Guten Tag! German 3 lets you continue on an exciting language-learning journey that could eventually…
1. prepare you to meet college or university entrance requirements
2. enable you to read, write, speak, and listen to German with competence and ease
3. allow you to consider a career in international politics, business, engineering, global health, translation…the sky’s the limit!

There are real benefits to a continuous, sequential course of study with a group of like-minded learners, led by an expert in the field. The instruction in this course will be targeted right to your level every day and will lead you predictably and efficiently toward your goals.

Please read more below for class details. I so much hope you’ll join us!

--Dr. Jennifer

P.S. If you’d like to meet with me, feel free to sign up for my Sampler Class and/or an Open House session.
https://outschool.com/classes/german-for-high-schoolers-sampler-class-0UjkKPYE
https://outschool.com/classes/german-placement-assessment-open-house-8GBQiwIM

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PROVEN RESULTS
Students who take my German classes see results! 

+ By the end of German 1, you’ll be able to speak about yourself and everyday life around you.
+ By the end of German 2, you’ll be able to speak about higher-level topics, stating your opinion, defending your position, and explaining your reasoning.
+ In German 3, your speaking ability will become more natural, more automatic, and more nuanced. German 4 & German 5 will take you even further toward true fluency.

Most students in my classes score in the A or B range on the exams. I think you’ll be surprised by how quickly you’ll learn and by how proficient you’ll become.

One of my favorite parent reviews (from German 2) says it best:
“My daughter’s ability to speak and understand German is growing by leaps and bounds. Dr. Jennifer is a great teacher, the class is interesting and it WORKS!”

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EXPERT INSTRUCTION
I am an expert instructor with 25+ years of experience.

You can see the details of my teaching credentials in the “Teacher Expertise” dropdown and on my profile page (https://outschool.com/teachers/Jennifer-Bjornstad).

A few highlights:
- I have a PhD in German.
- I am a near-native speaker of German.
- I have lived and traveled in Germany extensively. 
-  was a tenured professor at Valparaiso University.
- I am a licensed high school teacher.
- I homeschooled my own son for several years.
- I have taught intermediate-level German classes many times.

I really know my stuff when it comes to German language, history, literature, and culture. I’m also an approachable and welcoming teacher—our virtual classroom is a lively, warm, and congenial place.

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UNIQUE HYBRID FORMAT: LIVE SESSION + GUIDED WORK
The class follows a hybrid format, with two components:

1) Each Monday, we come together in our Live Session for speaking practice, discussion of our readings, follow-up on grammar assignments, and cultural enrichment.

2) During the week, you work individually on the Guided Work assignments. I will teach you via interactive videos, reading assignments, reading guides, and grammar-practice worksheets. 

You can expect to spend two to four hours per week on the Guided Work assignments.

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PRICING & CLASS VALUE
This listing is for Part 1 of 4. The cost of the 8-week session is $800. Although we meet just one day a week as a group, the learning material and support your learner receives (through the Live Session & the Guided Work component) is equivalent to that of a 4-day-a-week class.

Total cost for the year: $3200

Note to Families:
I know that the cost of this class represents a significant investment in your learner’s education. 

The class price includes…
+ high-quality, expert instruction
+ instructor-created lesson plans, activities, & materials
+ close communication via the once-a-week Family Letter and Outschool messages
+ individualized feedback on your learner’s progress via exam grades and Quarterly Reports

(If you have already taken one or more of the self-paced classes that makes up the Guided Work component, I’ll offer you a coupon code for that portion of the class price.)

Teaching on Outschool is my full-time job. I take my work seriously and spend a lot of time thinking about how best to support each learner. I teach just a small number of students per year, so you can be sure your child is getting the personalized attention that builds confidence, honors each student’s unique abilities, and leads to success.

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WHY GERMAN?
Learners of German have all kinds of reasons they are interested in studying the language. 
 
Do any of these reasons apply to you?
+ I want to improve my understanding of how English is related to other languages.
+ I want to speak with my Oma in her native language.
+ I want to get world news coverage from a European perspective.
+ I want to understand the German I hear in my favorite movies about WWII.
+ I want to sing a Schubert lied with confidence.
+ I want to play video games in German.
+ I want to learn a bunch of cool long words like Geschwindigkeitsüberschreitung.

