following videos. Please write down words and concepts that communicate pertinent information about challenges some regions are facing, which effect this has on people, and which means of identity expression are important to them:

In Deutschland lebt es sich nicht gleich gut, Was denken Deutsche über Deutsche?, Schwache Regionen in Deutschland, Was ist eigentlich Identität?, Wo willst du leben?

  1. Interpreting Information
Please respond to the following prompts:

What may be the main reasons why people leave their regions / home in Germany? What are their motivations, dreams, and goals? Why are they staying? Please use subjunctive clauses and high-frequency words where appropriate. Please address at least five points in your answer.

Activity 2: Presenting Information

Present pertinent information about yourself.

Using your notes from the previous activity, please share what observations you have made about demographic challenges and regions in Germany. Please share what pros and cons you identified and how the identification with regions relates to your own country in your opinion.

This activity should take you 3-5 minutes to prepare and your presentation should last about 1-2 minutes.

Activity 3: Exchanging Information

Practice with partner(s) (interpersonal activity).

Taking the previous activities as a guide, engage in a brief conversation with partners covering the following topics:

  • Greet your partners and introduce yourselves, sharing information on name, origin, what you do, like/dislike etc.
  • Decide if you should ‘duzen’ (using the informal ‘du’) or ‘Siezen’ (using formal ‘Sie’); note: in German the person of higher rank or older age will determine.
  • You are thinking about your future life, the things you would like to do and are daydreaming with your friends about moving to Germany. If you could live in any region or city in Germany, where would you live (except Berlin), which one would it be? Use subjunctive mood where appropriate. Your friends and family question whether this makes any sense. Based on your notes and observations, give your arguments and counter-arguments and identify how your home region relates to the German region of your choice.

These activities should take you 3-5 minutes to prepare and your presentation and conversation should last about 1-2 minutes.

Take-Aways

Self-Reflection

Ask yourself what went well, where you or your partner(s) struggled to communicate, and how you could improve next time. To help you keep speaking in German, try these strategies:

Untitled

ProblemStrategies
I don’t know a word
Look it up, use its opposite with “nicht” or “kein-“ use gestures, Pantomime
I don’t understand my partner
Repeat the word you don’t understand and inflect at the end to indicate it’s a question. Ask for repetition with the phrase “Wie bitte? Entschuldigung – ich habe das nicht ganz verstanden. Kannst du das bitte nochmal sagen?”

Digging Deeper: Follow-up Activities

  • Ponder more about what role your home town and region means to you, how it shaped you, and what’s special about it.
  • Formulate your opinion about what you found out – what do you like / dislike about stereotyping people according to their nationality / region / city?
  • Do you agree with the following attitudes towards traveling? Find some points to support your opinion:

“Einmal selbst sehen ist mehr wert, als hundert Neuigkeiten hören.”

Sprichwort aus Japan

“In zwanzig Jahren wirst du dich mehr über Dinge ärgern, die du nicht getan hast, als über die, die du getan hast. Also, wirf die Leinen und segle fort aus deinem sicheren Hafen. Fange den Wind in deinen Segeln. Forsche. Träume. Entdecke.”

Mark Twain

Der Stil B

Learning Objectives

In these activities, you show that you can:

  • discuss job outlooks, uniforms / dress code expectations, dream jobs, preferences and values related to the job hunt in Germany and the US.
  • subjunctive in conditional sentences, with strong and weak verbs, subjunctive mood and modal verbs
  • interpret short texts and videos and identify relevant information about job outlooks among young Germans
  • communicate with others in spoken conversation on topics related to career choice, using a variety of practiced or memorized words, phrases, simple sentences, and questions

Scenarios

You are talking about your ideal job or industry and lean on others to guide you.

  1. You introduce yourselves to each other by name and ask how you are.
  2. You determine if you should ‘duzen’ (using the informal ‘du’) or ‘Siezen’ (using formal ‘Sie’); note: in German the person of higher rank or older age will determine.
  3. You share about your interests, likes/dislikes, habits, interests and preferences related to your choice of occupation, using high-frequency words.
  4. You prepare by reviewing information on occupations that young people in Germany find interesting and what’s important to them when finding a job and compare it with your own interests and values- using German.
  5. You say goodbye depending on whether you’ll see each other again; note: “Bis später” only works if you really will see each other again. If you use it, the other person will likely say “Ach ja? Wann?”

