Sprechen / Speaking: Mündliche Prüfung und Präsentationsprüfung
Speaking is examined twice in the LK: in the mündliche Prüfung of the fourth component (20 minutes, with 20 minutes preparation) and in the Präsentationsprüfung of the fifth component, where a longer presentation is followed by a colloquium. Both use a stimulus - a short text, cartoon, statistic or quotation - and both grade subject knowledge, structure, interaction and language (range, accuracy, pronunciation) against separate descriptors.
The monologue in four moves
- Frame in about 30 seconds: topic, why it matters, your question or thesis.
- Two or three points, each built as claim, evidence or example, link back to the question.
- A counter-perspective, then your weighing of it.
- Close by answering the question you set - explicitly.
Signpost aloud: Let me start with ...; What matters more here is ...; That said, ...; To come back to your point ...
Interaction is a separate skill
In the colloquium the examiners probe whether you can defend, qualify and revise. Use uptake (You mentioned X - that is where I would push back), ask for clarification when needed, and paraphrase instead of switching to German: the body that decides on ..., the money that is set aside for ...
Worked example
Stimulus (original): Social media has made young people more political, not less. Model opening: The claim is half right, and the half it gets wrong matters. Reach has grown - a hashtag can fill a square within a week - but reach is not influence on policy. Reasoning: the answer states a qualified thesis in two sentences, then defines its key term (reach versus influence). That conceptual move separates a good from a very good performance; a memorised monologue on the pros and cons of social media would not survive the first follow-up question.
Traps that cost marks
- A recited essay that collapses when the examiner interrupts.
- Repeating the monologue instead of answering the follow-up.
- Abstraction without a single example or figure.
- Reading from notes, no eye contact, flat intonation.
- One-word answers; always answer with a reason.
- German when a word is missing, instead of a paraphrase.