It is not a surprise that so many people want to learn German. After all, it is the language of one of the most important European cultures of the present era and the language of a rich political, philosophical, and artistic past.

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INTERACTIVE LEARNING & CLASSROOM COMMUNITY
This course, designed especially for teen learners, uses a highly interactive approach to language-learning that will keep you on your toes, learning more and more German each day. My teaching style focuses on getting everyone involved at the level they feel comfortable with, asking for lots of volunteers, and giving everyone a chance to participate.

In our live sessions, we will concentrate on getting you lots and lots of speaking practice!

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TEXTBOOK & MATERIALS: THE “NATURAL APPROACH”
If you’ve taken German 1 and German 2 with me, you already have a copy of Kontakte: A Communicative Approach. This textbook has been around for quite a while in various editions, so it’s very well thought-out and carefully edited.

We will be using the textbook from time to time in German 3 to review and to expand upon what we learned in German 1 and German 2.

In addition to the textbook, we will be using a lot of materials that I have created myself over the 25+ years of my teaching career. These materials bring contemporary Germany into the classroom, provide links to other fields of study (mathematics, history, art, literature, music, etc.) and keep things fresh and interesting.

These are the same materials I sell to other teachers and learners on my Teachers Pay Teachers storefront; you get them free as a part of the class!

Kontakte is designed around what is known as the Natural Approach to language learning. In the Natural Approach, students are given the chance to learn at a natural pace, listening to the instructor speaking German at their level and responding with whatever words and phrases they feel ready to use. You will be able to participate verbally as you feel comfortable, moving to longer and longer responses. You will be hearing and speaking a lot of German during the live class sessions, allowing you to be fully immersed in the language, but you will be able to ask a question in English at any time.

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THE 4 SKILLS: READING, WRITING, LISTENING, SPEAKING
In German 3, we will focus on all four communicative skills—reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

You will have the chance to READ lots of German. In Quarter 1, we’ll read the Brothers Grimm fairy tale “Das Mädchen ohne Hände.” In Quarters 2 & 3, we’ll read the chapter book Ben liebt Anna by Peter Härtling. 

You will have the chance to WRITE a lot of German, working to express yourself clearly and to use your growing language skills creatively. In Quarter 4, we’ll do a writing-based project.

You will also do a lot of LISTENING and SPEAKING. We’ll spend the majority of our time in the weekly live session getting you lots of speaking practice. In Quarter 4, we’ll also practice oral description & storytelling based on the “Vater und Sohn” comic strips by Erich Ohser.

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GRAMMATICAL COMPETENCE
Sometimes when people think of language classes, they think of grammar—lots of dry and boring tables, charts, and lists. Today’s language classes are not like that! Today, we focus on your functional abilities—what can you do with the language? Being accurate is still important, but we see grammatical accuracy in context, as a means of making you understandable to the people you want to communicate with.

Don’t get me wrong—we will be learning the rules of grammar, and we will be doing a lot of grammar-based practice. In my experience, an “immersion only” method doesn’t really work unless you can devote hours a day to being surrounded by the language and culture (i.e. move to Germany!), so we will learn by pairing our immersive experiences with targeted practice. This will let you learn both with your intuition and with your intellect.

All this is to say that I won’t be correcting every error. Broadly put, we will be working on grammatical accuracy in written work and in targeted speaking exercises, but when it comes to learning to put our thoughts, feelings, and ideas into words, we will focus more on general fluidity and confidence of expression. No one wants to be interrupted in the middle of what they’re trying to say, and one of the best ways toward improved speaking skills is simply lots and lots of unimpeded practice.

In all four quarters of the class, we will be making a thorough review of the basic points of German grammar. We will also be focusing on three key advanced grammar points:
- verbs in the simple past tense
- two-way prepositions
- adjective endings

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CULTURAL KNOWLEDGE
One thing I really want you to know is that this class encompasses so much more than just learning to speak German! Along your way to fluency, you’ll learn a lot about German history, music, art, and literature.

