Bilinguale Kompetenz Englisch: Fachterminologie, Sprachmittlung, fachsprachliche Produktion
This domain tests whether you can work in English at Abitur level on political and economic content: reading an English source accurately, producing structured analysis in English and mediating a German text so that an English-speaking reader understands it.
Terminological precision
Fixed renderings help: Rechtsstaat = constitutional state/rule of law; Sozialstaat = welfare state; soziale Marktwirtschaft = social market economy; Grundgesetz = Basic Law; Bundesrat = Federal Council (the Länder chamber); Verhältniswahl = proportional representation; Überhangmandate = overhang seats; Schuldenbremse = debt brake; Tarifautonomie = collective bargaining autonomy; Konjunktur = economic cycle or activity (never "conjuncture"); Strukturpolitik = structural policy; Sozialversicherung = statutory social insurance; Rente = state pension; Bürgergeld = citizen's income/basic income support. Give the German term in brackets at first mention.
Sprachmittlung
Mediate sense, register and function, not word order. Compress institutional detail into a short gloss rather than a paragraph. Keep the original's level of certainty: "dürfte" = "is likely to", not "will". Never add facts that are not in the text, and never smuggle in your own evaluation.
Producing English
Use signposting (firstly, by contrast, on balance), precise verbs (argue, allege, entail, imply, undermine) and hedged evaluation (arguably, the evidence suggests, this is only partly convincing). Avoid false friends: aktuell ≠ actual (current); eventuell ≠ eventually (possibly); Kontrolle often = scrutiny or check; Rente ≠ rent; Billion = trillion; Milliarde = billion.
Worked example
German: "Die Schuldenbremse soll Investitionen ermöglichen, ohne die Tragfähigkeit der öffentlichen Finanzen zu gefährden." Rendering: "The debt brake is intended to enable investment without jeopardising the sustainability of public finances." Reasoning: "soll" marks intent (is intended to), "Tragfähigkeit" means sustainability/solvency rather than "carrying capacity", and "debt brake" is the established term; a gloss such as "(the constitutional limit on net borrowing)" helps a reader unfamiliar with German institutions.
Traps
Word-for-word renderings that break English idiom; translating Bundesrat as "Federal Council" with no explanation; using "actual" for aktuell; losing the billion/Billion distinction; writing colloquial English where formal register is expected; inserting commentary inside a mediation task.