St Ives (Cambs)

German Intermediate

The German Intermediate group meets on the first and third Tuesday of the month (1.30 pm till 3.00 pm).

We use a variety of resources (covering life in modern Germany, its history, traditions, art …) as a way of enjoying the language and seeing modern German in context. The group has also really enjoyed reading simple short stories together - these are aimed at adult ‘Improver’ learners of German, with glossaries of key words provided.

There is a particular emphasis on listening to German through internet resources (e.g. dialogues and short subtitled videos), to enable us to tune into German speakers. We also occasionally try a little German conversation in twos and threes and fun games like ‘Guess who?’.

The aim of the group is to develop our knowledge of the language and encourage each other to have a go in a fun, supportive atmosphere. We have been consolidating our basic grammar with a grammar and translation workbook.

Our group is at an intermediate level and so would be unable to assimilate beginners. The standard of the group is roughly GCSE/O-level or just above. If your German dates from school, any additional experience of practising German, especially recently, would be very useful (e.g. evening classes, other German groups, learning on language apps such as Duolingo, etc.). If you have A-level from long ago, reviving your German will be easier!

Some preparation of material sent out between sessions is required, as is access to a printer (or alternatively a suitable electronic device to view the material, e.g. iPad).

We meet in the Community Room at Morrisons in St Ives (the Community Room is next to the cafe). Parking at Morrisons is free and there is no obligation to buy drinks or make purchases in the store.

There is normally a termly fee of £5 to cover the cost of additional materials that the Group Leader needs to buy. For the entire year 2023-2024, however, this fee will be waived as there is a course book, grammar workbook and volume of short stories to buy (total cost: about £30. Note: one copy of the course book is available from me very inexpensively). For this reason, the first 2 terms will always be free for new joiners. All 3 books can be viewed via the Links on the right. There are no venue charges whatsoever.

Owing to space constraints, as of January 2024 there are unfortunately no spaces left. If you would like to go on the waiting list for when a space next comes up, please get in touch with the Group Leader, Bruce by clicking on the email ‘envelope’ icon beside this page.

Please note that St Ives u3a offers other languages, namely French, Italian, Spanish and Swedish. Just click on the ‘Groups’ tab at the top of this page to find out more.

Dates for 2023-2024

Autumn term:
Tuesday 5th September
Tuesday 19th September
Tuesday 3rd October
Tuesday 17th October
Tuesday 7th November
Tuesday 21st November
Tuesday 5th December
Tuesday 19th December

Spring term:
Tuesday 16th January
Tuesday 6th February
Tuesday 20th February
Tuesday 5th March
Tuesday 19th March
Tuesday 2nd April

Summer term:
Tuesday 16th April
Tuesday 7th May
Tuesday 21st May
Tuesday 4th June
Tuesday 18th June

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More Group Pages
Art Appreciation - Your Way Art Club
Backgammon Badminton
Badminton 2 Birdwatching BG-1
Birdwatching BG-2 Canasta
Classical Guitar Country Dancing
Country Walks Craft in the Conservatory
Creative Writing Cribbage
Current Affairs Digital Photography
French Advanced French Fiction
French Intermediate 1 French Intermediate 2
Genealogy German Intermediate
Guitar Club Health Issues in the News
Indoor Bowls IT Support
Italian Club Italian Elementary
Italian Improvers Landmarks of World Drama
Leisure Walks Local and Social History
Music Appreciation Needlecraft
Outings Painting for Pleasure
Petanque Philosophy
Poetry Reading
Science and Technology Science and Technology 2
Scrabble Shakespeare Appreciation
Signing (BSL) Singing 4 Pleasure
Sketchbook Art Social Outdoor Bowls
Spanish Conversation Spanish Fiction (Intermediate)
Spanish Intermediate Swedish Improvers
Table Tennis 1 Table Tennis 2
The Joy of Travelling The Painters
Theatre Trips Tuesday 12 Book Club
Uke-Troupe Website Editors
Website Review Yoga