I had high hopes going into this unit when I saw that there was no textbooks being used. I had hoped that the natural approach to language acquisition would be used, but it wasn't. Unfortunately, the old fashioned technique is used. This is less effective to help students communicate and understand the language through listening. The natural approach has research behind it that proves it's more effective than the traditional method. Stephen Krashen has often spoken and written about this. It is more difficult to teach using the natural method to language acquisition, although it gives better results to learners communication and listening skills, which in turn will help reading and writing skills that naturally follow.

I was always advised against taking a language but I have absolutely no regrets with taking this unit. I went into this unit with hardly any experience (except for some Duolingo lessons) and breezed through. There are no lectures, just two highly interactive classes a week where you work through worksheets that have been prepared by the team and are of an incredibly high standard. They are simple and easy to follow and are structured to help with your memorisation. If you're concerned about not having the classes to refer back to later for revision (lectures), each week Kati prepares a video introducing the weekly module which you have access to before your class that week and for revision purposes. Could not recommend this unit highly enough!

Excellent and very easy unit. The transition into online learning was completely seamless and it was representative of the effort Kati and her team put into the course. The content involves 1 or 2 grammar modules per week and 3 hours of compulsory tutorial classes. Tests are very easy to get 100% on provided you watch the grammar modules. They don't really ask anything that requires extra reasoning - it's basically rote learning for the most part. The exam is also quite easy although it requires a bit more thought - the writing section was rather hard to prepare for. If you keep up with the content and are interested in the language then you'll score well into the 90s. One student achieved 100% in the exam as well. I know it's just an introductory unit but if I had to pick on anything it'd be the lack of speaking practice. The speaking mark was essentially just participation and answering questions in class. During the tutorials you'll be split into groups a couple of times and it becomes a bit frustrating when others put in no effort and you're the only one answering questions. But besides that this unit is incredible compared to other language units like spanish.

A lot of love and effort went into organising this unit. No lectures, just three highly interactive hours a week with really friendly and highly-skilled teachers. There's many opportunities throughout the semester (both in-class and online) to practise what you've learned and get feedback. To make the most of this, I would highly recommend keeping up with grammar modules (about half an hour a week). In terms of time commitment - if you're looking for a pass, just showing up to class will do; if you're looking to achieve high marks and begin developing German skills for life, so many extra exercises and resources are provided for you to work towards that. The exam is quite fair - it assesses nothing but the basics you learned in class.

Amazing unit, Kati is exceptional at teaching German and the pace of the unit makes it very easy to keep up.

Very intensive unit and can be quite challenging. The teaching, teaching material and support materials are really well done and those who stay on top of work shouldn't have a problem doing well. An easy unit for hard workers, a hard unit for those just looking for an easy elective.

Huge amount of content in this unit. It is challenging but fun if you stay up to date and do the work.

Very grammar based and quick moving, very difficult for first time learners.