German Beginners 2023 HSC exam pack

Students should:

• be prepared to communicate about a variety of topics relating to their personal world
• elaborate and provide relevant details to address the questions in a way that engages with the examiner
• use a range of vocabulary, expressions and language structures to respond appropriately to the questions
• provide information, express ideas and comment on their personal world
• be prepared to respond to questions from a different perspective
• be prepared to respond to questions that relate to past, present and future aspects of their personal world
• avoid the repetition of the same vocabulary, phrases and expressions
• manipulate the language to fulfil the requirements of the question
• be prepared to be interrupted by the examiner
• use German to ask for repetition and/or clarification of the question.

In better responses, students were able to:

• elaborate in their responses without the examiner prompting
• use interesting vocabulary which was not repeated throughout the conversation
• give opinions and comment using a variety of subordinating conjunctions including weil (because), obwohl (although), wenn (if/whenever), dass (that)
• communicate intention using um…zu… (in order to)
• use present perfect tense correctly with both auxiliary verbs haben (to have) and sein (to be) and the relevant past participle
• vary their sentence structures by occasionally starting sentences with an expression of time in den Ferien (in the holidays) or place, am Strand (at the beach) rather than a subject, such as, ich/meine Schule/Mathe (I/my school/maths)
• make generalised statements using man (one), for example, von meinem Fenster aus kann man den Garten sehen (from my window one can see the garden)
• use variety in pronouns and verb conjugation, for example, wir sind nach Sydney gefahren (we went/travelled to Sydney) rather than ich bin mit meiner Familie nach Sydney gefahren (I went/travelled to Sydney with my family)
• include idiomatic German expressions in their answers, for example, nicht nur… sondern auch… (not only but also…), von… bis… (from … till …), gut mit … auskommen (to get along well with...)
• include cultural references if the opportunity is presented. For example, wir haben den Weihnachtsmarkt besucht (we went to the Christmas market), ich finde Bayern München besser als Boross ia Dortmund (I prefer Bayern München to Borossia Dortmund), ich koche gern Schnitzel (I like to cook Schnitzel)
• ask for a question to be repeated appropriately, for example, Können Sie die Frage bitte wiederholen? (Could you please repeat the question?)
• provide clear responses to questions with minimal hesitation
• use correct tenses in line with the intent of the question
• elaborate and justify ideas and opinions using authentic and personalised examples relating to past, present and future aspects of their personal world
• demonstrate a good understanding of various grammatical points including case endings, adjectival endings and use of modal verbs, for example, in meinem Zimmer (in my room), bunte Blumen (colourful flowers), ich muss kochen (I must cook).

Areas for students to improve include:

• preparing sentences to express opinions on topics such as school subjects. For example, Mathe ist mein Lieblingsfach, weil der Unterricht immer interessant ist (Maths is my favourite subject because the lessons are always interesting)
• avoiding the use of ja/nein (yes/no) as a complete response
• avoiding the repetition of simple adjectives such as gut (good), cool, ok throughout the conversation
• learning harder interrogatives such as wo? (where?) and wie? (how?)
• ensuring that sentences have a subject and a verb
• using correct pronunciation of words such as streng (strict), Auto (car), Mutter (mother), Familie (family), Englisch (English), Geschwister (siblings), Musik (music)
• knowing the difference between Hausaufgaben (homework), Hausarbeit (chores) and Haustier (pet)
• expressing that something is ‘fun’ appropriately. Es macht Spaß rather than Es ist Spaß
• learning how to answer the question Warst du schon einmal in Deutschland? (Have you ever been to Germany?)
• refraining from describing the physical appearances of a number of family members when describing family. Consider describing one person’s physical appearance, another person’s characteristics and another person’s like or dislikes
• knowing ordinal numbers when saying birthdates, for example, Ich habe am achten Mai Geburtstag (my birthday is on the 8^th of May)
• using German syntax, in particular when it comes to the position of time phrases such as jede Woche (each week), am Samstag (on Saturday).

Students should:

• read each question carefully
• make notes in the Candidate’s Notes column on the right-hand side of the page
• write their response on the lines, using the space provided for each question
• use the lines provided as a guide to the length of the response required
• ensure their responses are clear and address all parts of the question
• use their own words and respond in English
• avoid translating text as part of their response.

