Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Wirtschaftskommunikation Vertiefung, Homework for May 8th

For homework, please:

- read the article on German travel, highlight all of the languages in it useful for describing change in data, and complete the activity started in class in which you come up with strategies as a consultant for how the tourism board can increase both domestic and international tourism in Germany and how the Tourism in Germany (https://www.germany.travel/en/index.html) page can cater to both domestic and international tourists (consider their social media presence as well)

- read the response to Name Withheld's letter and consider what aspects of it you agree with and would use in your own

- review the rules for present continuous (https://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/simple_present_progressive_contrasted.htm) , inversion in English (https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/inversion.html), and -ing or infinitive (https://www.thoughtco.com/list-of-verbs-followed-by-gerund-or-infinitives-1211246)

- watch three videos of your choice using YouTube channels like the Economist, Bloomberg, Fast Company, Fortune, or other business media outlets

Monday, April 29, 2019

Kulturraumstudien USA, Homework for May 6th

For homework, please have a second look at JFK's "We choose to go to the moon" speech (available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouRbkBAOGEw&t=856s) and make metaphor mind map of the discourse of "space" in the speech. (Ask yourself, how does JFK speak about it and how DOESN'T he?)

In addition to this, please answer the question "How did the space race/moon landing influence artistic cultural output in the 1960s and 1970s in the United States?" Name specific examples/trends.

(For your edification, here's NASA's footage of the 1969 moon landing ("one small step" at approx. 22:30: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E96EPhqT-ds)

It might help you to print out this list of presidential terms in order to contextualize historical events/milestones: https://history.house.gov/Institution/Presidents-Coinciding/Presidents-Coinciding/

Kompetenzerweiterung II, Monday/Wednesday Group, Homework for May 6th

For homework, please:

- have a look at this video and identify the three factors that dictionary makers take into account when considering a word for the dictionary and how this editor defines English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLgn3geod9Q
- have a look at one food debate video from this playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOKoMX_ZYUQ&list=PLpfv1AIjenVPhFrwcZGIzBWnz89YrS14a
- watch one of the NY Times Op-Docs from this playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDXo83OtzgE&list=PL4CGYNsoW2iCb4uQUNgWK6TJJgNVp-MpP
- think of one of your favorite foods and make sure you're able to spontaneously tell someone the recipe for it in English (even better if it's a recipe from your native culture with some potentially hard-to-translate ingredients)
- complete all exercises for Unit 16, review the answers for exercises from Unit 15 and complete Review 8 (Units 15 and 16)
- read this article and answer the question "why we shouldn't ditch the adverb": https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/apr/29/dont-ditch-the-adverb-the-emoji-of-writing

Journals:
- write 10 sentences using modals
- essay prompt: Are food cultures and sustainability incompatible?

Thursday, April 25, 2019

Kompetenzerweiterung II, Tuesday/Thursday Group, Homework for April 30th

For homework, please:

- read the article on Tex-Mex distributed in class and highlight five words/expressions you would like to incorporate into your active vocabulary (also look up all unknown words/expressions)
- have a look at three videos on regional cuisine on YouTube and bring in three details/facts about them
- read the article on Parkinson's from the Economist and highlight all of the collocations featured in it
- read the article on robot baristas and formulate a thesis in response to the question "Will robots replace baristas in the future?"
- complete all of the exercises on pp. 84-85 and exercises A-H on pp. 94-96.

Journals:
essay: Should dual citizenship be allowed? Is veganism for everyone?
10 sentences: write 10 original sentences featuring participle clauses

The next collection date will be May 8th.

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

Kompetenzerweiterung III, Homework for May 8th

Read the responses to "Is Veganism for Everyone?" and assess all of the responses using the five categories from class: https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/04/17/is-veganism-good-for-everyone

In your journal, write an essay in response to one of the questions featured on the Room for Debate site. 

Your next journal collection date will be on May 8th (our next class). 

Kompetenzerweiterung II, Monday/Wednesday Group, Homework for April 29th

For homework, please:

- read the article on Tex-Mex distributed in class and highlight five words/expressions you would like to incorporate into your active vocabulary (also look up all unknown words/expressions)
- have a look at three videos on regional cuisine on YouTube and bring in three details/facts about them
- read the article on Parkinson's from the Economist and highlight all of the collocations featured in it
- complete all of the exercises on pp. 102-105 and make sure you've completed all of the vocab exercises from Unit 10

Journals:
essay: Should dual citizenship be allowed? Is veganism for everyone?
10 sentences: write 10 original sentences featuring participle clauses

The next collection date will be May 8th.