Tools

Vocabulary

  • das Amt – der Ansatz – die Bedingung – der Bereich – der Dienst – die Erkenntnis – die Form – die Ordnung – die Regelung – die Tätigkeit
  • begründen – betonen – erfüllen – ermöglichen – funktionieren – richten – sichern
  • na

Grammar and Structures

These grammatical structures can help you in the upcoming tasks.

Untitled

StructureUsage
Wenn … dann in conditional sentences (and word order)
Conditional sentences often involve a contrary-to-fact or speculative hypothesis, and the verbs are expressed in the subjunctive mood: Wenn ich eine Million gewinnen würde, (dann) würde ich eine Villa kaufen. For sentences that start with “wenn,” place the conjugated verb before the comma and the end of the clause. After the comma, place the conjugated verb for the next clause. Injecting “dann” after the comma is optional. Wenn er ein sichtbares Tattoo hätte, (dann) könnte er nicht bei einer Bank arbeiten.
Either the dependent or the main clause can be first in a sentence.
If the sentence starts with the dependent clause, often a “wenn” is inserted between the two verbs to separate them. However, this is optional. It is not so unusual in German, if two verbs follow each other: Wenn sie gestern die Prüfung bestanden hätte, (dann) wäre sie jetzt Meisterin. If the sentence starts with the main clause, dann is not used: Sie wäre sie jetzt Meisterin, wenn sie gestern die Prüfung bestanden hätte.
The present subjunctive mood is formed with möchte / könnte / müsste / dürfte / wüsste, adding an umlaut to their simple past (preterite) form:
InfinitiveSimple pastSubjunctivemögenmochte→ möchtekönnenkonnte→ könntemüssenmusste→ müsstedürfendurfte→ dürftewissenwusste→ wüsste
Modal verbs function in the subjunctive mood exactly as they do in the indicative mood with the known sentence structure.
Wenn Deutschland aus der EU austreten würde, könnte das schlimme Folgen für Europa haben. In the above example, two verbs appear in the wenn-clause. Notice that the würde is conjugated and appears closest to the comma, and that würde follows its infinitive partner (austreten) in the wenn-clause.
Modal verbs: sollte / wollte Sollen and wollen differ from the other modal verbs. Their Present Subjunctive forms take no umlaut and are identical with the Simple Past forms.
InfinitiveSimple pastSubjunctivesollensollte→ solltewollenwollte→ wollte Sollte in the subjunctive mood is used in the context of present or future and often used in general statements describing something that should be the case — but is perhaps unlikely to happen: Ich sollte wirklich weniger fernsehen. Wollte is less frequently used in the present subjunctive and indicates a hypothetical wish. It replaces “wünschte” in a sentence: Ich wünschte, Du würdest weniger fernsehen. vs. Ich wollte, Du würdest weniger fernsehen.
Subjunctive forms - strong verbs: German uses the Subjunctive (Konjunktiv II) forms almost exclusively with select verbs: sein / haben / werden / wissen and the modal verbs. With all other verbs — most German speakers prefer to use the würde + infinitive format.
However, the subjunctive forms of strong verbs are sometimes used in literary texts and it’s good to know how they are formed:Simple past tenseadd umlautadd endingskommen → kamkäm-käme / kämest / …gehen → gingging-ginge / gingest / …essen → aßäß-äße / äßest / …schreiben → schriebschrieb-schriebe / schriebest / …geben → gabgäb-gäbe / gäbest / … These forms appear most frequently in writing. Some strong verbs require a different vowel altogether (e.g., stehen → stand → stünde), some allow more than one form (helfen → hälfe / hülfe), some replace an expected umlauted ä with e (nennen → nannte → nennte)
Subjunctive forms: Weak verbs
Weak verb subjunctive (Konjunktiv II) forms consist of the Simple Past stem (spielen → spielt-) and the endings found on all other Subjunctive II verbs. This means that these forms are, in fact, identical to the Simple Past:spielenspielte / spieltest / …spielte / spieltest / … To distinguish between simple past and subjunctive, German speakers often use the würde + infinitive format.

