German Language Program - The Max Kade German Studies Center

The Thatcher Language House offers the opportunity to live in a residence hall dedicated to learning a foreign language and exploring foreign cultures. In this hall of 110 students, the majority are a part of one of the six Language Programs.

Participants in the Thatcher House German Language Program live together on the first floor in the Max Kade German Studies Center which includes a reference library, a classroom, and a large reception room for hosting cultural events, speakers and a variety of programs.

Participants meet with the instructor from the German Department regularly during the week in their own classroom in the Center for a specially-designed, two credit conversation/culture course. A comfortable, small-group environment allows students to practice and improve their conversational skills at their own pace while learning about German culture at the same time.

In addition, the class offers a variety of opportunities, both on and off campus, to participate in German cultural events: German film (on video and at the Amherst College Film Series); television news via satellite transmission and discussion of current events in German-speaking countries; cooking and enjoying German food to celebrate cultural holidays like Rosenmontag; the German Department-sponsored Kaffeepause; and preparation for the UMass exchange program to Germany. Students take a very active part in this course by giving their input on topics and actually helping to create the Kursplan.

Both German majors and non-majors from a variety of disciplines make up the Thatcher House German Program. Members of the German Language Program have an excellent acceptance record into the University's programs for study in German- speaking countries.

To Register
Download the German Program application:
Non-native speaker application
Native speaker application

Please note that some browsers will open the application directly in the window. If that happens you can simply print it and fill it out manually.