Offer Holders in German

Congratulations on receiving an offer to study German at Cambridge! On this page you will find resources and information on how to prepare for your degree.

Ab initio German

Structure of the course

All beginners will spend one year preparing for the Part IA examination in German, whether they are total beginners, have some basic familiarity with the language or have done GCSE German. The first year course will concentrate heavily on acquiring the basic elements of the language, with an introduction to a variety of authentic texts; in the second year beginners are able to take part in more advanced language classes.

Teaching provision for paper GEA3 consists of seven lectures in Michaelmas Term (October-December), and a further four lectures in Lent Term (January-March). Alongside these lectures, there will be four supervisions in Lent (on four of the paper’s topics), and two revision supervisions in the third term. Supervisions for paper GEA3 are organised centrally by the paper coordinator on behalf of your college. For details of this paper, and on how to prepare, see GEA3: Introduction to German 3: German culture.

Language work: Papers GEA1 and GEA2

The course we use is DaF Kompakt neu (Klett 2016), by Ilse Sander et al and consists of a course book, a practice book and a grammar. There are 3 books which you need to buy:

• DaF kompakt neu A1-B1 Kursbuch mit MP3-CD (ISBN 978-3-12-676310-3)
• DaF kompakt neu A1-B1 Übungsbuch mit MP3-CD (ISBN 978-3-12-676311-0)
• DaF kompakt A1-B1 Grammatik (ISBN 978-3-12-676193-2)

You should work through the first 4 chapters before you come to Cambridge to start your degree course. You will be sent a glossary to help you with this by the course teachers. In your first 2 weeks we will go through these 4 chapters together. For information on the course book see here.

To find out more please see here.

Post A Level German

In your first year at Cambridge, you will increase your fluency in German, deepen your understanding of the cultures of German speaking countries, and develop essential skills in analysis and argumentation.

The first-year course consists of a combination of lectures and classes arranged by the Section and mostly taking place at the Sidgwick Site, and of supervisions arranged by the colleges.

GE1 – Introduction to German Studies

For information on how to prepare, please see here.

GEB1 – Use of German

For information on how to prepare, please see here.

GEB2 – Translation from German and Oral Examination

For information on how to prepare, please see here.