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Wirtschaftskommunikation Vertiefung, Homework for April 30th

Please complete the worksheets distributed in class and listen to a podcast of your choice from Freakonomics (http://freakonomics.com/archive/). Write down 20-30 pieces of vocabulary from podcast (use the transcripts to help you if needed).

Kompetenzerweiterung II, Tuesday/Thursday Group, Homework for April 25th

Have a look at 3 English-language videos of your choice and write down interesting verbs used in them. In addition to this please complete all of the exercises from pp. 102-105, study Unit 10 vocabulary extensively and complete exercises A-G on pp. 78-80.

Monday, April 15, 2019

Kulturraumstudien USA, Homework for April 29th

For homework, please read through the article "Is America Becoming an Oligarchy?" (distributed in class and available here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/14/opinion/america-economic-inequality.html ) and answer the following questions:

1. How does the author define oligarchy, democracy, and capitalism?
2. What references/elements does the author include in his discourse to bolster his argument?
3. Do you agree the author's analysis? Why or why not?
4. How would you structure an essay asking this question in English? In German?

Kompetenzerweiterung II, Monday/Wednesday Group, Homework for April 17th

For homework, please:

- have a look at the 5 levels playlist on the WIRED YouTube channel, watch one of the videos and think about a topic area you explain on 5 levels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opqIa5Jiwuw&list=PLibNZv5Zd0dyCoQ6f4pdXUFnpAIlKgm3N

- have a look at this interview with Joy Milne, a woman who can smell Parkinson's disease (she's from Scotland -- try to work out the key characteristics of Scottish pronunciation are): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyHxDxeg7jQ&t=325s

- complete exercises C-E on pp. 100-101 and exercises A-E on pp. 102-103.

- complete the gap fill on the black hole text and look up all of the words you don't know in the remaining text.


Thursday, April 11, 2019

Kompetenzerweiterung II, Tuesday/Thursday Group, Homework for April 16th

For homework, please:

- have a look at the 5 levels playlist on the WIRED YouTube channel, watch one of the videos and think about a topic area you explain on 5 levels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opqIa5Jiwuw&list=PLibNZv5Zd0dyCoQ6f4pdXUFnpAIlKgm3N

- read this article on literary translation and jot down sophisticated vocabulary that is not yet in your active vocabulary (there will be a quiz next week!): https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/06/its-a-silent-conversation-authors-and-translators-on-their-unique-relationship

- complete exercises E-J on pp. 89-91.

- complete exercises F-P on pp. 96-99.

Journals will be returned to you on Tuesday, so please get a friend to pick yours up for you if you know you won't be attending class.


Question from class:

"To damn with faint praise" is indeed an expression meaning to comment on something in a seemingly complimentary manner, but using language that in fact thinly veils your disdain. I grew up with this phenomenon being called a "backhanded compliment." In modern parlance, we might call this "throwing shade" ;-).

Example from class: "She looks good for forty."

(From the Collins dictionary) Dominique damned it with faint praise : 'It tastes quite good when you've lived in the UK for 22 years.'

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Kompetenzerweiterung III, Homework for April 17th

For homework, please:

- read a "long read" from a news outlet like the Atlantic or the Guardian (which sorts this type of article into a separate section and includes podcasts: https://www.theguardian.com/news/series/the-long-read) and 1) summarize its content/message, 2) jot down/highlight the most interesting data/examples it employs, and 3) outline an essay that you write that was inspired by it or the questions/ideas that you had that arose from it. Please bring all of these notes with you to our next session.

Kompetenzerweiterung II, Monday/Wednesday, Homework for April 15th

For homework, please:

- have a look at this video on visual effects and 1) write 10 vocab items coming from the field of programming and visual effects and 2) answer the question, "How has visual effects technology changed since the 1980s?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz7_QqqFt9w

- read the essays "True Style Defies Globalization" and "The Homogenization Effect" on this website on comment on the quality of writing in the areas of vocabulary/word choice, grammar/sentence structure, organization, thesis, and detail/data/examples. (Please be specific and don't simply write "grammar is good in general.")

- complete exercises E-J on pp. 89-91.

- complete exercises F-P on pp. 96-99.

Journals will be returned to you on Monday, so please get a friend to pick yours up for you if you know you won't be attending class.


Question from class:

"To damn with faint praise" is indeed an expression meaning to comment on something in a seemingly complimentary manner, but using language that in fact thinly veils your disdain. I grew up with this phenomenon being called a "backhanded compliment." In modern parlance, we might call this "throwing shade" ;-).

Example from class: "She looks good for forty."