Cultural Knowledge

Note the following information:

Untitled

FactEffect
Wearing Trachten is not just for people in southern Germany. In many, especially rural areas in Germany, people wore a Tracht according to their region. This served practical reasons for everyday life and on Sundays the nicest Tracht was worn. It also served as a sign of belonging to a certain region, socioeconomic status, and sometimes even county to distinguish from other regions and counties. These small details mark one’s geographic heritage.
Nowadays a German Tracht is mostly associated with Dirndl and Lederhosen. While it can function as a fashion statement, an expression of nostalgia or tradition, or belonging in the past, it also had a practical function. For women, the wearing of a bow on the waist indicated whether she was single or in a committed relationship. Right loop: The wearer is taken. Left bow: The wearer is single. Loop in the middle: relationship status is none of your business! Back bow: widow, waitress or child
Some form of Trachten even found their way into world literature and beloved fairy tales.
Have you ever asked yourself why little red riding hood, German: Rotkäppchen, is called that? According to legend, it is called that because of the Tracht people wore in the region in Germany where the fairy tale is situated. If you follow the German fairy tale route, die Deutsche Märchenstrasse, you will also encounter a region called Schwalm. Die Schwalm is in Hessia, in the middle of Germany. The Brothers Grimm wrote this fairy tale referring to the specific Tracht young girls wore in this region: Schwälmer Tracht. Special Note: The Brothers Grimm adapted these stories from oral traditions in Western Europe, including current day France. In other words, the original Rotkäppchen source material was not necessarily linked to Schwalm.

Tasks

Activity 1: Interpreting Information

  1. Listening/viewing/reading
In preparation for the upcoming oral parts, please review the following videos and websites. Please write down words and concepts that communicate pertinent information about career choice, important values, and finding a career:

Kinder und Berufe, Berufswunsch und Entwicklung, Gender und Klischees, Was willst Du werden? Wie finde ich einen Beruf?

  1. Interpreting Information
Please respond to the following prompts:

Many adolescents in Germany still follow gender-stereotypical career paths. Please criticize this for fact and address its impact on adolescents and society as a whole? Where do you detect challenges in changing the way people think about career choice? Please find at least three arguments for either question, using high-frequency words and subjunctive clauses where appropriate. Please feel free to consult additional sources.

Activity 2: Presenting Information

Present pertinent information about yourself.

Using your notes from the previous activity, please share what observations you have made about gender and career choice. Please share what pros and cons you identified and how the goals and career choices among young adolescents in Germany compares to the ones at home in your opinion.

This activity should take you 3-5 minutes to prepare and your presentation should last about 1-2 minutes.

Activity 3: Exchanging Information

Practice with partner(s) (interpersonal activity).

Taking the previous activities as a guide, engage in a brief conversation with partners covering the following topics:

  • Greet your partners and introduce yourselves, sharing information on name, origin, what you do, like /dislike etc.
  • Decide if you should ‘duzen’ (using the informal ‘du’) or ‘Siezen’ (using formal ‘Sie’); note: in German the person of higher rank or older age will determine.
  • You are engaging in a conversation with your professor about career choices and dream jobs in Germany and your own goals and values as they relate to career choice. Based on your notes and observations, talk about what career you would most likely pursue and use subjunctive mood where appropriate.
  • Take turns sharing the pros and cons with your partner.

These activities should take you 3-5 minutes to prepare and your presentation and conversation should last about 1-2 minutes.

Take-Aways

Self-Reflection

Ask yourself what went well, where you or your partner(s) struggled to communicate, and how you could improve next time. To help you keep speaking in German, try these strategies:

Untitled

ProblemStrategies
I don’t know a word
Look it up, use its opposite with “nicht” or “kein-“ use gestures, Pantomime
I don’t understand my partner
Repeat the word you don’t understand and inflect at the end to indicate it’s a question. Ask for repetition with the phrase “Wie bitte? Entschuldigung – ich habe das nicht ganz verstanden. Kannst du das bitte nochmal sagen?”

