Course Descriptions

Classrooms: Leopoldstr. 13, rooms 2202 and 2301

The Placement Exam
Before the course begins, each participant takes a placement exam to help us adjust the language level and accommodate participants’ needs.

Welcome and Orientation
On the first day you will be introduced to the faculty and to some of the special offerings at the University of Munich. At lunchtime you will have a chance to experience the university Mensa.

Language Course
During the morning language course you be able to continually develop and enhance your ability to express yourself in German. Participants will be constantly confronted with the central theme of “Business and Economy” in discussions, newspaper articles, books, analysis, etc. You will gain competence in speaking German, deepen your understanding of economics, and develop solutions for both familiar and unfamiliar questions. While communication through discussion will be the focus the first week, we will be contrating on insight and understanding of texts the second two weeks, not just as readers, but as authors as well.

The Language Forum
The language forum will provide intensive support for grammatical concepts. You will have the opportunity here to practice and polish your understanding of the structural details of the German language. The language forum is an important part of the language course and we usually set aside a morning of instruction each time.

Open Space Technology
Open Space is a special conference technique developed in the 1980‘s by an American consultant named Harrison Owen. Since 1996 this technique has also been put into practice by well-known German companies and institutes with enormous success. In Open Space you and the other participants spend an entire day concentrating on a relevant economic problem and the results are considered and refined over the next few days. This way you also get a taste of one of the most interesting elements of modern management consulting.

Presentations
Regular presentations from specialists in the fields of economics and public relations offer a look at various business sectors and careers, not to mention the opportunity to bring your German skills to a new level.

Projects
By the end of Open Space we will have discussed a series of questions, topics and problems. Over the course of the following two weeks you will divide into groups and turn the discussions into projects. You will pose questions to companies and institutes by telephone, research the internet and conduct interviews. Your strategies will be closely analysed and the results presented and discussed in the third and final week.

Intercultural Day
The move towards globalization has resulted in the ever increasing significance of intercultural understanding. Whether it involves the development of the European Union or the fusion of Daimler and Chrysler - these days it is nearly impossible to contemplate economic ties from only a national perspective. On intercultural day we will put aspects of intercultural reasoning under close consideration: perception psychology, judgements and prejudices, the construction of cultural identity and strategies of intercultural communication.

Final Exam
At the end of the course you have the opportunity to test the knowledge you acquire over the weeks and to see where your strengths and weaknesses lie. The exam results are not relevant to course certification.