(From the Collins dictionary) Dominique damned it with faint praise : 'It tastes quite good when you've lived in the UK for 22 years.'

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Wirtschaftskommunikation, Homework for April 16th

For homework, please:

- watch this video and explain what the Brexit big short is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ht40yrt3VrY

- watch this video and think about how you would market your DNA kit company for customers concerned about privacy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXbvJeVZtyU&t=2s

- read the article "Creating a healthy culture" and answer the following questions:
1. On pg. 36, the article proposes a "new approach to culture". What is this new approach?
2. Do you agree with the analysis of the case study on pg. 42? Why or why not?
3. Are you type A or type B at work and uni? How do ensure cooperation with a student/coworker of the opposite type? How does the notion of type As and type Bs connect to Theory X and Theory Y in management?
4. Provide an example for each type of conflict presented in table 2 on pg. 44.
5. Make sure you pay attention to the vocabulary words as I will be quizzing these and items from the collocations sheet distributed in class in our next session.

- Do people in the US drink more Pepsi or Coke? Make sure you record what you consulted to answer this question.

- Imagine the higher-end US chocolate company Ghirardelli is thinking about expanding to Germany and has hired you and your team as marketing consultants. What marketing strategy would you draw up for them for entering this market? (Make sure to do some research on the company and their product line.)

- What slogans do your favorite German brands have in the US and/or UK, if they are available there? If the slogans are radically different from the German ones, what considerations were made when localizing the branding?

Kompetenzerweiterung II, Tuesday/Thursday Group, Homework for April 11th

For homework, please:

- finish the error correction exercise distributed in class
- have a look at this video on visual effects and 1) write 10 vocab items coming from the field of programming and visual effects and 2) answer the question, "How has visual effects technology changed since the 1980s?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz7_QqqFt9w
- study the words from Unit 12 (pp. 92-93) extensively and complete exercises A-E on pp. 94-95
- review conditionals on pg. 86 and complete exercises A-D on pp. 88-89

journals:
optional essay prompt: Are calories a con?
10 sentences: write 10 sentences using different conditionals (types 1-3 and mixed conditionals) and write 10 sentences using vocab from Unit 12

I'll be collecting journals on Thurs. April 11th.

Monday, April 8, 2019

Kulturraumstudien USA, Homework for April 15th

For homework for next week's session, please:

- compare the presentation of WWII on the English and German Wikipedia sites using Critical Discourse Analysis and jot down some details on how this information is presented (take the same approach with the two articles on the California moratorium: word choice, who is quoted as a source, who is metonymic of the context, how the presentation is structured and outlined, etc.)

- compare the presentation on Wikipedia with artifacts you see in US and German culture that represent WWII (for example, the celebration of Veterans Day and Memorial Day in the States, the notion of "Gedenkstätte" in Germany, what date is considered the end of the conflict, etc...another way of looking at this is to again ask yourself the question, if I were to curate an exhibition of the conflict in both Germany and the US, what objects/topics would be employed in both and which would be tailored to each respective country)

Next week we'll be looking at important episodes in the period of time known as WWII as it manifested in the US, including the internment of the Japanese, the Manhattan Project, FDR and Truman's presidencies, and the German-American experience in the first half of the twentieth century.

My apologies for my misrepresentation of the year the US enters WWII in class. The US declares war on Japan on December 8th, 1941 and on Germany on December 11th, 1941. (The attack on Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7th, 1941.) US participation escalates in 1944 (particularly in the "European Theater") with the Invasion of Normany (otherwise known as D-Day).

Kompetenzerweiterung II, Monday/Wednesday Group, Homework for April 10th

For homework, please:

- finish the tense/aspect exercise on the front page of the Guardian translator article ("It's a silent conversation")
- finish reading the translator article and identify/look up ALL of the words and phrases that you do not use actively. Once you've done that, use each of these words in a sentence (you can include these in your journal.)
- study the words from Unit 12 (pp. 92-93) extensively and complete exercises A-E on pp. 94-95
- review conditionals on pg. 86 and complete exercises A-D on pp. 88-89

journals:
optional essay prompt: Is reading a translation of a novel/watching a dubbed film the same as reading a novel/watching a film in the original?
10 sentences: write 10 sentences using different conditionals (types 1-3 and mixed conditionals) and write 10 sentences using vocab from Unit 12

I'll be collecting journals on Wed. April 10th.

Thursday, April 4, 2019

Kompetenzerweiterung II, Tuesday/Thursday Group, Homework for April 8th

For homework, please:

- watch the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avcQy2_yEkk
Why does the Economist call calories "a con"? Do you agree with their analysis? Why or why not?

