Alles Klar
Alles Klar is a German-language BBC schools TV series from the 1980s, covering German Language for secondary school pupils.
A series for beginners in their first or second year of studying German, covering the basic vocabulary and techniques for conversation in the language such talking about your family and asking for things.
The programmes are introduced in English by Max Mason who explains what is going on. There is film of German teenagers carrying out their day to day lives and saying basic, structured phrases to the camera. Key words and phrases appear on screen to be read.
A singular feature of the series is that the vocabulary is further illustrated through short, sometimes comic, role-playing sketches performed by a pair of male and female actors. Max Mason even occasionally interacts with the sketch players to point out something they are doing.
Each episode is made up of several short sequences on particular topics, each introduced by a brief Alles Klar title sequence, so that teachers could record and play back the material they wanted. The BBC referred to this format as "'mini-programmes' for video recording."
Max Mason
A sketch...
... and another
The film of German teenagers, without any of the presenter or sketch material, was re-edited into the series Unter Uns... a few years later.
Both series were later replaced by another presenter-led German series, Mach's Gut!
Titles & Theme Music
Colourful lines and curves making up the words 'Alles Klar' appear one by one, and glow as they form the complete phrase.
The title music is an extract from a track called Light (3) by Barry Morgan from the KPM library music album Bass Guitar and Percussion Volume 1.
Watch on YouTube.
Episode List
| # | Title | Broadcast |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Talking About Yourself; Feeling Ill; Saying You're Sorry | 10 May 1982 |
| 2. | Asking Permission; Asking the Way; Tickets and Travel | 17 May 1982 |
| 3. | Wanting and Asking; Dealing with Money; Needing Things | 24 May 1982 |
| 4. | Making Requests; Quantities and Sizes; Asking the Time | 7 Jun 1982 |
| 5. | Having to Do Things; Likes and Dislikes; Comparing and Preferring | 14 Jun 1982 |
Broadcasts
| Year | Term | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Channel | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981-82 | Summer 1982 | Monday, 11:42am | Tuesday, 9:35am | BBC1 | ||||
| 1982-83 | Autumn 1982 | Tuesday, 9:30am | BBC1 | |||||
| Spring 1983 | Thursday, 9:10am | BBC1 | ||||||
| 1983-84 | Autumn 1983 | Thursday, 9:33am | BBC2 | |||||
| 1984-85 | Summer 1985 | Monday, 11:23am | BBC2 | Ep2 on Tuesday due to bank holiday Monday |
Credits
| Introduced by | Max Mason |
| With | Gina Kalla |
| And pupils of the | Hittorf Gymnasium, Münster |
| Consultant | John Lockyer |
| Film cameraman | Godfrey Johnson |
| Film sound recordist | John Tellick |
| Film editor | John Billingham |
| Designer | Colin Green |
| Graphic designer | Sue Rae |
| Series producer | John Prescott Thomas |
| Produced and directed by | Susan Paton |
Resources
Teacher's Notes
There were several resources published to accompany the series, but none of them by the BBC directly.
A booklet of teacher's notes was available from the Centre for Information on Language Teaching and Research (CILT), in common with many other BBC TV language series of the time. They originally cost 95p although the cost increased significantly in later years - by 1984 they cost £1.70 including postage.
Books
An Alles Klar pupils' book by John Prescott Thomas was published by Longman. Buy from Amazon
Longman also published a pack of worksheets as spirit duplicating masters and an audio cassette to accompany the series.
Topics
School topics covered in this programme. Click to find other programmes covering the same topics, but bear in mind topics are a new addition to the site in 2023 and not many are set up yet.
Keyword tags
Some features of this programme. Click to find other programmes with the same features, but bear in mind tags are also a new addition to the site in 2023 and not many are set up yet.
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More Programmes
Some random programmes for age 13-16 from the 1980s
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| History |
| Teenagers Talking... Work | |
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