For some unknown reason, we have to learn French and German terms as well as Italian. These are pretty rare in common repertoire, but even so ‘Massig’ is usually seen with the double ‘s’, not the strange German letter which we are not taught how to write properly.

The exercises devoted to labelling the music with the correct French or German term are very long and I feel are basically a waste of space... WE GET IT. Perhaps these long melodies could be used for other activities, like analysing key, form, adding dynamics, etc etc? Later on, there are shorter examples for the addition of terms such as ‘dolce’ and ‘tranquillo’, which is much better.

I must also point out the less-than-helpful German tutorial we get in lesson 6: ‘Lebhaft’ = lively or brisk,

‘Sehr lebhaft’ = very lively

‘Schnell’ = fast or quick

Ok... but on the next page, we’re tested on ‘very fast’ and ‘lively and fast’. Well, we’ve been taught ‘very’ and ‘lively’ and ‘fast’ , but we have not been taught ‘and’. (which I happened to remember is ‘und’ from my Year 8 German elective). I asked my sister-in-law, who speaks German, if ‘Lebhaft und Schnell’ would be the correct translation for this... she said that would be incorrect. I guess I shall have to wait and consult the teacher guide, but the point is THIS INFORMATION SHOULD BE READILY AVAILABLE IN THE WORKBOOKS.

So, can anyone help with this?