Weekend German Course – Level C1

Present Tense (Indicative) vs. Konjunktiv I (Basic function & style)

• Grammar: Review of the present tense; basic Konjunktiv I forms (reported speech—press, minutes), 3rd-person features, morphology.
• Vocabulary: Daily routines, habits, frequency adverbs, news/document language.
• Communication & phrases:
• Describing habits: Generally… / In the mornings I usually…
• Reported speech: The doctor says the patient is ill (er sei krank).
• Typical errors & tips: Konj. I ≠ Konj. II; watch out for ist/sei confusion.
• Task: Micro-interview → 10-sentence reported summary; mini-blog “My productive morning”.

Perfekt vs. Präteritum (use, register, narration)

• Grammar: Tendency toward Perfekt in speech, Präteritum in writing; irregular verbs; time adverbs (zuerst/dann/danach).
• Vocabulary: Travel experiences, mishaps, evaluations.
• Communication: Last year I was in Rome; I visited the museum.
• Errors & tips: Choosing the correct auxiliary (sein/haben); participle at the end (sentence bracket).
• Task: Photo story → oral version in Perfekt, written version in Präteritum (150–180 words).

Präteritum in narrative (background/progression & single events)

• Grammar: Background description vs. chain of events; word order; TMP (time–manner–place).
• Vocabulary: Childhood, school years, former routines.
• Communication: Comparisons earlier… now…; connectors: während, damals, inzwischen.
• Errors & tips: Overusing Perfekt in narrative → prefer Präteritum for sein/haben and modal verbs.
• Task: Podcast “When I was 10…” (90–120 sec).

Future Tense (Futur I) & planning modality

• Grammar: werden + infinitive; present with future meaning; modal particles (wohl, bestimmt, vielleicht).
• Vocabulary: Career/education goals, roadmap.
• Communication: I will probably… / My goal is to…

Near future vs. Futur I (subtle differences)

• Grammar: Present + time expression (near plan) vs. Futur I (assumption); werden wohl.
• Vocabulary: Short/long-term plans, milestones.
• Communication: Next week I’m meeting… / That will probably be difficult.
• Task: Calendar simulation (conflict resolution); e-mail “Appointment confirmation & outlook” (120–150 words).

Konjunktiv II (present) – politeness, irreality, wishes

• Grammar: würde + infinitive vs. synthetic forms (hätte, wäre, könnte); present-time regret.
• Vocabulary: Suggestions, advice, wish formulas.

• Communication: I’d recommend that you… / Could you possibly…?
• Task: Consultation hour role-play + 100-word written recommendation.

Konjunktiv II (past) (hätte/wäre + Partizip II) – regret & hypothesis

• Grammar: Irrealis in the past; missed opportunities; combined patterns with sollen/können (hätte … machen sollen).
• Vocabulary: Evaluating past events.
• Communication: If only I had started earlier… / I should have…
• Task: Video/blog comment “What I would have done differently” (two sections).

Subjunctive I/II: Functions of Wish, Doubt, Emotion, Influence

• Grammar: Subjunctive I (reported/indirect speech), Subjunctive II (wish / unreality / politeness).
• Vocabulary: Emotions, advice, expressions of doubt.
• Communication: If only …; it is said that … (he is …); it is recommended that …
• Task: Expert quotations → newspaper report: 12–15 sentences in indirect speech.

Unreal conditionals (Konjunktiv II) – present & past

• Present: If I had time, I would travel.
• Past: If I had studied more, … would have …
• Vocabulary: Hypotheses, Plan B/C.
• Communication: Weighing consequences, risk analysis.
• Task: Decision matrix + “what if” debate.

Conditional clauses Type I & II (realistic vs. unreal)

• Grammar: wenn + present → future/imperative (Type I) vs. wenn + Konj. II, würde … (Type II); also falls, sofern, unter der Bedingung, dass.
• Vocabulary: Everyday and project planning.
• Communication: Stating conditions, commitments/constraints: on the condition that…
• Task: Mini cooperation protocol (MOU draft) with 5 conditions.

German: für/wegen/um…zu/nach/zu (purpose, reason, direction)

• Grammar: für (recipient/purpose), wegen (reason; gen./dat.), um … zu (purpose infinitive), nach/zu/in (direction).
• Vocabulary: Travel, goals, justifications.
• Communication: … for …; Because of the weather…; … in order to …
• Task: Route with justifications; 8 sentences with um…zu.

