“To have another language is to possess a second soul” Charlemagne The AS and A level language courses combine the development of linguistic skills alongside a growing understanding of the culture and societies of the German speaking countries. Topic Areas are divided into: — Social issues and trends — Artistic culture — Aspects of Political life — The study of a film and work of literature A level is likely to include the above topics and also 2 further topic areas: — Multiculturalism in modern day Germany eg. globalisation — Aspects of political life in Germany eg. attitudes to the EU and contrast with the UK Within these exciting and relevant topic areas there is considerable flexibility to discuss a range of issues, or current events in German speaking countries. Students will spend half an hour a week with the language assistant to develop their oral fluency and confidence, and there is the opportunity to do a week’s work experience in Germany. What will I be doing in lessons? There is a great emphasis on developing students’ ability to use language independently to express their own ideas and opinions, and students are expected to contribute orally in lessons, especially as class sizes are usually small. Lessons involve discussing articles from a German magazine, or an authentic radio or TV broadcast. There are frequent opportunities for debate and pair and small group work. Listening and reading continue to be practised through more traditional comprehension exercises which will be familiar from GCSE, although a significant change is that students have control of the recording for listening tasks, so students will often be working from individual sound files. Students also develop the ability to translate accurately.