Valencian Community PAU German II common mistakes
Valencian Community PAU German II · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Answering the Leseverstehen true/false or multiple-choice items with the candidate's own general knowledge or opinion about the topic instead of locating the sentence in the text that decides the item, so answers like 'that seems logical' replace textual evidence.
The PAU reading texts are short and thematically familiar (Umwelt, soziale Medien, Studium), so candidates skim once, feel they understood the gist, and then answer from memory of the topic rather than from the specific paragraph; time pressure reinforces this shortcut.
What to do instead
Train a two-pass routine: first read for gist, then for each item underline the exact line in the text that justifies the choice and write the line number next to the option. If no line can be underlined, the option is wrong. Practise with items whose correct answer contradicts common sense or the candidate's opinion, so the habit of trusting the text is forced.
Treating 'richtig/falsch' items as paraphrase-matching and marking a statement false whenever the wording differs from the text, even though the meaning is equivalent (e.g. text 'viele Jugendliche' vs. item 'ein großer Teil der Jugendlichen').
Candidates equate lexical identity with semantic identity and have a thin repertoire of synonym pairs, so any rewording looks like a contradiction; they also over-apply the rule 'if it is not literally there, it is false'.
What to do instead
Build synonym/antonym lists per PAU topic (Zunahme/Anstieg/wachsen, Verbot/untersagt, häufig/verbreitet) and do exercises where the same statement is expressed three ways, deciding each time whether the meaning is preserved. Explicitly teach the distinction between 'not stated' and 'contradicted'.
In the Schreiben task the candidate writes a text that ignores the required genre and register conventions (e.g. an informal e-mail to a friend opening with 'Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren' and closing with 'Mit freundlichen Grüßen', or a formal complaint written in du-form with slang).
The prompt usually gives bullet points of content, and candidates focus entirely on covering them, treating the genre label and the addressee as decoration; many have never been taught the German du/Sie conventions and the fixed formulaic frames for Brief, E-Mail and Forumsbeitrag.
What to do instead
Memorise and drill two frame sets (informal: Hallo/Liebe(r) …, Bis bald, Liebe Grüße; formal: Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren, Mit freundlichen Grüßen) and before writing, note on the draft: addressee, relationship, genre, register. Practise rewriting the same content twice, once formal and once informal, and check pronoun choice (du/ihr vs. Sie) throughout.
Producing a Schreiben text that covers the content points but has no connectors or paragraph structure - short sentences chained with 'und', 'aber', 'dann' - so coherence and range descriptors stay low even though the grammar is largely correct.
Under time pressure candidates write whatever comes to mind in the order it comes, and their active connector repertoire is limited to the first words learned; they do not plan a structure before writing.
What to do instead
Spend three minutes planning: one line per bullet point plus a chosen connector for each link. Learn a graded connector set (weil, obwohl, deshalb, außerdem, trotzdem, einerseits/andererseits, zum Beispiel, zusammenfassend) and practise inserting them into model answers. Write one text per week with a self-check column listing connectors used.
In Grammatik und Wortschatz transformation or gap-fill items, the candidate supplies the right word but the wrong form - wrong case after a preposition, wrong verb position in a subordinate clause, missing umlaut or ending - and loses the mark.
The exercises test form, not meaning, but candidates read the gap, find a semantically fitting word, and move on without checking government (Kasus), conjugation, or word order; German's case and verb-final rules are not automatised.
What to do instead
Adopt a fixed post-insertion checklist for every gap: (1) what governs this slot (preposition, verb, adjective)? (2) which case? (3) agreement in number/gender/person? (4) in a subordinate clause, is the finite verb last? Apply it to ten items daily and mark which check caught the error, so the checklist becomes automatic.
Mixing up the tense and mood forms that the PAU grammar section targets - Präteritum vs. Perfekt in written narrative, Konjunktiv II for hypotheses and polite requests, and passive voice - producing forms like 'wenn ich hätte Zeit' or 'ich habe gestern nach Berlin gefahren' inside a formal written text.
These forms are taught late and practised little; candidates translate from Spanish/Catalan tense logic and from spoken German they hear, where Perfekt dominates and Konjunktiv II is rare.
What to do instead
Drill the three paradigms as fixed patterns with high-frequency verbs (haben, sein, werden, können, müssen): 'Wenn ich Zeit hätte, würde ich …', 'Das Haus wurde 1900 gebaut', 'Er ist nach Berlin gefahren'. Write ten sentences per pattern in a written register and check tense consistency across a whole paragraph, not sentence by sentence.
In the Hörverstehen the candidate tries to transcribe or translate every word while listening, misses the next item, and then answers from a single overheard keyword rather than from the completed utterance.
School listening is often done with the transcript visible, so candidates never train real-time processing; anxiety about unknown words makes them cling to the last understood item.
What to do instead
Practise keyword prediction before each listening: read the items, predict likely vocabulary and the type of answer (number, place, reason). Listen once for gist with the items covered, then again answering. Never write during the first listening beyond a symbol. Use audio at natural speed with distractors where the keyword appears but the answer is negated ('nicht am Montag, sondern …').
In mediation (Sprachmittlung) the candidate translates word-for-word between German and Spanish/Catalan, keeps German syntax in the target language, or transfers cultural references literally (e.g. 'Gymnasium' as 'gimnasio', 'Abitur' as 'el bachillerato' without explanation), instead of mediating the message for the new reader.
The task is often misread as a translation exercise; candidates lack the contrastive knowledge of the two school and administrative systems and default to cognates.
What to do instead
Practise the mediation brief explicitly: identify reader, purpose, and which information must survive. Rewrite in the target language using its own conventions, and learn a short list of false friends and system terms (Gymnasium, Abitur, Ausbildung, Praktikum, Semester) with a functional gloss. Compare a literal version with a mediated version and justify the changes.
When asked to reflect on language (Reflexion über Sprache), the candidate describes what a form means but cannot name or explain the rule, or gives a rule that is wrong (e.g. 'Perfekt is for the past, Präteritum is for the future', or claiming German has no fixed word order).
Grammar has been learned implicitly through exercises without metalanguage, so candidates can sometimes use a form but cannot explain it; Spanish/Catalan metalanguage is also transferred incorrectly.
What to do instead
Keep a personal rule sheet in the candidate's own words with one example per rule, covering: verb-second in main clauses, verb-final in subordinate clauses, case government of the top prepositions and verbs, Perfekt/Präteritum distribution, Konjunktiv II functions. Practise explaining a form to a partner in two sentences, then check against the sheet.
In the sociocultural items the candidate falls back on stereotypes or on Spanish/Catalan equivalents - assuming German university is free and identical everywhere, that all German-speaking countries use the same school system, or confusing Austria/Switzerland with Germany on institutions, holidays and administrative terms.
Cultural knowledge is tested as factual detail (school systems, Feiertage, Ausbildung/duale Ausbildung, Mülltrennung, Pfand) but is rarely taught systematically; candidates generalise from one text or from films.
What to do instead
Build a one-page fact sheet per country (Deutschland, Österreich, die Schweiz) on: school leaving certificates, university access, apprenticeship system, main public holidays, federal structure, and a few everyday conventions (Pfand, Mülltrennung, Siezen/Duzen). Verify each fact against a reliable source and attach the source, then test yourself with comparison questions ('Wie unterscheidet sich … in … und …?').