Summer Term 2005
Lecturer Peter Monnerjahn, BA
Mondays, 8.30–10 a.m.; SR 046, Computer Science building, Takustr. 9.
Introduction
This course is aimed primarily at students of Bioinformatics, other students (and members) of the faculty are welcome, though. Attendance is limited, and I regret to say that all places have already been filled.
Students doing a BSc or MSc in Bioinformatics will be awarded two credits for successfully taking this course. (Credits for this course can only be awarded once.) Those doing a BSc in Computer Science are eligible for two credits as well. Diplom students may participate, space allowing, but won’t receive anything in the way of a Schein. If you have any queries concerning credits, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
This course is designed to teach you intermediate English-language skills. If you feel you are not exactly fluent in English, have difficulty following a class held in English, or could use a thorough brush-up of your grammar and vocabulary, this course might well be for you.
Contents
Over the course of 14 weeks, we will study all essential parts of English grammar, vocabulary, and language in general. This course expects you to have had some four or five years of English learning experience and will be conducted using a textbook, “English Elements Refresher B1”. (It’s € 20,95 for the textbook with CD, which you should consider money well spent.) Classes will consist mainly of language practice, with relevant topical, wherever possible multimedia elements thrown in. Regular homework will be a central part of the course.
Useful Literature
The textbook:
You can order this book at any bookshop (decent shops will have it the next day) or online. But please wait with your order until you have been assured a spot and until after the first lesson.
Obviously, your language skills will benefit even from reading just any old book in English. But more specifically, the two books you will probably find most helpful as reference works are:
In any event, only a monolingual (English–English) dictionary will really help you in learning the language!
It is strongly recommended that you make yourself familiar especially with phonetic symbols and other dictionary-specific notations.
Forum
For breaking news, questions, calls for assistance, general counselling. It is strongly recommended
that you make extensive use of the forum, for it can be as much a community-building tool as a learning device.
BBC World Website On Learning English
The BBC World Service’s Radio Player, videos, and other resources for learners.
Cambridge Dictionaries Online
An easy-to-use monolingual dictionary especially well suited to the needs of learners.
Oxford Dictionaries Online
Monolingual dictionaries and lots of other language-related materials for learners.
Bartleby.com
Extensive reference works available online.
Wikipedia
One of the most interesting and informative internet projects and an encyclopaedia at the same time.