Digging Deeper: Follow-up Activities

  • Research more about career choices in Germany and the US.
  • Formulate your opinion about what you found out. What do you like / dislike about the opportunities and challenges that young adults encounter when choosing a career?
  • Please answer the following questions and include the subjunctive mood where appropriate:
“Wenn ich der Präsident der Vereinigten Staaten wäre, dann…”

“Hätte ich die Chance in meinem Traumberuf zu arbeiten, dann…”

Der Stil C

Learning Objectives

In these activities, you show that you can:

  • discuss sustainability in the food industry and alternative lifestyles in Germany and the US
  • use the past subjunctive with modal verbs, use hätte/wäre with the past participle
  • interpret short texts and videos and identify relevant information about consumer criticism and consumer preferences in Germany and the US
  • communicate with others in spoken conversation on topics related to different attitude toward consumerism, using a variety of practiced or memorized words, phrases, simple sentences, and questions

Scenarios

You are engaging in a discussion on sustainability in Germany and the US. Please lean on others to guide you.

  1. You introduce yourselves to each other by name, and ask how you are.
  2. You determine if you should ‘duzen’ (using the informal ‘du’) or ‘Siezen’ (using formal ‘Sie’); note: in German the person of higher rank or older age will determine.
  3. You share about your interests, likes/dislikes, habits, interests and preferences related to sustainability in the food and fashion industry, using high-frequency words.
  4. You prepare by reviewing information on consumer behavior in Germany and compare it with your home country.
  5. You say goodbye depending on whether you’ll see each other again; note: “Bis später” only works if you really will see each other again. If you use it, the other person will likely say “Ach ja? Wann?”

Tools

Vocabulary

  • die Anwendung – die Linie – die Maschine – der Mund – die Sekunde – das Verfahren – das Werk
  • drücken – erfolgen – herrschen – klingen – nicken – stecken
  • aha – darüber hinaus – offenbar – zunächst
  • technisch

Grammar and Structures

These grammatical structures can help you in the upcoming tasks.

Untitled

StructureUsage
Create the past subjunctive by combining hätte/wäre with the past participle
haben: all verbs that require “haben” to form the perfect tense use “hätte” for the past subjunctive: Er hat hart gearbeitet. Er hätte hart gearbeitet. sein: all verbs that require “sein” to form the perfect tense use “wäre” for the past subjunctive: Ich bin schnell ins Haus gegangen. Ich wäre schnell ins Haus gegangen. .
Past subjunctive: Modal verbs: modal verbs in the Past subjunctive express contrary-to-fact hypotheses, wishes and speculations within the context of should have, could have and would have had to
The past subjunctive with modal verbs calls for the infinitive of the modal verb, and places it after the other infinitive to form a “double infinitive”: hätte … sehen sollen hätte … gehen können hätte … warten müssen Das Geschrei hättest du hören sollen. Er hätte ans andere Ufer schwimmen sollen. Even though a verb of movement is involved here, we still use “hätte” as the conjugated verb form, because the modal verb determines the auxiliary – and all modal verbs take “haben” as auxiliary.
would have vs. could have / should have in German
There is an important syntactic distinction between the past subjunctive modal verbs in German: would have is rendered in German with hätte/wäre + past participle.Sie wäre mit uns gefahren.She would have driven with us. could have / should have are rendered with hätte + double infinitiveSie hätte mit uns fahren können.She could have driven with us.Sie hätte mit uns fahren sollen.She should have driven with us.

Cultural Knowledge

Note the following information:

