Mediating a cross-border project proposal
A fictional German school report proposes a joint Dutch-language reading workshop with a partner group near the border. Some participants prefer a weekend event, while others need an online alternative because travel is difficult. The source also contains an unrelated advertisement. The task asks for a short Dutch message explaining the proposal and requesting preferences. A draft translates the advertisement, claims that everyone has agreed and invents a promise to cover travel costs. Another draft offers a generic slogan about friendship. Neither meets the recipient’s information need. No actual school, funding rule or official task length is supplied. The learner must preserve the proposed status, unresolved alternatives and relevant reason while choosing a respectful register suitable for the group rather than pretending the arrangement is already settled.
1. What should be retained or removed?
Read the worked answer
Keep the workshop proposal, weekend preference and online alternative linked to travel constraints. Remove irrelevant advertising, invented agreement and unsupported funding promises.
2. Give a suitable Dutch core message.
Read the worked answer
“We stellen een gezamenlijke leesworkshop voor. Sommige deelnemers komen liever in het weekend, terwijl anderen vanwege de reis een online mogelijkheid nodig hebben. Laat weten welke optie voor jullie geschikt is”. It asks rather than invents consensus.