Reading: Extracting Meaning from German Texts
The Leaving Certificate German reading section tests comprehension of written German across different text types: newspaper and magazine articles, letters and emails, advertisements, notices, blogs and short literary extracts. Questions probe global understanding, specific detail, inference and the writer's attitude. The rubric tells you whether to answer in English or German; follow it exactly.
How to read efficiently
- Skim first. Read the title, first and last sentences of paragraphs, and any headings to establish topic, text type and register.
- Scan for the question's keyword, then read the whole sentence. German word order can place the key information late: Weil die Preise gestiegen sind, kaufen viele Kunden online.
- Use grammar as a clue. Separable verbs (aufstehen, anbieten), subordinate clauses and connectors (obwohl, deshalb, trotzdem, außerdem) signal contrast, cause and addition.
- Break compounds. Wohnungsmarkt = Wohnung + Markt; Umweltverschmutzung = Umwelt + Verschmutzung.
Worked example
Text: „Obwohl die Karten ziemlich teuer waren, war das Konzert schon Wochen vorher ausverkauft.“ Question: What does the text say about the concert? Reasoning: obwohl introduces a contrast: tickets were expensive, yet the concert was sold out weeks in advance. ausverkauft means “sold out”, not “sold”. A good answer: “It sold out weeks early despite high ticket prices.” An answer saying “Tickets were cheap” contradicts teuer.
Traps that cost marks
- Matching a single word from the text without checking the sentence's logic.
- Missing negation and limiting words: nur, erst, schon, kaum, nicht mehr.
- Confusing also (“therefore”) with English “also”; Gift means “poison”; bekommen means “receive”.
- Copying a long quotation instead of answering the question.
- Ignoring the required answer language or exceeding the line limit.