German Beginners 2024 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 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:

• use a wide range of language accurately and authentically
• provide clear responses to questions with minimal hesitation
• provide relevant answers to unexpected questions rather than giving a rehearsed answer. They were able to elaborate when asked warum? (why)
• respond appropriately with correct pronunciation and intonation, including for English cognates, such as Religion, Biologie, Familie, Instrument (religion, biology, family, instrument)
• use correct tenses in line with the intent of the question. For example: Was machst du normalerweise am Wochenende? (What do you normally do on the weekend?) Or Was hast du am letzten Wochenende gemacht? (What did you do on the weekend?) Or Was machst du nach dieser Prüfung? (What are you doing after this exam?)  
• develop ideas by using connectives, adverbs of frequency and contrasting connectors, for example, normalerweise (normally) meistens (mostly), nie (never) nicht nur … sondern auch (not only but also) weder … noch ... (neither … nor …)
• give opinions and comments using subordinating conjunctions such as weil, obwohl, wenn (because, although, if/whenever)
• elaborate using co-ordinating conjunction denn (because)
• occasionally vary their sentence structure by starting with an expression of time or place rather than a subject. For example, normalerweise spiele ich Kricket (normally I play cricket) … In Belgien habe ich … (in Belgium I have ...)
• use a variety of pronouns and verb conjugations. For example, meine Mutter reitet gern (my mother likes to ride) … mein Freund spielt Fußball (my friend plays football) … wir wohnen (we live) ….
• make the most of all questions by elaborating their answer, even if the question is limited. For example, if asked if to compare X and Y, better responses also explained their preference. For example, Ich spiele Klavier lieber als Gitarre, weil … (I prefer to play the piano, rather than the guitar, because …)
• use present perfect tense correctly with both auxiliary verbs haben and sein (to have and to be)
• demonstrate knowledge of the correct past participle of the verb
• include interesting cultural references. For example, ich will den Nürburgring besuchen (I want to visit the …)
• ask for a question to be repeated in German. For example: Können Sie die Frage wiederholen? (Can you repeat the question?)
• demonstrate a good understanding of various grammatical points including case endings, adjectival endings and use of modal verbs. For example: mit meiner Mutter (with my mother) mein Vater kann gut kochen (my father can cook well).

Areas for students to improve include:

• preparing sentences to answer simple questions such as Was sind deine Schulfächer? (what are your school subjects?)
• learning the words for all subjects in German
• avoiding using ja/nein (yes/no) as a complete response
• refraining from repeating 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 in them
• ensuring neither the past participle nor the auxiliary verb get lost in perfect tense sentences
• aiming to vary syntax when starting a sentence with a phrase other than a subject
• listening carefully to key words in the question. For example, Beschreibe deinen Wohnort (describe your suburb)
• expressing that something is ‘fun’ appropriately. For example, Es macht Spaß (it is fun) rather than Es ist Spaß, as this is not a correct phrase
• 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 the family. Consider describing one person’s physical appearance, another person’s characteristics and another person’s likes or dislikes
• 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
• transcribe their response onto the lines, using the space provided for each question
• use the lines provided as a guide to the length of the response required
• ensure that 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:

• provide all the necessary textual evidence to support their response
• interpret and analyse texts and avoid translation
• capture a range of details in their answers so that full marks can be attributed. For example, (Q5) Tim was annoyed for several reasons, including that he had to pay for his accommodation. (Q7) Isabel is a good candidate for a number of reasons, including that she is knowledgeable about the care of animals
• sustain their concentration in longer and more complex texts which involve parallel descriptions that need to be brought together to justify an answer (Q8) or involved reasons and counter reasons for studying overseas (Q10)
• use cues in the questions such as identifying a change in opinions and then expressing that change clearly (Q10).

Areas for students to improve include:

• knowing dates as students frequently struggled with the ordinal number (thirteenth) and sometimes month (December)
• thinking carefully about the words they are hearing. For example, der Fuβboden (floor, not Fuβball), das Gymnasium (high school, not gymnasium or gym) or unordentlich (untidy, not disorganised)
• learning key vocabulary. For example, the difference between morgen (tomorrow) and am Morgen (in the morning) which can impact understanding of a sequence of events (Q6)
• providing an interpretation if the question asks for one
• giving themselves the time to write each word so that it is clearly expressed.

Students should:

• read the whole text(s)
• address all parts of each question
• use the lines, table, chart provided for their response
• respond fully to the question by including details as required
• support their responses with evidence from the text where required
• use their own words rather than giving a literal translation
• use the dictionary appropriately to find the correct meaning of the word(s) in context.

In better responses, students were able to:

• summarise effectively (Q13). Students summarised the advantages of the new development into three single sentences, rather than writing the details of the various advantages. They did not add extra lines of text or provide examples
• understand texts cohesively. This meant that they knew which sections of text fit into which part of a question
• use all clues and relevant information to determine what could be the most suitable adjectives to describe Johanna (Q12b)
• write clear sentences that make sense in English.

Areas for students to improve include:

• checking that concepts covered in one part of a question are not repeated in another part of the question. This was particularly the case in (Q14c,d) and (Q15b,c)
• identifying the key requirement of the question. For example:
  • account for the parents’ feelings means that the answer must relate to the events as they impacted on the parents (Q12a)
  • summarise unlike other responses, this response needs to be brief (Q13)
  • identify the purpose. Decide why Clara has written to Johann (Q15).
• using clues from the questions where possible to help with understanding texts. For example, italicsin (Q15b) suggest that Reisezauber is a name
• giving themselves enough time to write each word so that it is clearly expressed
• pacing themselves so that they have sufficient time for more complex texts if possible.

Students should:

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

In better responses, students were able to:

• incorporate a range of language structures into (Q16, Q17)
• demonstrate their knowledge of German spelling by capitalising nouns and using Umlauts appropriately
• use the verb beibringen (to teach) well. Students effectively used this verb in (Q18)
• differentiate between the verb helfen (to help) and die Hilfe (help) which was used frequently in (Q16)
• use interesting vocabulary such as Kohlensäurehaltiges Getränk/farbenfrohe Kleider
• use interesting phrases they know appropriately or use their dictionary effectively to look them up. For example, in encouraging readers to give it a go – Versuchen Sie es mal! (give it a try!)
• express positive relationships sie sind mir gegenüber freundlich gewesen (they were friendly towards me)
• write to the text type. In (Q18, Q19) they included a heading for their article, and they addressed the readers
• write creative and interesting content
• use complex grammar such as subordinating conjunctions, separable and reflexive verbs with a degree of accuracy.

Areas for students to improve include:

• spelling correctly. In particular applying Umlauts correctly and writing ei/ie appropriately
• differentiating between words with similar spelling die Küche/der Kuchen (kitchen/cake)
• using German expressions appropriately. For example, Freunde kennenlernen rather than machen (get to know people or make friends) or Spaß machen (to be fun) rather than sein
• using dictionaries effectively when looking up words. For example, to ‘host a party’ and the be a ‘host’ cannot be used interchangeably. Students should think carefully if they need the verb or the noun, if applicable. Similarly die Hilfe (the help – the noun) and helfen (the verb) which was often but not always done well
• avoiding English syntax and keeping in mind as much as possible to rules around German verbs and their order in a sentence
• remembering to match the form of the verb to the pronoun or person/thing doing the action of the verb
• using the conditional mood appropriately (if using), and avoiding confusion with imperfect tense with modal verbs
• leaving sufficient time to write clearly and to the required word count.