course
Elementary German

I'll start enthusiastically because that is how I feel: Cosima is the best! I've never had a more effective or more lovable language teacher. Cosima is so sweet, passionate, funny, and cool. She makes learning a complex language exciting – like a game or a puzzle to solve – and I attribute my decision to learn it fluently entirely to her. Every class was delightful and I always left with a smile on my face. You can easily get an A by completing her nightly homework, writing careful essays (more like single paragraphs), and studying a bit for every-two-week tests. The workload is not hard; it is enough that you actually practice and learn, though. Any less would just make the next semester harder.

Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Hopefully she never teaches this class in future semesters. Everyone in the class CLEARLY had already taken some amount of German, but refused to admit this to the instructor. (They admitted it amongst themselves.) AND, STRANGE ENOUGH, the instructor did not seem to (or maybe just REFUSED) to put two and two together. After I went up to her to say I was worried about keeping up given that the pace was so fast, she laughed....saying that everyone else was in the same boat as I was (false haha) and they just got the language better than I did (um...) I ask you HOW can students be able to converse in German after LITERALLY spending two nights with their first textbook to learn one chapter? Where would we have grasped ANYTHING besides the vocabulary written on the page, and basic sentence structures (of which there were VERY FEW)? My friend ended up dropping the class after she had already purchased the textbook, because Miriam's classroom expectations were unclear, and ultimately unreasonable. No one expects to be babied. But true introductory students of German expect the instructor to do some of the explaining herself. We do not need an instructor looking to coast with students whose previous German teachers have done the bulk of the work. AVOID.

Evan is EXCELLENT. This course was by far my favorite last semester and that was largely because he was my instructor. He encouraged us to speak in every class and was always very forgiving and helpful when mistakes were made. His feedback on written assignments was very thorough, and work was almost always returned the following lecture. He clearly put a great deal of time and effort into correcting our work and made sure we knew WHY we were incorrect when we were. He also made sure to explain topics very thoroughly in his lectures, and gave us plenty of opportunities to ask questions. The class was taught entirely in German, which was very helpful to immersion (albeit a bit intimidating) but also led to some comical moments when he had to explain things without using English. Evan was always friendly and unintimidating,and stayed after class to discuss any additional questions we might have had. He also responded to questions via email very promptly. I have no complaints regarding his teaching--he truly is excellent. I still see him around campus sometimes and we chat, he really does care about his students. After the final he took the class to a German museum and treated us to coffee! All said, I feel more confident speaking German after one semester of this course than I did after 3 years of high school Spanish.

Alexis is fantastic. Where my previous german profs focused mostly on direct and constrictive grammatical drilling, Alexis approaches his teaching from a much more conversational and indirect manner. As opposed to drilling, he has a conversation with members of the class in which they are expected to utilize the focused grammar in their responses. Class with Alexis was never dull, he was always energetic and engaged. In addition to being engaged Alexis adds a very personal note to his teaching and forms a strong relationship with his classes. This only furthers the excellent experience.

Incomparable! From the first day onwards, Jutta speaks only German in the classroom but manages to make students who do not know the language understand everything she says. She is understanding, amiable, and overall HILARIOUS! Should a student need anything from her (extension, excused absence, etc.), just approach Jutta, and she will be more than happy to oblige. She makes students want to attend the class. Whilst there is nightly homework, it is never too much, nor are the tests and quizzes exceptionally difficult---namely because Jutta excels in teaching everything that needs to be learnt for the chapter. Highly, highly, highly recommened. She is phenomenal; few language professors can compare. Most of all: her sense of humour is bloody brilliant; go to class just for the jokes.

Elia is a fantastic teacher, one of the best I've ever had. She is Austrian so a native speaker, which helps when you have complicated questions or want to know how to say something colloquially. She is personanably, understanding, and relates well to students. Her class is very fun as she often incorporates singing and other games to help you learn everything from vocab to sentence structure. I never had a problem with not wanting to come to class, even on thursday nights. Elia knows how to teach well, as her class this semester scored the best overall on the final. If you're looking for a fun way to learn German, then this class if for you. That said, expect to do all your work. She is nice but also has high expectations for class so slackers beware. Trust me its worth it though.

Coming from the land of 7 years of absolutely insane French teachers, I braced myself when singing up for this class. Don't. Richard is wonderful, and is a hundred times better than any language teacher I've had in the past. In fact, I haven't met a single person in the German department here that I haven't liked immediately--it's a fantastic department. Richard knows his stuff, he is smart, incredibly funny in class, and devises clever and engaging assignments and activities. In one semester you will leave the classroom with an impressive arsenol of words and grammar constructions... in French, it took me at least 3 semesters to get to where I am now in German. I really cannot offer enough praise for this class, this was the only class I looked forward to this semester. I did not originally intend to continue German classes for very long, but I have totally fallen in love with the language and plan to take it through my college career. Honestly, I think than Herr Korb is largely responsible. Deutsch is sehr toll!

I learned alot in this course. The instructor has alot of creative energy, and makes every effort to make the course fun (although his antics can be distracting at times). Overall, I would recommend this section.

This woman was an amazing teacher. Unfortunately she seems to be teaching only the first semester of Elementary German this year. Classes are fun, insightful, and meticulously organized. She even brought candy for Halloween! She is willing at any time to make appointments to go over things (in English!) that you have trouble with. The complete immersion in German speaking made the class incredibly frustrating at first, but one can catch on within a few weeks (also use the aforementioned English-friendly office hours). She's also really, really generous about extensions and making up work.