You’ll also become an expert in the connections between German and English. (Did you know they were actually the same language—West Germanic—until around 1400 years ago?) Looking into word histories is one of my favorite pastimes, and I have converted many students into amateur etymologists! I think you will find this field of study fascinating, as well. Learning that “der Baum” (tree) is related to “beam” or that “die Apfelsine” (orange) means “apple from China” is a fun way to expand your vocabulary—in German and in English—and it is an exhilarating way to use all parts of your brain.

The readings we will focus on (“Das Mädchen ohne Hände,” Ben liebt Anna, and the Vater und Sohn comic strips) bring us into contact with a variety of cultural themes from German’s past and present:
+ 19th and 20th century political history
+ folklore studies and literary culture
+ social issues such as class and ethnicity
+ German schooling, family culture, and everyday life

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THE COMPLETE CURRICULUM & COLLEGE PLACEMENT
Once you have completed German 3, you may want to continue to gain more advanced skills. 

For work at the German 4 & 5 level, I offer self-paced classes that allow you to learn through project-based learning and structured reading classes. 

Depending on the time and energy you give your German studies, you may be able to place directly into an upper-level German class in college. That would get you a nice head start on a German major or minor, which many people combine with another major such as history, engineering, English, another foreign language, business, nursing, etc. Advanced skills in a second language are always useful, both for job placement and for personal enjoyment.

Many colleges and universities offer foreign language placement tests, which you take the summer before you begin college, and I can help you prepare for that.

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FAQ—FOR FAMILIES
Q: Do you teach the class in GERMAN or in ENGLISH?
A: Both! I use what you might call a “partial immersion” approach. Most of our class time is focused on reading, writing, listening, and speaking—in German. But I believe there is a role for English in the classroom, as well. A targeted use of English can really promote student confidence and increase learning efficiency.

Q: Are you a NATIVE SPEAKER of German?
A: I am what is called a “near-native” speaker of German. I have a BA, MA, and PhD in German and I have spent significant time in Germany, so my language skills are top-notch. As a near-native speaker, I offer students the best of both worlds: not only do I have clear pronunciation, advanced vocabulary, and excellent grammatical accuracy, but I also speak a standardized German that is easy to follow, and I excel in adapting my speech to different ability levels.

Q: Does it matter that you are a TRAINED TEACHER?
A: I sure think it does! I have spent my career reading, thinking, and talking about how best to teach German and then putting those ideas into practice in the classroom. I am a member of the AATG (American Association of Teachers of German) and the MLA (Modern Language Association). I have attended and presented at dozens of teacher conferences and have published articles on pedagogical topics. All of this means that I am familiar with best practices and current thinking on effective teaching methods and that I’m able to use this knowledge to help lead your learner to success.

Q: We have a SCHEDULING CONFLICT. Can my learner still take the class?
A: Absolutely. Your learner can always catch up on a missed class by watching the class video, posted automatically by Outschool after each class session. 

Q: Can we count this class for HIGH SCHOOL CREDIT?
A: Quite possibly. If you are a homeschooling family creating your own transcript, you can list German 3, Parts 1 – 4 as a full high school credit. If you are working with a high school guidance counselor, you can submit the class description, my credentials, and your learner’s exams scores and narrative reports for possible credit.

Q: We missed the beginning of the school year! Is it TOO LATE TO START?
A: I’m often able to accommodate learners with a late start. Message me and let’s see if we can make it work. If, for example, your learner has already done some work with German, they may be able to jump right in.

Q: I don’t think we’ll be able to get the TEXTBOOK by the first day. Is that a problem?
A: No problem. Last-minute enrollments are welcome. I can provide scans of any necessary pages until your book arrives.

Q: I have more questions. Can we GET TOGETHER to talk?
A: Yes, please! I love getting together with learners and their families to learn about their particular questions, concerns, and needs. Send me a time that works for you, and we can do an Open House session: 
https://outschool.com/classes/german-placement-assessment-open-house-8GBQiwIM?refuid=zBNxOaog