- watch the following video and take down at least 10 interesting items of vocabulary you include in at least 10 sentences: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwoL6hWd4l0

- correct/edit the sentences on the back page of the handout from today's class

- complete all of the exercises in the book on pp. 268-270

- complete exercises I-P on pp. 164-167

- complete exercises A-E on pp. 168-169

journals:
optional essay: "What we don't talk about when we talk about ..." (you can fill in the rest as you'd like

I will be collecting your journals on Thursday, April 11th in class.

Wednesday, April 3, 2019

Kompetenzerweiterung III, Homework for April 10th


For homework, please:

- correct/edit the sentences on the back page of the handout from today's class

- read this essay and sketch an answer to the question "what is intelligence?" (it doesn't need to be a full essay, but please jot down some ideas and examples that demonstrate how you would define the term): https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2019/mar/04/does-having-a-higher-iq-than-einstein-guarantee-success

- pretend that you are writing a guide for learners of English who speak German as their native language. What would your top 10 errors made in writing English be? Bring the list with you to class.

journals:
essay topics for this week "When did you come to the realization that you were talented?" and "What is not currently taught in schools that should definitely be in the curriculum?"

I will collect your journals in next week's session.

Kompetenzerweiterung II, Monday/Wednesday Group, Homework for April 8th

For homework, please:

- watch the following video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avcQy2_yEkk
Why does the Economist call calories "a con"? Do you agree with their analysis? Why or why not?

- watch the following video and take down at least 10 interesting items of vocabulary you include in at least 10 sentences: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwoL6hWd4l0

- correct/edit the sentences on the back page of the handout from today's class

- complete all of the exercises in the book on pp. 268-270

- complete exercises I-P on pp. 164-167

- complete exercises A-E on pp. 168-169

journals:
optional essay: "What we don't talk about when we talk about ..." (you can fill in the rest as you'd like

I will be collecting your journals on Wednesday, April 10th in class.

Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Kompetenzerweiterung II, Tuesday/Thursday Group, Homework for April 4th

For homework, please:
- study the vocab in Unit 20 extensively
- complete exercises A-H for Unit 20
- read the grammar explanations and tables for Unit 19
- complete all of Unit 19's exercises

Journals:
- write 10 sentences employing Unit 20 vocab
- write 10 sentences using inversion
- essay prompts: What do you know now that you wished you had learned sooner?

Wirtschaftskommunikation Vertiefung, Homework for April 9th

For homework, please:

- watch this video on "Trim It"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUXMe55_zpg and answer the following questions: Is "Trim It" a business within the sharing economy? What are the opportunities and threats to the company?

- watch the Economist video "Why is chicken so cheap?" and answer the question posed in the title: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiYVoHEV5hs

- read the article distributed in class on procrastination and pretend that you are directing a day-long workshop (approx. 6 hrs) for managers from various industries on procrastination in the workplace. What content and activities would you include in your workshop? 

- read the article from the Economist distributed in class (also available here: https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2019/03/23/why-book-value-has-lost-its-meaning) and answer the following questions (you'll need to do some outside research): 
1. What is book value? What are net assets? 
2. What is the difference between price and value?
3. Give some examples of tangible assets and intangible assets. 
4. What is depreciation?
5. What is leeway? What are capital assets?

- complete the third exercise (brand stretching) on the backside of the vocab handout on branding



Monday, April 1, 2019

Kulturraumstudien USA, Homework for April 8th

For homework, please first watch this video on what Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) is and how to analyze text through a CDA lens (a case study is featured in the latter half of the video):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3w_5riFCMGA

Next, please read the two articles distributed in class "California Death Penalty Suspended" and "California's Gov. Newsom issues a moratorium on death penalty executions in state" and perform a critical discourse analysis on them. (You're looking to bring in some data to class; don't worry about being exhaustive.)

Once you've completed that, Google the titles of the articles to see where they were published. Does this information surprise you in any way?

Finally, read the article "Why American still executes people" (also include in your copies). If you had been given the task to write an article with the same title for international readership, is this the information you would have included in the article? Why or why not?

Kompetenzerweiterung II, Monday/Wednesday Group, Homework for April 3rd

For homework, please:
- study the vocab in Unit 20 extensively
- complete exercises A-H for Unit 20
- read the grammar explanations and tables for Unit 19
- complete all of Unit 19's exercises

Journals:
- write 10 sentences employing Unit 20 vocab
- write 10 sentences using inversion
- essay prompts: What do you know now that you wished you had learned sooner?