Relative clauses (Relativsätze)

• Grammar: der/die/das, wer/was, derjenige, der …; das, was …; commas; case in the relative clause; preposition + relative pronoun (mit dem, über die).
• Vocabulary: Person/object definitions, technical specs.
• Communication: Precise definitions: The person who…; The device with which …
• Task: Product/person profile (≥5 relative clauses) + peer case check.

Comparatives & superlatives (incl. als, so … wie; boosters: weit, deutlich, bei Weitem)

• Grammar: Syntax of comparisons; irregular grading (gern → lieber → am liebsten); predicative vs. attributive.
• Vocabulary: Places, people, events, data/statistics language.
• Communication: Data-based argumentation: X is significantly cheaper than Y.
• Task: Mini-dossier with chart commentary (130–160 words).

Imperative (affirmative/negative) – du/Sie/ihr + politeness strategies

• Grammar: Formation; separable verbs in the imperative; negation: Don’t do that!; modal particles (doch, mal, bitte).
• Vocabulary: How-to/manual language, safety, service.
• Communication: Instructing, prohibiting, graded language in customer contact.
• Task: “How-to” clip (60–90 sec) + written step-by-step guide.

Reported speech & narrative perspective – Konjunktiv I/II + sequence of tenses

• Grammar: Tense sequence in reported speech (present/past/future), switching K I → K II when forms overlap; embedding after sagen, berichten, behaupten, meinen.
• Vocabulary: News, interviews, opinion pieces.
• Communication: Accurately conveying third-party statements: The expert said the figures were stable but would rise.
• Final tasks:
• News-based reading/listening → written summary in reported speech (180–220 words).
• Oral press-conference simulation (2–3 min per group).

Pragmatics & connectors (advanced): Cause–Purpose–Contrast–Condition

• Grammar: weil/da, damit/um…zu, obwohl/obgleich, trotzdem/dennoch, falls/sofern/unter der Bedingung, dass; sentence melody and V2/verb-final.
• Vocabulary: Connector signals in academic/business writing; argument markers (einerseits/andererseits, außerdem, jedoch, folglich).
• Communication & phrases:
• Meiner Ansicht nach … ; Einerseits …, andererseits … ; Aus diesem Grund … ; Trotz … + V2 …
• Errors & tips: obwohl vs trotzdem; damit vs um…zu (same subject → um…zu).
• Task/Performance: 180–200-word opinion piece (2 arguments + counter-argument) + peer feedback.

Passive voice: Vorgangspassiv & Zustandspassiv

• Grammar: werden + Part. II (event/process passive) vs. sein + Part. II (state passive); agent with von/durch; passive across tenses (pres./past/perf.).
• Vocabulary: Job ads, procedures, production/service processes.
• Communication & phrases:
• The goods are delivered. The door is closed. The e-mails were answered yesterday.
• Errors & tips: sein-passive ≠ Perfekt; avoid unnecessary agents; Part. II at the end.
• Task/Performance: Process diagram → written explanation in passive (120–150 words) + poster presentation.

Participial phrases, attributive clauses & nominalization

• Participial phrases, attributive clauses & nominalization
• Grammar: Partizip I/II adjective phrases (die im Ausland lebenden Studierenden / die gestern eingeschriebene Person); converting relative clause ↔ participial phrase; zu + infinitive nominalization (die Möglichkeit, … zu …).
• Vocabulary: Formal/report language, applications, academic phrases.
• Communication & phrases:
• Es besteht die Absicht, … zu … ; Die unten aufgeführten Punkte …
• Errors & tips: Adjective endings in participial phrases; commas; avoid overlong chains → split into two sentences.
• Task/Performance: Convert a paragraph with relative clauses into participial phrases + short motivation letter (140–170 words).

Word formation, idioms/collocations & register

• Grammar/Lexis: Prefixes/suffixes (un-, be-, ver-, -heit/-keit/-ung/-nis); typical B1–B2 collocations (Entscheidung treffen, in Betracht ziehen, Verantwortung übernehmen).
• Vocabulary: Formal–informal equivalents in work/education; tone shifting.
• Communication & phrases:
• Formal: Hiermit teile ich Ihnen mit … / Informal: Just a quick heads-up …
• Errors & tips: Word-for-word translation; wrong verb–noun combinations.
• Task/Performance: Collocation card game → two e-mail versions (formal vs. friendly), each with ≥6 correct collocations.

Exam prep & integrated performance (Final)

• Exam prep & integrated performance (Final)
• Grammar: Targeted program-wide review (Konjunktiv I/II, passive, connectors, relative clauses, sequence of tenses).
• Vocabulary: Closing individual gaps (health, work, education, travel).
• Communication & phrase sets: Presenting, comparing, justifying, counter-arguing, summarizing, reported speech.