Department of German and Dutch
GERMAN COURSE INFORMATION For full information about DUTCH courses and staff please CLICK HERE
German Language Papers in Part II
Introduction
In your work for Part II of the Tripos you should feel all the aspects of your course so far coming together. With the experience of your Year Abroad to draw on you should now have a sense of how the language, culture and history of a modern country such as Germany belong together and make up a way of living interestingly different from your own. In the language papers for Part II, especially the Essay, you have the chance of combining your advanced knowledge of German with your personal experience of the country and your knowledge of German literature, history, and thought. Even if you spent your Year Abroad outside the German-language area, you will find that you are deepening the knowledge you acquired in your work for the scheduled papers in Part IB by extending it into related areas or into the field of comparative studies. By writing one or more dissertations you can concentrate on a single topic - perhaps one that caught your attention during 1B - and, if you are thinking of going on to graduate study, whether in German or anything else, you can begin to practise the research and writing skills you will need.
You have to offer two language papers in Part II, three 'scheduled' papers, and a dissertation or translation project. You are not permitted to offer in Part II a scheduled paper which you have already taken in Part IB. A second dissertation may be substituted for one of the scheduled papers. The scheduled papers and the dissertation(s) may all relate to one language-area or may be spread across different language areas. It is ALWAYS advisable to take at least one scheduled paper with components in the same language as your language papers because the books that you read will feed into your language-work, helping your fluency in reading and writing, and extending your vocabulary.
Language Work in Part II
The two language papers available to students in Part 2 are: a Composition and Translation paper, and an Essay in the foreign language (which from October 2012 will be replaced by a paper on text and culture), together with an Oral Examination. Most students offer both papers in the same language but it is possible to combine two languages.
- Paper GE C1: Translation from and into German
- Paper GE C2: Essay in German (from October 2012 German Language: Text and Culture)
- German Oral C