Untitled

FactEffect
The topic of consumption and sustainability has become more and more pertinent as the world notices the effects of exploitation and excessive industry. Whether sustainable clothing, Fridays for Future, or organic farming – there is still a lot to be done in a short amount of time in order to secure the world for future generations. Even though organic farming is being subsidized and the interest in organic meat is increasing, the majority of meat consumed in each household is still produced in modern meat processing plants. In contrast, meat consumption in Germany is on the decline.
Germany losing its appetite for meat. Meat is is apparently being consumed far less frequently in Germany than a few years ago. This was the main takeaway from the “Nutrition Report 2020”, a survey which has been published annually by the Ministry for Agriculture since 2015 and gives an insight into the country’s eating habits. Based on a representative survey of 1,000 people, this year’s report found that only 26 percent of them reported consuming meat every day. In the first Nutrition Report, published five years ago, it was 34 percent. Last year, men in particular reduced their meat consumption. While 39 percent of men said in the 2019 survey that they consumed meat products daily, in 2020 this had fallen to 32 percent. The report’s authors concluded: “More and more men are no longer eating a daily portion of meat.” One in every five women said that they eat meat on a daily basis.
To Have or to Be? is a 1976 book by psychoanalyst Erich Fromm in which he differentiates between having and being. It is a critique of modern consumption practices.
According to the Wikipedia article about this book: “haben” oder “sein” is not only a grammatical question but above all a philosophical one. The article goes on to state: Fromm writes that modern society has become materialistic and prefers "having" to "being". He mentions the great promise of unlimited happiness, freedom, material abundance, and domination of nature. In every mode of life, people should ponder more on the "being" nature and not towards the "having" nature. This is the truth which people deny and thus people of the modern world have completely lost their inner selves. The point of being is more important as everyone is mortal, and thus having of possessions will become useless after their death, because the possessions which are transferred to the life after death, will be what the person actually was inside.

Tasks

Activity 1: Interpreting Information

  1. Listening/viewing/reading
In preparation for the upcoming oral parts, please review the following videos. Please write down words and concepts that communicate pertinent tips for sustainable living and the concept of consumption.

Was ist Konsum?, Was ist Nachhaltigkeit?, So funktioniert nachhaltige Ernährung, Konsum macht unglücklich, Aussteigen für Anfänger

  1. Interpreting Information
Please respond to the following prompts:

What do you consider remarkable about consumer preferences and sustainability in the food sector in Germany? Please mention at least five points, and use the past subjunctive with hätte/wäre and/or modal verbs as well as high-frequency words where appropriate.

Unverpackt Läden in Deutschland, Zero Waste Map, Deutsche und Bioprodukte

Activity 2: Presenting Information

Present pertinent information about yourself.

Using your notes from the previous activity, please share what observations you have made about consumption in Germany, and various attitudes about consumerism. What’s the motivation behind these ways of living sustainably? Please share what important aspects you identified for sustainability in Germany and how it compares to your home country in your opinion.

This activity should take you 3-5 minutes to prepare and your presentation should last about 1-2 minutes.

Activity 3: Exchanging Information

Practice with partner(s) (interpersonal activity).

Taking the previous activities as a guide, engage in a brief conversation with partners covering the following topics:

  • Greet your partners and introduce yourselves, sharing information on name, origin, what you do, like /dislike etc.
  • Decide if you should ‘duzen’ (using the informal ‘du’) or ‘Siezen’ (using formal ‘Sie’); note: in German the person of higher rank or older age will determine.
  • Imagine that you are thinking about moving into a tiny home that is totally self-sufficient. Your friends and family question/criticize this idea. Based on your notes and observations, give your arguments and rebuttals for your choice of lifestyle.
  • Take turns sharing the pros and cons with your partner.

These activities should take you 3-5 minutes to prepare and your presentation and conversation should last about 1-2 minutes.

Take-Aways

Self-Reflection

Ask yourself what went well, where you or your partner(s) struggled to communicate, and how you could improve next time. To help you keep speaking in German, try these strategies:

Untitled

ProblemStrategies
I don’t know a word
Look it up, use its opposite with “nicht” or “kein-“ use gestures, Pantomime
I don’t understand my partner
Repeat the word you don’t understand and inflect at the end to indicate it’s a question. Ask for repetition with the phrase “Wie bitte? Entschuldigung – ich habe das nicht ganz verstanden. Kannst du das bitte nochmal sagen?”

