These computer exercises are still in an experimental stage. Please report typographical errors or any other problems to your instructor.

To install this program on your computer, go to http://projects.dartmouth.edu/drillbits/index.html and follow the directions. (If you find these directions confusing, please let your instructor know where the problem lies). Note: after the DrillBits installer is on your hard disk, you then activate it to bring about the actual installation. It will be housed in a "DrillBits folder" somewhere on your machine. Each time you open DrillBits, you will be asked if you want an updated version. Since we are still working out bugs, saying "yes" is usually a good idea. DrillBits corrects your work as you go but does not monitor it.

• Once you have installed the program, open it and begin the exercises. You will probably want to re-size the window.
• The first time you open DrillBits, it will assume you want German 1. To switch the default to German 2, go to the Edit menu and select Preferences. Set the course to German 2 and then restart the program. If you want to change the course temporarily, select "open" from the "file" menu and "open course."
• You will note two tabs on the left side: "German 1" (or "German 2") and "Instructions". Open or close them with the mouse.
• DrillBits starts with a randomly-selected exercise, but you can, by clicking on the "German 1" (or "German 2") tab, pick the chapter and exercise you're looking for.
• You will first be presented with the instructions for a given set of exercises and the first item from that set. After you have answered it correctly, the instructions will go away, but you can see them again anytime by clicking on the "Instructions" tab.
• After you have entered your answer, hit "return" or "enter" or click on the "check" button at the bottom on the right. Below that button are three lights. If your answer is correct, the first light will turn green, and you will be given the next question. If your answer is incorrect, the light will turn red, and you will have the chance to edit. After three unsuccessful tries, you will be given the answer and asked to do the item again. If you want to be given the answer before that, go to the "View" menu. Note: even after you have been told the correct answer, you must write it to proceed to the next item.
• In assessing your answer, DrillBits will ignore most punctuation, and it will allow you to substitute "ss" for an "ß", but it will insist on umlauts and on proper capitalization (except with the first letter of an answer).
  Note: if you are using a Windows machine, you should install the US-International Keyboard, which allows you to write "ß" (hold down the right alt key and type "s") and umlauts (hold down the right alt key and type a quotation mark ["], then release the right alt key and type the letter over which you want the umlaut to appear).
• If you have a series of blanks to fill, you can use either the mouse or the tab key to advance the cursor.
• In most cases, the items within a set of exercises will appear in random order. The designation at the top of the window identifies the item; e.g. "7.E.5" indicates the fifth item in exercise set "E" of Kapitel 7. Please refer to this designation when reporting typographical errors and the like.
• The "status" bar at the bottom of the window shows how far you have gone through the set. "6/12", e.g., means you are doing the sixth of twelve items.
• You can end an exercise at any time by selecting another or by quitting altogether.

If you have trouble with DrillBits, continue with Plan B, which is to use http://schiller.dartmouth.edu/~kartoffel/ in the interim. These excercises are from the 6th edition of Deutsch heute, but they can be used in a pinch. Kapitel 1 of "Kartoffel" = the Einführung of our text; Kapitel 2 of "Kartoffel" = Kapitel 1 of our text, etc. The button "nachprüfen" is what you click on to check your answers.

Some general hints, not matter which program you use:
1) Keep your sessions short. You won't do yourself any good sitting at the terminal for hours. When you find the drills getting mechanical, do something else for a while.
2) Make your sessions as frequent as possible. Rote learning is like training for an athletic event. It can't be crammed in at the last minute, and it requires interludes of something else, including rest.
3) Concentrate on what you are doing. If you find yourself just going through the motions, even if you are producing correct answers, you are wasting your time. Pause to consider what the particular exercise is trying to accomplish. Make sure you know what each word means. Think of what variations would look like.
4) Do not confuse passive understanding with active knowledge. Especially if you have had previous exposure to German, you will be tempted to think that recognizing forms is the same as generating them. It is not. Do not move on until you have actually produced the right answer - with most exercises, the program will insist on that.

Unterwegs = a series of videos that you will be asked to watch at various points in the course, along with some other films.

To access them with your computer on campus, go to http://pushkin1.dartmouth.edu
Select "Video", "German", "Unterwegs", and then the particular film you want.

In case of technical difficulties call Humanities Resources at 6-2624 or at 6-2716.

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Audio Exercises = computerized audio exercises that roughly correspond to pp. 131-153 of the Arbeitsheft. Access the same way as the "Unterwegs" films (see above), only select 'audio', rather than 'video' on Pushkin1.

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