Here is some information about the program of German teaching for your first year.

In the first three terms you will be working towards the Modern Languages Preliminary Examination, taken at the end of your first year. After that hurdle you will move on to Honors work, with a wide range of choice. The Preliminary Examination course is an integrated course in which you will be introduced to the study of literature in a historical context and encouraged to make active use of oral and written language skills in discussing cultural topics. The period focused on is 1890-1933.

Post-A Level Course

During the course you will prepare for four papers, as follows:

• Paper I: ‘Deutsche Gesellschaft und Kultur seit 1890’: commentary in German on a choice of passages which relate to the theme of the paper; one essay in German on a topic relating to the theme of the paper.
• Paper II: One prose translation (English into German), one translation (from German in a modern literary register).
• Paper III: Literature commentary. Two commentaries on poems from the anthology, Deutsche Gedichte, ed. Hans-Joachim Simm. One commentary on an extract from one or two of the set texts (prose fiction, drama, or film) listed under IV. Each year two such texts will be designated as ones from which an extract for commentary will be taken.
• Paper IV: Three essay questions (covering genre, themes and period) on the set literature texts (see below).

Beginners German

Students will attend a pre-sessional course in order to prepare the ground for the intensive language work leading up to the Preliminary examination. This pre-sessional course will consist of an online element and a residential element. You will be contacted about this course separately through the Faculty.

Students will attend a pre-sessional course in order to prepare for the intensive language work leading up to the Preliminary examination. This pre-sessional course consists of an online course and a residential course. All students need to have completed the online course by the time they start the residential course. Students are advised to allow at least 14 days for completion of the online course, which will be available from 1 September. For completion, students will need an internet connection, the DaF kompakt course book and work book, and Essential German Grammar. The online course uses the platform Babbel and is supported by a forum on Weblearn, which is used for smaller assignments and allows students to discuss questions and any areas of difficulty. Students are also able to contact the instructor via e-mail.

During the prelims course you will prepare for four papers, as follows:

• Paper I: Reading comprehension exercise (in German) on a passage in German. One essay in German. A choice of questions will be set.
• Paper II: Translation into German of a prose passage. Translation from German of a prose passage in a modern literary register.
• Paper III An oral exam with a spoken part and a listening comprehension.
• Paper IV: Three essay questions (covering genre, themes and period) on the set literature texts (see below).

General information on language study

For both Beginners and Post-A Level students, there is a centrally organized, systematic language course, which all first-year undergraduates must attend, taught in groups by the Language Instructor. While all of the Beginners German language teaching takes place in these classes, Post-A Level students have college-based classes too, including regular German conversation sessions with the German Lektorin in College. Another important component of the language course is translation from and into German/English. Some of you may not have done formal translation at school – don’t worry: it is an easy skill to acquire (though difficult to perfect), and the crucial thing is learning to be precise.

For your language work you will normally have to consult a range of different books. You will find the larger dictionaries, and other reference works that individuals cannot afford to buy, on the shelves of the College Library and of the Faculty Library (the central library for the use of undergraduates reading Modern Languages). Get used to consulting these: besides answering your particular queries, they will lead you to browse and learn unfamiliar usages and idioms. You will also need your own dictionary for constant use. The best is probably the most recent edition of Collins German Dictionary, which has a full range of modern vocabulary, an intelligent approach to the differences between English and German idiom, and many examples of usage.

You will need a grammar-book for reference; you should also work through it systematically to ensure that you are clear about points of grammar, no matter how elementary.

For Post-A Level students, the best book for this purpose is A. E. Hammer, German Grammar and Usage (the most recent edition, published in paperback by Edward Arnold). To practise grammar, I would ask you to buy the book by Martin Durrell, Katrin Kohl and Gudrun Loftus, Practising German Grammar (Arnold, paperback), which is designed for use in conjunction with Hammer-Durrell.

For Beginners German students, you should buy and consult Martin Durrell, Katrin Kohl, Gudrun Loftus and Claudia Kaiser: Essential German Grammar, second edition (London: Routledge 2015) regularly.

Remember that you are learning to use German actively, both in speech and writing. Read all you can – newspapers and magazines as well as books. Practise writing German as much as you can. Don’t forget that after A-Levels, your serious language study is just starting.

General information on studying literature

Most of you will also not have studied literature in your language courses at school. Again, don’t worry: the purpose of Prelims is to train you in the close study of literary texts, and the important thing is that you should like reading and want to acquire the skills needed in studying literature. Since we work hard during the short Oxford terms you simply will not have time to do a lot of primary reading once you are here. This obviously puts an onus on you to have read all the texts at least once before you come into residence, in the original German in the case of post-A Level students. This is absolutely vital. I would stress that a secure knowledge of the primary texts is by far the most important way to prepare for your time in Oxford.

