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DE POST: Language and communication skills (German/English)

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Language and communication skills (German/English)

Domain 7 - Language and communication skills (German/English)

Grammar, register and vocabulary in a postal and service context, plus short writing tasks: an email, a reply to a complaint, a note on a delivery record. Both languages are tested, and the German items assume the formal register throughout.

Core rules and concepts

  • Default to "Sie" with customers. "Könnten Sie …", "Würden Sie …", "Ich würde Sie bitten, …" carry politeness the imperative lacks.
  • German compound nouns take the gender of the last element: das Paket + die Station = die Packstation; der Brief + das Zentrum = das Briefzentrum.
  • Case after prepositions matters in standard phrases: in der Filiale (dative, location), an die Filiale (accusative, direction), wegen des Wetters (genitive).
  • Email skeleton: salutation with surname and comma, lower-case first word of the next line, one clear request, a deadline, closing formula with name.
  • English business tone: "I am writing to enquire about …", "Could you please confirm …", "I look forward to your reply."
  • False friends: also = so/therefore (not "also"), aktuell = current, bekommen = to receive, Gift = poison.

Worked example

Informal: "Hey, schick mal die Sendungsnummer."

Rewrite: "Guten Tag Frau Weber, könnten Sie mir bitte die Sendungsnummer mitteilen? Ich benötige sie, um den Status der Sendung zu prüfen. Vielen Dank im Voraus. Mit freundlichen Grüßen, M. Yilmaz."

Reasoning: salutation with surname, consistent Sie-form, Konjunktiv II ("könnten") plus "bitte" for politeness, the reason in a second sentence, a fixed closing formula. The request itself is unchanged - only the register moves.

Traps that cost marks

  • Correct vocabulary in the wrong register: "Schick mir …" is grammatical but fails the task.
  • Word-for-word translation, e.g. "Ich bin einverstanden mit dir" where "I agree with you" needs "Ich stimme Ihnen zu".
  • German noun capitalisation, and lower case after the comma in a salutation.
  • Answering the content but omitting salutation or closing formula.
  • Mixing "du" and "Sie" within one message.