Fokus Deutschoffers a powerful new resource for teaching beginning and intermediate German. This dynamic new three-level program carefully integrates videos, texts, audio and other supplements to bring German language, history and culture into focus for students.Fokus Deutschwas created through a collaboration of the Annenberg/CPB project, WGBH/Boston, and the McGraw-Hill Companies - the trio who also createdDestinos,Nuevos Destinos, andConnect with English- along with Inter Nationes and the Goethe-Institut. The result is an original and engaging program that immerses students in the reality of German life, history, and culture. The comprehensive package forFokus Deutschalso includes such multimedia supplements as a CD-ROM resource for instructors and a text specific website! In short,Fokus Deutschis a comprehensive, well-organized program that integrates video, audio print and technology as effectively as it integrates language, drama, culture, and history.

EINFÜHRUNG

STRUKTUREN

Review of the nominative and accusative cases: Marking subjects and direct objects

Kurz notiert: -n and -en endings

Kurz notiert: es gibt

Review of infinitives and the present tense: Talking about doing things

Kurz notiert: Present tense

Two-part verbs: More on doing things

KAPITEL 25 - MITEINANDER

VIDEOTHEK

Eine Familiengeschichte: Meta Heyn, a 91-year old grandmother her family’s history to her granddaughter. She describes the various historical events that the family experienced over the century.

Lebensstile: Peter and Sabine Schenk give insights into why they wanted to marry and have a family, while Nora Bausch gives her views on living as a single person in Germany.

STRUKTUREN

The simple past tense: Telling about past events

Sprachspiegel: Strong, weak, and mixed verbs

Conjunctions: Connecting words, sentences, and ideas

Kurz notiert: und and oder

Kurz notiert: als and wenn

Negation: Negating words, sentences, and concepts

Kurz notiert: Negative answers to questions with schon and noch

KAPITEL 26 - JUGEND

VIDEOTHEK

Jugend in Bewegung: A retrospective on youth in Germany from the 1950’s to the present that shows how youth have had to fight for the liberty to choose different lifestyles.

Drei Jugendporträts: Three young people talk about their lives, their work, and their interests. All talk about why they chose their particular career path and what their expectations for their careers are.

STRUKTUREN

The accusative and dative cases: Marking direct and indirect objects

Kurz notiert: Special endings for masculine nouns

Kurz notiert: wer, wen, and wem

Genitive case: Showing relationships and possession

Sprachspiegel: Noun modifiers in the genitive case

Accusative, dative, and accusative/dative prepositions: Combining words and connecting ideas

Kurz notiert: Idiomatic expressions with dative prepositions

KAPITEL 27 - SCHULALLTAG

VIDEOTHEK

Geschichte eines Gymnasiums: A brief history of the Gymnasium in Bremen, which dates back to the 16th century.

Der Schulalltag: Karolin invites the viewers to a typical day at her school near Frankfurt to see the types of classes she takes and the activities in which she is involved.

STRUKTUREN

Der- and ein- words: Referring to specific or general persons or things

Kurz notiert: Accusative case in expressions that refer to specific time

Adjectives: Describing people, objects, places, and ideas

Indefinite numerals and the interrogative pronoun was für (ein) : Talking about amounts and asking about things

WIEDERHOLUNG 9

KAPITEL 28 - UNIVERSITÄT

VIDEOTHEK

Geschichte einer Universität: A look at the founding of the University of Heidelberg, and its history to the present day. This retrospective also presents famous people who either studied or taught at the university and looks at how the university weathered the political storms of the 1960s.

Ein Student aus Kamerun: Guy, a student from Cameroon describes his experiences at a university in Germany. He talks about his studies, his housing, and the Mensa (cafeteria).

STRUKTUREN

Subjunctive: Expressing polite requests and unreal situations

Sprachspiegel: wäre and were

Kurz notiert: an (deiner) Stelle

Present subjunctive of weak and strong verbs: More on expressing unreal events

Kurz Notiert: wollte or wünschte

Kurz Notiert: (doch) nur

Past subjunctive: Talking about unreal events in the past

Kurz notiert: als ob

KAPITEL 29 - ARBEIT UND WIRTSCHAFT

VIDEOTHEK

Wirtschaft im Wandel: A look back at Germany’s changing economy from the Wirtschaftswunder (economic miracle) of the 1950s and 1960s to today.

Hilfe für Arbeitslose: Monika Schneider, an Arbeitsvermittlerin (employment officer), helps people find jobs that suit their qualifications. Viewers see her conduct an interview with an unemployed electrician and watch her visit a pharmacy owner to help him find a qualified employee.

STRUKTUREN

Comparatives: Comparing people and things

Sprachspiegel: Comparative of adjectives with -er

Superlatives: Expressing the highest degree

Verbs as adjectives; participial constructions; extended modifiers: More on describing people and things

KAPITEL 30 - FRAUEN-MÄNNER-FRAUEN

VIDEOTHEK

Die Frauenbewegung: Julia, who works in a feminist bookstore, introduces a retrospective on the women’s movement in Germany. It begins with a look at the lack of opportunity her great-grandmother and grandmother had and shows how things had changed for her mother.