In better responses, students were able to:

• distinguish between false friends such as ‘card’ and die Karte when it is part of the compound noun die Fahrkarte (the (travel) ticket). Also der Preis was correctly understood as ‘price’, not ‘prize’
• sequence events correctly because they understood tenses, for example, better students understood that the team had already won the finals (Q3)
• clearly state mood when asked for in question, for example, using an appropriate adjective to express Noah’s change in mood, rather than just retelling the text (Q6)
• link details in the text and show global understanding of situations and contexts
• structure their response precisely, without the addition of general observations and opinions
• use cues in the question to write comprehensive answers, for example, Phillip’s dilemmas, Leoni’s suggestions and Phillip’s final thoughts were expressed in the answer (Q10).

Areas for students to improve include:

• avoiding the use of abbreviations, such as text message language, for example, LU number = Lock up number/code. Abbreviations may not be recognised
• being familiar with vocabulary related to the syllabus, for example, die Ausbildung (the education), das Abitur, (the HSC equivalent), die Fächer, (the school subjects), ich freue mich auf (I’m looking forward to), der Koffer (the suitcase), ein/auspacken (to pack/unpack)
• organising information when there are contrasting opinions or concepts (Q4, Q10)
• providing all the information required to answer the question fully
• providing an interpretation if the question asks for one.

Students should:

• read the whole text(s)
• address all parts of each question
• use the lines, table and chart allocated for the response
• provide all necessary details to respond to the question fully
• support their responses with evidence from the text where required
• use their own words rather than giving a literal translation
• use their dictionary appropriately to find the correct meaning of the word(s) in context
• not write German in their responses.

In better responses, students were able to:

• select the parts of the text that are relevant to the answer
• read the texts carefully so that information was identified from the text, rather than being assumed or interpreted based on personal experience (Q13)
• interpret tenses in order to understand what has happened and what will or could potentially happen (Q14)
• summarise key information without repeating the information in the distinct bullet points (Q14)
• proofread their responses to ensure they were logical and not contradictory (Q13, Q14, Q15).

Areas for students to improve include:

• using cues in the question to answer with relevant information. For example, identify the things that Christa is ‘sorry’ for (Q11)
• looking beyond the first meaning of a word in the dictionary
• writing clear sentences that make sense in English
• being familiar with German sentence structure and being able to identify verbs in the imperfect tense
• taking sufficient time to understand the entire text and providing detailed answers
• avoiding the use of any German quotes or words to support a point and translating into English instead.

Students should:

• write to the word length required
• address audience, purpose and context required by the question
• apply the conventions of the type of text indicated in the question
• use correct register throughout the response
• use a range of tenses, sentence structures and a variety of vocabulary
• avoid repeating the same expressions throughout the response
• use the dictionary carefully to access vocabulary and expressions that are meaningful in the context of their response
• avoid listing
• edit their work.

In better responses, students were able to:

• creatively engage with the task, and express interesting and original ideas that were engaging to read
• include idiomatic language and interesting vocabulary such as es regnete wie aus Kübeln (it was bucketing rain) , um ….zu…(in order to ...), gut gelaufen (something went well), wehen (to blow – wind blows), es hat Spaß gemacht (it was fun)
• demonstrate a sustained ability to use formal pronouns if they chose to address the neighbour formally (Q16)
• plan their response in advance so that it was written in paragraphs or an order that is logical and easy to follow
• start and end their responses with phrases that are appropriate to the text type
• use a tense that is appropriate to the telling of the chosen narrative
• demonstrate an ability to use a range of grammatical structures, including more complex grammar such as:
  • verb-subject inversion
  • perfect and imperfect tense, future tense, conditional mood
  • subordinate clauses
  • prepositions with cases.

Areas for students to improve include:

• ensuring the capitalisation of German nouns
• avoiding English syntax
• using dictionaries carefully. If there is more than one way to translate a word, aim to choose the right translation. For example, flach = (flat/not raised) or (apartment)
• writing approximately the number of words required
• matching the verb conjugation to the pronoun used.