Please buy the editions listed in the attached reading list. Most of the books should be available on Amazon but should you have any difficulty in getting hold of foreign books, try Blackwell’s, 50 Broad Street, Oxford (phone 01865-792792).

It is important to acquire an outline knowledge of German literature and its major figures, and of German history. For this I recommend Helen Watanabe-O’Kelly (ed.), The Cambridge History of German Literature (Cambridge 1997) and David E. Wellberry (ed.), A New History of German Literature (Harvard: 2004). On the twentieth century, there is the wide-ranging Cambridge Companion to Modern German Culture, ed. by Eva Kolinsky and Wilfred van der Will (Cambridge 1999). On German history, another good starting-point is Mary Fulbrook, A Short History of Germany (Cambridge, 2008, 3^rd edition).

In addition, everything you read extends your experience of literature and improves your language. Try short fiction by Fontane, Storm, Thomas Mann, Kafka, Böll, Christa Wolf, or dig a little into more recent German literature by Christian Kracht, Wladimir Kaminer and Felicitas Hoppe which will give you an insight into more contemporary literary culture. And even if you are not doing English A-Level, you should know something of the literature of your own language at the very least. Good knowledge of the classics (e.g. Aeneid, Odyssey, Iliad), the Bible, Shakespeare, for example, will only improve your reading abilities.

There is no obvious ‘how-to’ book for the student of literature; but Erich Auerbach, Mimesis (Princeton, 1953) is still a fascinating introduction to the history of Western literature. A sound introduction to the analysis of poetry is Philip Hobsbaum, Metre, Rhythm and Verse Form (Routledge, 1996). Terry Eagleton, Literary Theory: An Introduction (Oxford, 1983) is a stimulating debate on the difficulties in defining the nature and the workings of literary texts.

The main thing is that you should enjoy your Modern Language work. I shall write again closer to term with more details about the first-year teaching programme of tutorials, classes and lectures.

Meanwhile, best wishes,
Professor Barry Murnane
Tutor in German

Freshers’ Reading Lists for Preliminary Examinations

Honour School of Modern Languages (Beginner’s German)

Books required for the language programme:

• Martin Durrell, Hammer’s German Grammar and Usage (7th edition; Routledge)
• Martin Durrell, Katrin Kohl, Claudia Kaiser, Practising German Grammar (4th edition; Routledge)
• Collins German Dictionary (Complete and Unabridged). Current edition.

Literature

• Bertolt Brecht, Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (Frankfurt: Suhrkamp BasisBibliothek, 2005 [1930])
• Deutsche Gedichte, ed. Hans-Joachim Simm (Berlin: Insel, 2016), ISBN 978-3-458-17440-0
• Theodor Fontane, Effi Briest (Stuttgart: Reclam, 1986, and newer editions) ISBN 3-15-006961-0
• Franz Kafka, In der Strafkolonie, (Stuttgart: Reclam UB 9900), ISBN 978-3-15-019401-0
• Irmgard Keun, Nach Mitternacht (Berlin, Munich: Ullstein/List Taschenbuch, 2002 [1937]) ISBN 3548601510
• M (dir. Fritz Lang, 1931) [DVD: Eureka 2012 Masters of Cinema edition. ASIN B0030GBSSO]
• Thomas Mann, ‘Der kleine Herr Friedemann’ (1897), in Frühe Erzählungen 1893-1912 (Frankfurt a. M.: Fischer, 2012) ISBN 978-3-596904051
• Arthur Schnitzler, Liebelei (together with Reigen) (Frankfurt a. M.: Fischer, 1995, and newer editions) ISBN-10:3-596-27009-X
• Frank Wedekind, Frühlings Erwachen, (Stuttgart: Reclam, 2017, and newer editions), ISBN 3-15-007951-9

Honour School of Modern Languages (German) & Joint Schools with Modern Languages (German)

Language

• A. E. Hammer, German Grammar and Usage (London: Routledge, 2021)
• Martin Durrell, Claudia Kaiser, Katrin Kohl and Gudrun Loftus, Practising German Grammar (London: Routledge, 2017)

Literature

• Bertolt Brecht, Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (Frankfurt: Suhrkamp BasisBibliothek, 2005 [1930])
• Deutsche Gedichte, ed. Hans-Joachim Simm (Berlin: Insel, 2016), ISBN: 978-3-458-17440-0
• Theodor Fontane, Effi Briest (Stuttgart: Reclam, 1986, and newer editions) ISBN: 978-3-15-006961-5
• Franz Kafka, In der Strafkolonie, (Stuttgart: Reclam UB 9900), ISBN: 978-3-15-019401-0
• Irmgard Keun, Nach Mitternacht (Berlin, Munich: Ullstein/List Taschenbuch, 2002 [1937]) ISBN: 978-3-54-860151-9
• M (dir. Fritz Lang, 1931) [DVD: Eureka 2012 Masters of Cinema edition. ASIN B0030GBSSO]
• Thomas Mann, ‘Der kleine Herr Friedemann’ (1897), in Frühe Erzählungen 1893-1912 (Frankfurt a. M.: Fischer, 2012) ISBN: 978-3-596904051
• Arthur Schnitzler, Liebelei (together with Reigen) (Frankfurt a. M.: Fischer, 1995, and newer editions) ISBN: 9783596270095
• Frank Wedekind, Frühlings Erwachen, (Stuttgart: Reclam, 2017, and newer editions), ISBN: 978-3-15-007951-5

