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| GermanForTravellers was founded by Dr. Peter Gölz from his love for teaching German language and culture. Dr. Gölz recognized the need for German language instruction over the net and established the award-winning site GermanForBeginners which began as a simple instructional web page but soon expanded into what is now GermanforTravellers (GFT), a comprehensive free and retail resource site. GFT was created through a partnership between Dr. Gölz and the University of Victoria (IDC). Working with UVic, Dr. Gölz has developed German instruction materials using fun, realistic learning exercises that attempt to mimic the study abroad experience. The University of Victoria involvment is run from the Innovation and Development Corporation (IDC), a technology transfer office. IDC and GFT have been working together since April, 2001. At this point, GFT became part of HyperEdvantage Language Services Inc. Together, they have brought GFT to the forefront of innovative online language instruction. |  | Peter Gölz, PhD, President
Peter has been teaching German at the university level for many years and has been a Professor at UVic since 1992. During this time he has been Acting Academic Director of the Humanities Computing and Media Centre and Chair of the Department of Germanic and Slavic Studies. Prior to this appointment, he taught at Queen’s University and the University of Waterloo in Ontario, as well as the University of Mannheim in Germany. Dr. Gölz has been an active member of the Canadian Association of University of Teachers of German since 1988 and was elected Vice President in 2006. For his work on the web, he has received numerous awards, including the Encyclopedia Britannica Internet Guide Award, the BBC Education Web Guide, and the Netscape Editor’s Pick. |  | Sandra Alberg, MA, CEO Sandra had been involved with German for Travellers on a consultation basis for the last five years. Now working exclusively for German for Travellers, Sandra brings more than 10 years experience in sales and marketing, and business development of technology companies to the team. She has had the opportunity to have a variety of experience working with such diverse companies as Siemens, ACD Systems and most recently with GenoLogics Life Science Software. Sandra also holds a Masters degree in German language from the University of Victoria as well as a Graduate Certificate in Project Management from Royal Roads University. In addition to her business development experience, Sandra spent the early part of her career working as a language instructor. |  | Brent Sternig, Diploma (Marketing), MBA, Director and Secretary Brent has helped GFT to get off the ground as the Associate Vice-President of the Innovation and Development Corporation, the industry liaison office for the University of Victoria. He has over 18 years of business experience in the areas of high-tech sales and marketing and over 9 years experience directly in the field of technology transfer and start-up enterprise management. Intellectual property management (Patents, Trademarks, and Copyright), software licensing, strategic planning, marketing research, new venture development, and financing are some of his areas of expertise. |  | Trude Heift, PhD, Advisor Trude's main research interest lies in Computer-Assisted Language Learning, bridging applied and computational linguistics. She is known widely for her work on Intelligent Language Tutoring Systems (ILTSs) - computer environments for second language learning that make use of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and techniques of Artificial Intelligence. Most of Trude's software usability studies are carried out with The etutor, an online learning system for German that is used in German language courses at several universities in Canada (see Heift & Nicholson, 2001). | | | |  | Ramona Jahnke, Moderator My name is Ramona, I'm 26 years old, originally coming from Magdeburg in Germany but I already lived at different places throughout the country. I did my vocational training in the mining business and now I care for my little daughter while additionally running a little internet shop about Celtic culture and languages.
I was always interested in foreign languages and tried to learn some of them and that was the way how I found "German for Travellers" because I wanted to meet penfriends and improve my own English knowledge. I like the idea to help people learning my own mother language, because I know how difficult it can be to learn a new language. Furthermore it opens ones eyes to see your own culture from a different point of view. | | | GermanforTravellers
University of Victoria
PO Box 3075, STN CSC
R-Hut, McKenzie Avenue
Victoria, BC, Canada
V8W 3W2
Fax: 250-721-6497 General Inquiries:
support at germanfortravellers dot com |
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