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John Arensmeyer

Assistant Professor (Teaching) of German
Pronouns He / Him / His Email arensmey@usc.edu Office GEH 207 Office Phone (213) 743-1881

Biography

I was born in Torrance, California and attended CSULB with a major in Geography. In addition, I attended the Uni. of Heidelberg,where I earned a certificate for German as a Foreign Language. I also attended the Uni. of Frankfurt, and the Uni. of Konstanz as an Adenauer fellow. I received my Ph.D. in German Literature and Linguistics from USC. I am a certified  ACTFL Oral Proficiency Tester.

  • Research, Teaching, Practice, and Clinical Appointments

    • Adjunct Professor, Glendale Community College, 1997-2014

  • Summary Statement of Research Interests

    I have been teaching German at the university level since 1987, but I took my first German language course as a senior in college. As an American, who like my students first learned German at college, I believe I have a unique insight into the difficulties and questions of students beginning their language study. For this reason, I especially enjoy teaching our first year language courses, German 101 and German 102. During my studies I was able to attend four different German universities and saw first hand how valuable and fun learning a language can be. My teaching philosopy is simple; I try to make learning German fun. I hope you will come and learn German with me.

    • 2008 Teaching and Mentoring Awards Nominee, 2008-2009
    • 2007 Teaching and Mentoring Awards Nominee, 2007-2008

  • Other Advisement or Time Devoted to Students

    • I participated and helped plan both German Club and departments events, including the end of the semester BBQ and the Christmas party. In addition, I was involved in the breaking bread program and went with students from all my classes to local German restaurants., 2011 – 2017

  • Professional Memberships

    • American Association of Teachers of German (AATG), 1988 – 2012
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