The list of poems from Deutsche Gedichte set for special study is as follows:

• Der von Kürenberg: Ich zôch mir einen valken (28)
• Walther von der Vogelweide: Ich saz ûf eime steine (73)
• Wolfram von Eschenbach: ›Sîne klâwen (85-6)
• Fleming: An Sich (232)
• Gryphius: Thränen des Vaterlandes (236)
• Greiffenberg: Auf meinen bestürmeten Lebens-Lauff (285)
• Goethe: Erlkönig (430)
• Goethe: Römische Elegien VI (435)
• Hölderlin: Hälfte des Lebens (536)
• Hölderlin: Andenken (537)
• Müller: Der Lindenbaum (603)
• Eichendorff: Lockung (622)
• Droste-Hülshoff: Die tote Lerche (656)
• Heine: Sie saßen und tranken am Teetisch (668)
• Heine: Gedächtnisfeier (677)
• Mörike: Auf eine Lampe (706)
• Meyer: Der römische Brunnen (784)
• George: Wir schreiten auf und ab (815)
• Hofmannsthal: Ballade des äußeren Lebens (818)
• Rilke: Archaïscher Torso Apollos (835)
• Rilke: O dieses ist das Tier, das es nicht giebt (842)
• Lasker-Schüler: Ein alter Tibetteppich (853)
• Stramm: Patrouille (863)
• Trakl: Grodek (873)
• Benn: Kann keine Trauer sein (948)
• Brecht: Schlechte Zeit für Lyrik (995)
• Celan: Sprachgitter (1066)
• Bachmann: Böhmen liegt am Meer (1075)
• Mayröcker: nachdenken über Zeitläufte, (1099)
• Kling: falknerei (1314)
• College tutors will also distribute for special study:
• May Ayim, ‘ein nicht ganz liebes geh dicht’
• Yoko Tawada, ‘Westerland oder The Waste Land’

Additional Information for German Sole Students

To prepare for the film course in Michaelmas term, you should watch the following films (at this stage the actual version is not so important, check Netflix and Amazon Prime etc. for similar version):

• Asphalt (1929, dir. Joe May). [DVD: Eureka Masters of Cinema No. 7]
• Tagebuch einer Verlorenen (1929, dir. G. W. Pabst). [DVD: Eureka Masters of Cinema No. 97]
• Mädchen in Uniform (1931, dir. Leontine Sagan). [DVD Zeitausendeins Edition, available from amazon.de)]
• Viktor und Viktoria (1933, dir. Reinhold Schünzel) [DVD: Deutsche Filmklassiker]

You should also purchase the following titles and could begin to familiarize yourself with the techniques of film studies.

• David Bordwell and Kristin Thomas (Eds.): Film Art. An Introduction (6th, 7th, or 8th edition)
• Sabine Hake: German National Cinema (London 2nd edition, 2007).

To prepare for the introduction to German medieval literature which starts in Michaelmas term and continues into Hilary term, you should buy:

• Hartmann von Aue, Gregorius. Nach dem Text von Friedrich Neumann neu hrsg., übers. und komm. von Waltraud Fritsch-Rößler. Stuttgart: Reclam, 2011. [Middle High German text with a facing page translation in modern German]

Starting at Oxford

Starting a course at Oxford can be very daunting, but there are many resources out there to help you succeed! Here are some useful guides from across the University that you might want to check out:

• Study skills and training: Here you can find advice on academic good practice including avoiding plagiarism, managing your time, reading, note taking, referencing and revision.
• Student life: It’s not all about academics at Oxford; here you can find out about the range of other opportunities available to you as a student, as well as tips on how to navigate student life with your workload. If you prefer podcasts, much of this information is available in that form here!
• Managing the cost: Undergraduate students Helena, Joe and Dan, have teamed up with the University’s Undergraduate Admissions team to discuss the financial support available to students and how they manage the cost of studying at Oxford.

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Useful contacts

If you have any questions that aren’t answered on this page, you can get in touch with the following people:

Contact	Questions they can answer
Admissions Office: Sarah Jones	Anything to do with offers, visas, UCAS issues, reading lists and preparatory materials
Accommodation Office	Accommodation, what to bring, insurance, electoral roll issues
Bursary	All things financial
College Office	Practical arrangements, bank letters, etc.
Disability enquiries: Elaine Eastgate	Any issues relating to disability or special requirements