Welcome to an online Beginners' German course designed by Paul Joyce of the University of Portsmouth. It currently contains twelve chapters of dialogue and exercises which have been designed to give the absolute beginner a grounding in the rudiments of the German language, as well as providing background information about life and culture in the German-speaking countries.

German Course Chapter index Chapter 1     Chapter 7  Chapter 2     Chapter 8  Chapter 3     Chapter 9  Chapter 4     Chapter 10  Chapter 5     Chapter 11  Chapter 6     Chapter 12

Each chapter consists of:

• conversations, many of which are available with audio files
• an online pronunciation guide complete with sound files
• a guide to the German alphabet and the German language
• a full glossary of vocabulary used in the course
• explanations of the key points of grammar which you will confront
• an online verb table for both regular and irregular verbs
• background information about the history and culture of the German-speaking countries
• exercises on vocabulary, grammar and German culture

Getting started
Before starting the first chapter of this course, you are recommended to do the following:

Getting started Why learn German? Reasons why you should learn German German pronunciation Practice German sounds with our online pronunciation guide. The German Alphabet An guide to the German alphabet complete with exercises. Chapter 1 You're now ready to start the first chapter of our course!

As of 1 October 2011, this site will move to a new location on the University of Portsmouth server. As the older version of the site is no longer being maintained, please amend your bookmarks for this site to the new URL:

http://www.pauljoycegerman.co.uk/abinitio

Profile

A graduate of Cambridge University, Paul taught German language, literature and history at the University of Exeter until 2007. In his current post at the University of Portsmouth, he teaches German language to beginners and post A-Level students in the School of Languages and Area Studies. He also teaches on the MA in Specialised Translation and also teaches German-English translation to final year students. He equally teaches contemporary German history and will co-ordinate a new unit on Dimensions of Popular Culture. His special areas of interest include German linguistics and dialects, modern German literature and film.

Each summer, he co-ordinates and teaches on an intensive 16-week Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) course in German language and culture. This course has been designed to enable graduates who are already well-qualified practitioners of at least one foreign language to develop the confidence and expertise to teach German to pupils in Key Stage 3. The German Enhancement Course has received very positive appraisals from both Ofsted and the university’s external moderator, who has described the teaching and learning experience as of a very high standard.

Paul also teaches English linguistics at the University of Portsmouth on the Language Awareness and Language, Society and Mind units. He is also External Examiner in German for Coventry University. and worked with Oxford University Press in 2009 to create a DVD of pronunciation materials for GCSE German students.

Contact

Paul Joyce can be contacted at:

University of Portsmouth
School of Languages and Area Studies
Park Building
King Henry I Street
Portsmouth
Hampshire
PO1 2DZ
United Kingdom

E-Mail: Paul.Joyce@port.ac.uk

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