About Auf geht's!

Students each purchase the package, which includes the interactive software and the "Lernbuch" - a textbook/workbook combination.
Instructors receive additional materials for class and for assessment.
AG! forms the core content for a first-year course

Auf geht's! does not have a hardcover textbook. Instead, the Lernbuch contains many of the activities typically found in a hardcover textbook.

Out of class, students work first with the interactive software, and then prepare activities in the full-color Lernbuch. The Lernbuch is also used for reading and assisted writing. Students then bring the Lernbuch to class to complete prepared and other activities in class.

Auf geht's! works like a textbook package, but places much greater emphasis on interactive software for learning outside the classroom. The workbook is a used both in and out of class and contains many of the activities typically found in a textbook. In addition, instructors have access to hundreds of handouts to use in class as desired.

Teaching with Auf geht's! is very much like teaching with any communicative-oriented textbook. German is predominately (or exclusively) spoken in class, students work in small groups or in plenum on communicative tasks. Students tend to come to class better prepared with vocabulary and listening skills because of the extensive work with the interactive software outside of class. Grammar tends to receive less focus in the Auf geht's! classroom because the grammatical syllabus is much less extensive compared to most other first-year German programs.

A normal day of work for students generally follows a 3-step pattern. Students first work with the interactive at home (15-45 minutes). Then students prepare written materials in the workbook or write essays (15-45 minutes). In class, student-prepared workbook activities play a key role. Additional activities are available via the handouts. Instructors can choose group, partner, or class activities to round out the lesson.

The Auf geht's! software is not designed for use in class, though instructors can show parts of it for review if they wish.

No. Auf geht's! works best and is perhaps most conveniently used when each student has easy access to a computer. Auf geht's! can also be installed in language or computer lab for students who prefer to work there.

The focus of Auf geht's! is to meet realistic proficiency goals for first-year German. Therefore, grammar is greatly reduced from that commonly presented in first-year books. Emphasis in Auf geht's! is on mastering the necessary basic grammar to enable students to proceed to higher levels of proficiency with confidence. Current SLA research clearly shows that learners cannot advance to more complex grammatical structures until the fundamental ones are under control. Auf geht's! focuses on essential structures such as verb conjugation in present and conversational past, modal verbs, position of the verb, comparatives, and common prepositions (mit, von, zu, für).

Vocabulary acquisition is the most crucial aspect for beginning language learners and thus vocabulary is of much greater concern in Auf geht's!.

A comprehensive reference grammar is included both at the back of the workbook and in the interactive software. The interactive for Fall 2006 will include tutorials as well as a range of focus-on-form exercises to practice core grammatical topics.

A full-color Instructor's Edition of the workbook will be available Summer 2006. It will contain additional classroom activities, ideas for reviewing students' work from the interactive, as well as suggestions for keeping intercultural issues in the foreground during class. This Instructor's Edition will be ideal for new teachers as well as teachers new to Auf geht's! (including adjuncts and TAs), offering a great deal of advice for starting out.

Adopting institutions receive dozens of assessment modules, particularly dealing with assessing cultural learning. These can be used as quizzes or tests, and can be easily modified.

Students who have completed a year with Auf geht's! tend to have better control of basic patterns and structures, because they have not been overloaded with trying to 'learn' all the grammar of German in one year. Those teaching 2nd year should be aware that grammatical topics not necessary for intermediate-low proficiency (such as subjunctive and passive) will be new to students who worked with AG!

A second-year follow up to Auf geht's! entitled Weiter geht's! is in development and will make the articulation issue even easier. Weiter geht's! will offer a 2–semester sequence for second year, with a focus on structures necessary to achieve intermediate-mid and intermediate-high levels of proficiency. Weiter geht's! will systematically move to working with longer authentic texts in order to prepare students for successful experiences in other content-based courses in their third year of German study. WG! will be available in fall 2007.

Contact us at support@evialearning.com if you have more questions about AG! or would like to receive a desk copy of the student workbook/CD-ROM.

Adopting institutions receive access to the handouts and assessment modules and can join the AG! teachers' discussion forum to exchange syllabi, experience, extra class materials, and advice for using AG! successfully.

Most institutions have their students order AG! for themselves via www.evialearning.com because it is less expensive than going through a bookstore. Bookstore orders are also possible, however.

Auf geht's! allows you to teach the German language as inseparable from the culture of the German-speaking countries and thereby to continue the development of your students as global citizens.

About Auf geht's! - FAQ

Why language learning needs a new technology