Institute for Germanic Languages

Alma Mater, Photo: Jane Luca

Tervetuloa Welcome Welcome

Welcome

According to the guidelines of the university, the Institute for Germanic Languages is open, but operates remotely. If you have general questions, you can contact the administration staff by email at[Email protected]. For updates on COVID-19 and Columbia, please visit columbia.edu/content/coronavirus.

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Discover our German Research Training Group and the focus in Yiddish Studies .

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German placement and performance tests

German placement test spring 2021 (online)

General information

If you had German lessons before arriving at Columbia / Barnard, you will need to take our placement test. The placement test helps us to classify you on the German level that best suits your abilities. To provide a safe testing environment and greater flexibility in taking the exam, we've moved our online exam to a dedicated canvas site.

For more information on foreign language requirements, please visit:

Columbia : https://www.college.columbia.edu/core/classes/fl.php

Barnard : http://catalog.barnard.edu/barnard-college/curriculum/requirements-liberal-arts-degree/foundations/

Next scheduled dates for the online placement test in spring 2021 : All placement tests are carried out by individual agreement. For appointments please contact:

Columbia: Jutta Schmiers-Heller ([Email protected])

Barnard: Irene Motyl-Mudretzkyj ([Email protected])

Registration information:

You register for the examination by e-mail. Please email Jutta Schmiers-Heller ([Email protected]) for Columbia and Irene Motyl-Mudretzkyj ([Email protected]) for Barnard to indicate that you would like to take the placement test.
You will then be added to the Canvas site and will be invited to the site to take the test.
Please accept the invitation at least 24 hours before you want to take the test. Contact us immediately if you cannot access the site.

Information on the online German placement test

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The test will be available as a quiz on the Canvas site at a time and date that work for you . The information on the site home page will guide you to review.
Please make sure that you sign the pledge of honor with your name. The examination facility asks you to do so.
While you have a few days to take the exam, you have after the exam begins 90 minutes to complete it. So please keep this in mind as you complete the different parts. (see below: General test information)
Please follow the instructions in the test and Note that the use of external resources (e.g. dictionaries) is not permitted , since the goal is to determine your knowledge of German.
The exam should take place on a. be filed Tablet or Computer with Firefox or Chrome. (Cell phone did not work for the listening part.)
As soon as you have completed and evaluated the online part, you will be contacted to make an appointment one last online zoom interview to complete the exam.

General test information

In total, the test consists of 5 sections, which are divided into two parts:
1. Listening comprehension

2. Vocabulary (everyday words and verb forms)

3. Reading comprehension

4. Free writing

5. Speak

Part I: Online exam:

Sections 1-4 will be completed in an online exam on our canvas site and. Items 1-3 consist of 62 multiple choice items. You can choose one of three prompts for the writing part.

Part II: Personal interview

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Section 5 is concluded with a personal interview with one of our lecturers. The interview takes about 15 minutes and takes place after Part I has been completed. At the moment, all personal interviews are being held through Zoom. After you have completed and evaluated Part I, you will be contacted by department representatives to set up the personal Zoom interview.

German exam spring 2021 (online)

Next scheduled aptitude test dates: Friday, January 22nd, Wednesday, March 10th, Thursday, April 22nd (times see below)

Give No is all information

• Until further notice, all proficiency tests will take place online.

• The exam lasts two hours.

• The German reading competence test consists of the successful translation of an original German text of 300-350 words. You can request a sample test.

• Dictionaries (including online dictionaries such as leo.org) can be used.

• You are not allowed to use online translators for full sentences.

• You can choose one of two texts.

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• Translations should stay close to the original text but be in reasonably fluent English.

Two ways to complete the exam

• Passing the aptitude test after enrolling in the second course in the series German for Reading I and II or their summer intensive course equivalent.

• to register for the reading exam without taking a reading course. You should register with Silja Weber ([email protected]) by e-mail. In this case, take the exam at a predetermined date; these exams are currently being conducted online. Procedure see below. Please register at least 2 working days before the test date.

Online exam:

And You will receive an invitation to a canvas course page where you can take the test.

• Please accept the invitation and make sure you can access the site at least 24 hours before the test date . Contact Silja Weber ([email protected]) immediately if you cannot access the site.

• The test will be available as a quiz on this site at the time and date of the test. The information on the site home page will guide you to review. You can take the test at any time from 9:00 a.m. on the day of the regular aptitude test and it is accessible for 24 hours. Your two hour window begins when you open the exam.

• Please ensure that you sign the pledge of honor in your name and list any consultants or administrators who need to be notified if you pass the exam. The exam facility will ask you to do both.

F or similar questions , please email Silja Weber anja[Email protected]

AY 2020 - 2021 Syllabus

As announced by the President of Columbia University in April 2020, the 2020-2021 academic year comprises three semesters: Fall 2020, Spring 2021 and Summer 2021 . The Institute for Germanic Languages will therefore offer courses for undergraduate students (possibly also for doctoral students) in each of these semesters.

This page provides an overview of our courses for all three semesters to help students make decisions and plan for the coming academic year. Please note that this schedule may change and students are encouraged to not only revisit this page but also to confirm the course listings in the online course directory and Virgil, where course descriptions and class reunion times are updated regularly.

If you have any questions about the listed courses of study or questions about undergraduate or postgraduate courses, please contact the following people:

For undergraduate courses and specializations, Prof. Mark Anderson, Director of Undergraduate Studies
For graduates, Prof. Claudia Breger, course director
- For all official COVID-19 updates from GSAS, please visit this linked website.

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Syllabus Autumn 2020

Syllabus Spring 2021

Schedule spring 2021

Syllabus Summer 2021

news

Summer 2021

Congratulations to Miriam Schulz, Ph.D. '21! She will be that Ray D. Wolfe Postdoktorand (AY2021–2023), am Anne Tanenbaum Centre for Jewish Studies/Centre for Diaspora & Transnational Studies, an der University of Toronto.

Congratulations to Sophie Schweiger, Ph.D. '21! She will join Colgate University as a Visiting Assistant Professor for AY2021-2022.

Fall 2020

Professor Annie Pfeifer's course, Grimm’s Fairy Tales: Power, Gender, and Narrative, was featured in the Columbia News Article, Professors Embrace New Technology to Adapt to Online Instruction. https://news.columbia.edu/news/professors-use-new-technology-for-online-learning

Summer 2020

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Congratulations to Khan Holt , Ph.D. '20! He has just accepted a full-time teaching position at Iowa State University.

Congratulations to Tomasz Kurianowicz, Ph.D. 'twenty! As of July 1, he will be offered the co-director of the features section of the Berliner Zeitung with a special focus on 'Society and Debate' / humanities.

Fall 2019

The department looks forward to your visit Annie Pfeifer to the faculty! Get to know our new professor.

Christoph Schaub works as a research assistant at the Institute for German Literature and Cultural Studies at the University of Vechta, Germany.

Sophie Salvo works as an Assistant Professor at the German Department of the University of Chicago. Congratulations, Sophie!

Michael Schwellander , a Ph.D. from 2018, is now Visiting Assistant Professor at the Department of German at the University of Iowa.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung has reviewed Stefan Andriopoulos 's new book Ghosts , describes his readings of Kant, Hegel, Schiller and Schopenhauer as 'convincing, precise and elegant.'