German

The course you study in first year depends on how much German you have studied before. If you have an SQA Higher or A-level in German (grade A or B), you will take the Level-1 non-beginners' language and culture courses. This will build on your knowledge of German and reinforce your awareness of linguistic structures, both spoken and written. On the cultural side, you will study Germany’s past and present, as mediated through a broad range of cultural documents such as films, literary texts, journalism and the visual arts.

If you are a beginner or near-beginner in the language, provided that you have some previous successful language learning experience, you can take the Level-1 beginners' course, which will provide an intensive foundation in reading, writing and speaking German.

The first-year language and culture course leads to German 2, which extends and develops your linguistic skills and builds your knowledge of German culture through the study of further texts and other cultural forms. Students progressing from the first-year beginners' course normally study German culture 1 alongside the German 2 course.

You will also study other subjects in years 1 and 2: see Degrees in Arts, Life Sciences, Science and Social Sciences.

If you progress to Honours it is essential that you spend your third year abroad. Our students usually choose either to work as a language assistant in a school or to enrol at a university. The University has a number of exchange programmes and will provide support and advice to help you plan your year abroad.

When you return from your year abroad, along with core language study, you will take courses from a wide variety of options. We currently offer topics such as German film, German professional communication, modern German novels, liaison interpreting and modern German thought.