German

Subject Coordinator

Ms Antoinette Zammit Bugeja
foreignlanguages.jc@um.edu.mt
Room C315

German subject information

Advanced level

Lectures: 4 hours per week
Tutorials: 1 hour per week
Seminars: 1 hour per week

Intermediate level

Lectures: 2 hours per week



At the College, German is taught both at Intermediate and Advanced Levels leading to the MATSEC examinations.

Why study German?

German is the most widely spoken language within the European Union and is an extremely important language in the fields of economy, sciences and social sciences. A good knowledge of German is an asset for a number of courses at Undergraduate and Postgraduate level at University. It also facilitates access to employment opportunities with the several German companies in Malta.

The Intermediate Level Course 

Students at Intermediate Level follow two hours of lectures per week. The focus of this course is to strengthen and enhance students’ language skills acquired at SEC level.

Students also explore various aspects of the German culture which include feasts and traditions, typical food in the different federal states, the modern history of Germany, main industries and the German school system. These topics are delivered through a variety of activities to further develop students’ four language skills.

The cultural understanding component represents 15% of the total marks in the MATSEC exam, while the remaining 85% are distributed among the listening (20%), speaking and (20%) writing (20%) components, reading comprehension and grammatical structures (25%). Homework is assigned on a regular basis and covers all aspects of the Intermediate syllabus.

The Advanced Level Course

Students at Advanced level have five hours of lectures and one tutorial per week. All the four language skills, namely reading, listening, speaking and writing are practiced throughout the lectures. Knowledge obtained at SEC level is consolidated and deepened by using a variety of texts, writing tasks, grammatical structures, more engaging listening comprehensions and discussions on a wide range of topics. A good pass at SEC level or equivalent is therefore recommended when choosing this subject.

At this level, students moreover study a literary text over the two-year course. Presently, the novel Die Entdeckung der Currywurst by Uwe Timm, is studied at the College. Students are guided step by step in reading and studying this novel, since for many students, this would be their first encounter with a literary text in German.

Students also learn about various aspects of the German culture which includes the main geographical features, the modern history, the school system, sports, products made in Germany, typical German food, feasts and traditions. Furthermore, students learn about the contribution of various personalities to the German language and literature. These cultural aspects are delivered through a variety of activities, which further develop students’ strength in the four language skills.

The literature and culture components make up 20% of the marks in the MATSEC exam, while the other 80% are distributed equally among the four language skills. Each skill is practiced in class and tutorial tasks are assigned on a regular basis.

Need to know more?
Contact us.


https://www.jc.um.edu.mt/foreignlanguages/aboutus/german