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GERMAN

A LEVEL

A cultural journey from the fall of the wall to the call of world-class football...

  • Europe’s largest train station.
  • The world’s narrowest street – Spreuerhofstrasse – which narrows to just 31cm, the width of an average ruler.
  • No limit on many motorways for how fast you can drive.
  • 81 million people
  • 300 kinds of bread.
  • 1,000 types of sausage.
  • Only one penalty shootout defeat in all major football tournaments.
  • And no punishment for a prisoner who tries to escape from jail, because it is ‘a basic human instinct to be free’.

Let’s not forget:

  • Roads where you can legally drive fast as you like.
  • Christmas trees. If it hadn’t been for Tannenbaum your front room would look distinctly bereft in December.

And Donaudampfschiffahrtselektrizitätenhauptbetriebswerkbauunterbeamtengesellschaft – the Association for Subordinate Officials of the Main Maintenance Building of the Danube Steam Shipping Electrical Services.

Welcome to Germany, a country of unrivalled productivity, chequered history, and some of the world’s most breath-taking lakes and mountains.

On this course you’ll be immersed in the rich culture of this charming and curious country. Germany boasts Europe’s largest economy – it’s the world’s second largest export market – the first printed book, and some of the most revered filmmakers in history, from Fritz Lang to Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

It’s the home of engineering. The language of philosophers Goethe, Marx, Nietzsche, and Kafka, of musical geniuses Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms and Wagner. 

You’ll be immersed in the rich tapestry of Germany’s heritage, culture and traditions, studying alongside other linguists thirsty to discover what makes this captivating country tick – and building a vocabulary that will stand everyone in good stead for future success.

LESSON TIME!

During this lively session you’ll be working alongside Xaverian’s German students to tackle a variety of mini challenges spanning music and film.

No lesson is the same on this German course. Your teachers make the most of the abundance of multimedia resources available to make sure you gain the widest range of perspectives and experiences of the country’s cultural melting pot.

By the end of your German A Level at Xaverian you’ll be keen to further extend your knowledge of its enchanting homeland through further study, and maybe even working there in the future.

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What’s next?

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  • As you’d expect from a modern language degree, your options are vast beyond graduation. 

    Roles that may be of interest include:

    • Archivist
    • Cultural consultant
    • Diplomat
    • Foreign business consultant
    • Historian
    • International aid worker
    • Interpreter
    • Journalist
    • Lawyer
    • Librarian
    • Linguist
    • Lobbyist
    • Market researcher
    • Policy analyst
    • Researcher
    • Speech writer
    • Teacher
    • Tour guide
    • Translator

Continue your German studies at degree level and in addition to honing your language skills you might be gaining expert-level knowledge in such diverse areas as:

  • Literature
  • Interpreting
  • Culture, history and politics
  • Foundation of modern Germany
  • German media
  • New German cinema
  • Dealing with the Holocaust
  • Business and society

Alternatively you might wish to continue your studies at a German-speaking university.

There are broadly three kinds of German universities.

  • Universities of Arts (Kunsthochschulen) where you’ll study a creative trade, such as painting or music.
  • Universities of Applied Sciences (Hochschulen für angewandte Wissenschaften) combining research and practical training – perhaps in engineering.
  • Research Universities (Universitäten) which specialise in fields such as technology, the humanities, or science.
Speaking: 

A research project and presentation. 5-6 minutes theme-based discussion.

Listening:

Questions which may include true/false statements, multiple choice, questions and answers and comprehension questions in French, German or Spanish.

Reading: 

Questions based on texts in French, German or Spanish

Translation: 

An unseen passage or passages from French, German or Spanish into English plus an unseen passage or passages from English into French, German or Spanish.

Critical response in writing (closed-book):

Candidates write an essay of approximately 300 words on each of the two works, one book, one film, they have studied.

 
Entry requirements:

Six good passes at GCSE including two at grade 6 or above

Course specific entry requirements:

Grade 5 from English, Grade 5 from German.

Course duration:

2 years

Assessment methods:

Exams and externally moderated assessments

Course type:

Linear A-level

Exam board:

Eduqas

The MFL Department at Xaverian offers A-level courses in French, German or Spanish. There are currently 135 students following the taught programmes but we also aim to give Xaverian students the opportunity to try new languages or hone their own language skills.

Students applying for A-level courses are encouraged to have a grade 6 at GCSE. Our native speaker programme meant AS & A2 levels were sat in many languages in the 2019 session, including Farsi, Portuguese, Turkish Polish and Dutch. The results were outstanding with 100% achievement rates in all subjects

A tip I would give new students is to revise early and give their all in every assessment/test even if they seem to be trivial.

Jonathan Claussnitzer, applying to the University of Leeds to study Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence.

UNIVERSITY of Cambridge modern languages partnership

Thanks to its excellent A Level results, Xaverian College has been chosen by University of Cambridge as the north west hub of its Widening Participation for Languages Project.

What does that mean for you? Students will get the chance to learn from visiting expert linguists not only in German but many other unusual languages – such as Japanese, or Czech.

It’s all part of an initiative by University of Cambridge to establish language hubs around the country and develop and encourage learning.

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