Digging Deeper: Follow-up Activities

  • Research more about sustainable clothes and food in the US and Germany.
  • Formulate your opinion about what you found out – do you feel inspired to make changes in your daily life? Why or why not?
  • Read the following quote by Erich Fromm and comment on it. Do you agree or disagree? Find at least three arguments to support your opinion:
“Fromm fragt: "Wer bin ich, wenn ich bin, was ich habe und dann verliere, was ich habe?" Und er antwortet: " Nichts als ein besiegter, gebrochener, erbarmenswerter Mensch, Zeugnis einer falschen Lebensweise."

Der Stil D

Learning Objectives

In these activities, you show that you can:

  • discuss the role of clothes, lifestyle, and career for identity formation
  • use Subjunctive II in indirect speech and with “als ob”, subjunctive I in journalistic writing
  • interpret short texts and videos and identify relevant information about different lifestyles and clothes as identity markers.
  • communicate with others in spoken conversation on topics related to consumerism, dress style and self-confidence, using a variety of practiced or memorized words, phrases, simple sentences, and questions

Scenarios

You are discussing fashion and consumerism and lean on others to guide you.

  1. You introduce yourselves to each other by name, and ask how you are.
  2. You determine if you should ‘duzen’ (using the informal ‘du’) or ‘Siezen’ (using formal ‘Sie’); note: in German the person of higher rank or older age will determine.
  3. You share about your interests, likes/dislikes, habits, interests and preferences related to consumerism and life plans, using high-frequency words.
  4. You prepare by reviewing information on the role of status symbols and occupation and compare it with your own preferences and values, using German.
  5. You say goodbye depending on whether you’ll see each other again; note: “Bis später” only works if you really will see each other again. If you use it, the other person will likely say “Ach ja? Wann?”

Tools

Vocabulary

  • die Einrichtung – das Glas - die Produktion – der Versuch
  • begreifen – betragen – ein*richten – spüren
  • übrig – zuletzt
  • klar

Grammar and Structures

These grammatical structures can help you in the upcoming tasks.

Untitled

StructureUsage
use of “als ob” in German
The two-part conjunction als ob introduces a dependent clause. The verb in an als ob clause is frequently in the subjunctive mood, either Present or Past tense. Hence the verb appears at the end: Wir tun so, als ob wir reich wären. Es sah so aus, als ob die Katze die Milch getrunken hätte. Als ob clauses are preceded by a relatively small number of standard openers.
The conjugated verb in an “as if” clause can substitute the “ob” without changing the meaning:
Es sieht so aus, als hätte die Katze die Milch getrunken. Wir tun so, als wären wir reich.
Subjunctive II for indirect speech
The subjunctive is also used for indirect speech (indirekte Rede). Sie sagte mir, sie hätte die Unterlagen gestern zur Post gebracht. Here, “hätte” doesn’t mean “would have” in a hypothetical sense. It is in subjunctive II because it is a secondhand retelling of information.
Indirect speech: tenses / questions
In German, the tense of the original information is mirrored in the time of the subjunctive clause (note the tense of sagen): Past tense direct speech: Ich bin ins Haus gegangen. Ich war ins Haus gegangen. Ich ging ins Haus. Indirect speech: Er sagte, er wäre ins Haus gegangen. Present tense direct speech: Ich gehe ins Haus. Indirect speech: Er sagte, er würde ins Haus gehen. Future direct speech: Ich werde ins Haus gehen. indirect speech: Sie sagte, sie würde ins Haus gehen. (werde + infinitive → würde + infinitive)
“Wer-wie-was” questionsVerb first questions
In German, you need to use the question word as a conjunction in a dependent clause: “Wer ist das?” – Er fragte, wer das wäre. If the verb comes first in a question, use ob as a conjunction in a dependent clause: Sind die Bananen schon aus? Er fragte, ob die Bananen schon aus wären.
use of Subjunctive I in journalistic writing:other than journalism, Subjunctive I is hardly used by German speakers.
Using the subjunctive mood to relate indirect speech creates a sense of distance between the original source of information and the person relating it — an objectivity that connotes I’m not saying this is true or that I agree or disagree, it’s just what the person said.InfinitiveSubjunctive Iwerden→ er/sie werdesein→ er/sie seihaben→ er/sie habemüssen→ er/sie müsse How to form Subjunctive I: Infinitive minus the (e)n, with an -e ending for third-person singular — except for sein, which simply uses the stem.