Im Auftrag der Frauen: Christa Pieper, a social service worker, helps women settle issues or problems in the workplace. She tries to create better working conditions for women and works toward creating solidarity between men and women.

STRUKTUREN

Indirect discourse: Reporting what others say

Sprachspiegel: Contrasting subjunctive forms

Kurz notiert: Subjunctive II forms in speech

Indirect questions: Reporting what other people ask

Imperatives: Making direct requests

WIEDERHOLUNG 10

KAPITEL 31 - FREIZEIT

VIDEOTHEK

Ein grünes Hobby: As cities such as Berlin became overcrowded a hundred years ago and the people yearned for more green space, they began to plant gardens (Schrebergärten) outside of the city in order to enjoy nature.

Weiterbilden in der Freizeit: A perspective on leisure learning.

Today, many people in Germany take advantage of what the Volkshochschule (community college) has to offer them. Courses in painting, computers, and languages, among many others, are particularly attractive to many people.

STRUKTUREN

Modal Verbs I: Expressing abilities, likes, intentions, and desires

Kurz notiert: Subjunctive II forms of sollen and wollen

Modal Verbs II: Expressing permission or obligation

Sprachspiegel: können and dürfen

Da- and Wo- compounds: Referring to things and ideas

Kurz notiert: Modal verbs

Sprachspiegel: there and where in English

KAPITEL 32 - FERIEN UND URLAUB

VIDEOTHEK

Urlaub: Gestern und heute: The history of vacations. As Germans began to acquire more time and money, they started to travel to places within their own country, such as Bavaria and the Baltic Sea. After the1950s and 1960s, the tourist industry began to boom.

Abenteuerurlaub: Birgit has decided to go on an adventure vacation. She chooses canyoning, guided climbing into canyon caves and crevices. Viewers watch her experience the thrills of canyoning.

STRUKTUREN

The present perfect tense I: Talking about the past

The present perfect tense II: More on talking about the past

Sind Sie Wortschlau?: Past participles of verbs that share the same stem

Kurz notiert: Verbs of motion or change

Modal verbs in the perfect tense: Expressing desires, talents, and obligations in the past

KAPITEL 33 - GESUNDHEIT UND KRANKHEIT

VIDEOTHEK

Ein Kurort: A historical view of the spa culture and the concept of the Kur (spa therapy) in Germany.

Ein Arztbesuch: Sven Schüler goes to his general practitioner, whom he is seeing as part of his preventive medicine program.

STRUKTUREN

Reflexive verbs and pronouns: Doing something for oneself

Kurz notiert: Reflexive verbs

Two-way prepositions: Talking about direction and location

Verbs with two-way prepositions: More on contrasting direction and location

WIEDERHOLUNG 11

KAPITEL 34 - MULTI-KULTI?

VIDEOTHEK

Typisch Deutsch? : Erguen Cervik, a Turk living in Germany, narrates his view of the country. For him German cleanliness, order, and punctuality stand out. He comments on the system of traffic signs and lights as well as the tendency for Germans, in his opinion, to plan their time.

Vom Sauerkraut to Pizza: The history of food in Germany. While sauerkraut and Schweinebraten (pork roast) are not a thing of the past in Germany, other foods brought to Germany by immigrants have become very popular. Foreigners have not only brought new foods with them, they have essentially made Germany into a multicultural country.

STRUKTUREN

Relative clauses I: Describing people and things

Relative clauses II: Using prepositions with relative clauses

Kurz notiert: da- and wo- compounds

Infinitive clauses with zu: Stating goals and intentions

KAPITEL 35 - DER UMWELT ZULIEBE

VIDEOTHEK

Auf Kosten der Umwelt: For many years now Germans have taken pains to protect the environment. More and more laws to protect it are passed every year.

Umweltschutz zu Hause: Bärbel Barmbek lives in a community near Hamburg. She demonstrates for the viewers how her family’s house is a model of energy efficiency and environmental protection. From its grass roof to its wood floors, every aspect of the house was designed with the environment in mind.

STRUKTUREN

The passive voice I: Focusing on the effect of the action

The passive voice II: Focusing on events in the past

The future tense: Talking about what will happen

Kurz notiert: The conjugated form of werden

KAPITEL 36 - FOKUS AUF KULTUR

VIDEOTHEK

Theater für Jugendliche: Viewers visit the Grips (brains, intellect) theater, a children’s theater in Berlin that is featuring a musical called "Linie 1" about a young woman and her experiences in the big city.

100 Jahre deutscher Film: A history of German film from its beginnings nearly 100 years ago to the present. Silent films were an artistic achievement in the Germany of the 1920s. Excerpts from a variety of German films through the years from "Das Cabinett des Dr. Caligari" (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) to "Die Ehe der Maria Braun" (The Marriage of Maria Braun) attest to the ingenuity of German filmmakers.

STRUKTUREN

The past perfect tense: Talking about a sequence of events in the past

Kurz notiert: Present perfect and simple past tense

Alternatives to the passive: Focusing on actions and states

Word order with verbs: Expressing action

Kurz notiert: nicht

WIEDERHOLUNG 12