GERM 2020

This class is one you have to know what you are getting into. I first of all want to say that Frau Parker is one of the nicest teachers I know, but I think her teaching leaves a lot to be desired. She expects you to already know a lot of German, and if you don't, you can definitely struggle in this class. Most of her teaching is actually done as homework, using a virtual textbook which is not very good at teaching basic concepts. If you want to actually learn the German, I think you would come out of this class with only a basic knowledge of the material. That being said, this class can be easy, with little homework, not a whole lot of class time learning, and about 2 tests and 2 essays the entire semester. If you put in at least a decent effort, you should get at least a B. That said, your grade entirely depends on the tests and essays, but she is willing to give extra credit if you talk to her. Overall, the class was fun and I enjoyed it, but I did feel as if I did not learn much and my grade was only so-so. I would recommend this class only if you are trying to fill requirements and not if you are trying to actually learn the language. #tCFS24

Last semester, I took GERM 2010 with Frau Parker and consistently made excuses to make up for her behavior and teaching styles. Now that I have spent a full year with her, I can say that she is one of the worst teachers I've ever had.
Originally, I figured that she just took a German, hands-off style of teaching and wanted us to figure out some issues on our own. I eventually realized this was not the case - she simply was unwilling to teach beyond the most basic level. Here are some regular events from almost every day of class:

- Students were regularly scolded for not knowing information or being told they should have learned it previously
- Students were looked at like they were dumb or laughed at for trying to ask questions during problem sets
- When asked for a word translation, the answer was often "look it up" or even "I don't know."

We were working with a new textbook this year, and Frau Parker put in no effort to learn how to use it. We wasted the first three weeks of class on her stumbling around and she never actually figured out how to assign, grade, or use the textbook portal appropriately. I can give her a little slack here, but there is NO excuse for a student having to explain to her how to view online portal assignment grades two weeks from the end of the semester.

I am ill-prepared to continue my German learning and feel like I have not even reached B1 level after my 2020 experience with her.

Frau Parker is super nice, and the class (at least over Zoom) was basically structured such that classes alternated between vocab and grammar. Every project was essentially "watch this movie and write a review of it," and she wasn't super harsh with the grading - just show up to class, and you should probably know everything you need. There's next to no homework, with just weekly blog posts and sometimes reading.