Cultural Knowledge

Note the following information:

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FactEffect
Clothes may express your style, what you want the world to show about you, they may even function as status symbols or have a practical function. However, there are people in Germany that claim no clothes is the ultimate expression of freedom.
Freikörperkultur (FKK) is a German movement whose name translates to free body culture. It endorses a naturalistic approach to sports and community living. Behind that is the joy of the experience of nature or also of being nude itself, without direct relationship to sexuality. The followers of this culture are called traditional naturists, FKK'ler, or nudists. The German nudist movement was the first worldwide and marked the start of an increased acceptance of public nudity in Germany.[1] Today, there are only few legal restrictions on public nudity in Germany.
Hiking in the nude is a popular hobby for people who want to enjoy nature more purely.
There are two official nudist hiking trails in Germany. In some places, off the designated paths, there are guided nude hikes - organized by associations and clubs. Harzer Naturistensteig: The oldest German nude hiking trail is in Saxony-Anhalt. It was opened in 2009 and runs through the southern Harz near the Wippra Talsperre. Two different routes are signposted - a six kilometer long and a 13 kilometer long circular route. Nudist Trail Undeloh: In the Lüneburg Heath, nude hiking has been allowed on this route since 2012. The route leads ten kilometers through a wooded nature reserve Some campgrounds are also exclusively open to nudists.

Tasks

Activity 1: Interpreting Information

  1. Listening/viewing/reading
In preparation for the upcoming oral parts, please review the following videos. Please write down words and concepts that communicate noteworthy info about the value clothes carry for people, status symbols, lifestyle, and for their sense of self-worth.

Machen Kleider Leute? Umfrage, Konsum bei Kindern, Kann Kleidung Umwelt schützen?, Weniger ist mehr, Mehr ist mehr?, Geld macht glücklich

  1. Interpreting Information
Please respond to the following prompts:

Watch the video Mehr ist mehr? again and report what people define as luxury, using high-frequency words and the Subjunctive I.

Activity 2: Presenting Information

Present pertinent information about yourself.

Using your notes from the previous activity, please share what observations you have made about what attitudes people hold toward clothes, their consumer habits, and preferences. Please share what pros and cons you identified and how your findings compare to your own preferences about clothes and how you live your life.

This activity should take you 3-5 minutes to prepare and your presentation should last about 1-2 minutes.

Activity 3: Exchanging Information

Practice with partner(s) (interpersonal activity).

Taking the previous activities as a guide, engage in a brief conversation with partners covering the following topics:

  • Greet your partners and introduce yourselves, sharing information on name, origin, what you do, like /dislike etc.
  • Decide if you should ‘duzen’ (using the informal ‘du’) or ‘Siezen’ (using formal ‘Sie’); note: in German the person of higher rank or older age will determine.
  • Imagine that you are engaging in a discussion about minimalism vs. luxury and opulence. Please explain your own current lifestyle and what you are aspiring to. Based on your notes and observations, give your arguments and counter-arguments for a minimalist and opulent lifestyle respectively.
  • Take turns sharing the pros and cons.

These activities should take you 3-5 minutes to prepare and your presentation and conversation should last about 1-2 minutes.

Take-Aways

Self-Reflection

Ask yourself what went well, where you or your partner(s) struggled to communicate, and how you could improve next time. To help you keep speaking in German, try these strategies:

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ProblemStrategies
I don’t know a word
Look it up, use its opposite with “nicht” or “kein-“ use gestures, Pantomime
I don’t understand my partner
Repeat the word you don’t understand and inflect at the end to indicate it’s a question. Ask for repetition with the phrase “Wie bitte? Entschuldigung – ich habe das nicht ganz verstanden. Kannst du das bitte nochmal sagen?”

Digging Deeper: Follow-up Activities

  • Research more about the importance of status symbols vs. minimalism for the younger generations in your home country. When does choice become a necessity?
  • Formulate your opinion about what your home country as a whole should strive for in order to make the country livable for all people?
  • Watch the following video on frugality and quality of life? What are her strategies to save money? Can you relate to her attitude? Please express your opinion, using at least four arguments.
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