German Beginners 2017 HSC exam pack

Students should:

• communicate fluently in the German and be prepared to talk about a variety of ideas and opinions about their personal world
• remember that there will be questions that they cannot specifically predict. Students who memorise responses on topics and recite them, regardless of the actual questions being asked or the flow of the conversation, will disadvantage themselves
• display their knowledge of the German language by using a wide range of vocabulary and a variety of sentence structures
• pay careful attention on the pronunciation of the following words, such as: kochen, Küche, Kuchen; Haus, Hause; Englisch; Familie; Fach, Fächer.

In better responses, students were able to:

• speak effectively providing relevant information, good comments and opinions
• use correct pronunciation and ensure that their intonation makes the conversation engaging and natural
• include idiomatic expressions to make the conversation sound natural
• respond to unrehearsed questions by applying their knowledge of the German language
• use a range of quite sophisticated vocabulary and avoid repetition
• apply correct verb endings in the present tense including third person and plural subjects
• use correct grammatical cases and adjectival endings
• demonstrate good control of the perfect tense using the auxiliary verbs haben  and sein
• apply correct subject/verb inversion where appropriate
• use modal verbs in the present tense effectively
• justify responses by using subordinate conjunctions, such as weil, dass, obwohl, wenn
• state how long they have been doing a certain activity using the present tense and seit correctly.

Students should:

• attempt all questions with relevant details and information
• read the questions carefully and respond appropriately.

In better responses, students were able to:

• understand all four pieces of information (Q1)
• understand the time halb drei (Q2)
• spell the name Mayer (Q4)
• understand the concept of studying and added that it was for mathematics. They understand the concept of why they could not meet at each other’s houses by showing understanding of zu laut und zu weit (Q5)
• extend their responses with their understanding of Schlösser, Berge klettern, eine familienfreundliche Busreise, für alle and dealt with the concept of persuasion (Q5)
• demonstrate understanding of Menschen helfen and connect this to the article Thomas read as a response to the ‘why’. They also understand the desire to get away from the family so weit wie möglich von meiner Familie weg sein and that it was therefore good to not be able to have any forms of communication (Q7)
• demonstrate understanding of how Paul felt about the café and interpret the issue with the ex-boyfriend correctly: Ein Kellner hier ist der Ex-Freund von meiner neuen Freundin. Und wenn er arbeitet, bekomme ich immer kalten Kaffee (Q8)
• demonstrate understanding of some form of change of opinion and understand the entire concept von Montag bis Freitag bei Oma wohnen and immer streiten, groß genug,länger arbeiten muss, and einen Monat lang probieren (Q9).

In better responses, students were able to:

• understand morgen as tomorrow (Q10)
• show understanding of verboten zu fahren and the verb brauchen (Q11)
• provide extended details for the responses linking information and ideas, for example, students understand the uncertainty of the EU money to the UK and also the Berlin and London comparison in regards to investment capital (Q13 (a)) and ehrlicher and aber jetzt habe ich Ehrlichkeit lieber als Höflichkeit (Q13 (b))
• explain the German farmer’s concept well and analyse why it was successful, and showing understanding of eine leere Flasche, neue 1 Liter Flaschen, dazu, Zigarettenstummel (Q14).

In better responses, students were able to:

• write well and explain why they were unable to meet their friend. They show a variety of vocabulary, use past tense and modals and also used correct word order in their responses (Q15)
• use the past tense, both perfect and imperfect to describe what they had done to redecorate their room as opposed to just listing new things in their room using only the present tense. They use correct adjective endings and articles and write to the required the length (Q16)
• write about the topic giving opinion, using the appropriate tense, varying their tenses, structures and vocabulary to make their writing flow easily. Their ideas were linked and well sequenced, and their dictionary use is clever rather than choosing the incorrect word. Their writing displays many grammar points (Q17 and Q18).