Exchange Briefing: When the Audio Corrects Itself
At Ongwediva Junior Secondary School, 24 learners attend a compulsory briefing about a two-week exchange to Bremen. The audio is a 95-second announcement by Frau Weber, the German partner-school coordinator. It is played twice with a 30-second pause. The candidate's notes read: 'Abfahrt 14. März, 7:15, Flughafen Hosea Kutako, Anzahlung N$1 200 bis 28. Februar, Gesamtkosten N$8 500, Pass gültig 6 Monate.' During the second playing, the candidate hears: 'Wir treffen uns um Viertel vor sieben - nein, Entschuldigung, ich muss das korrigieren: um sechs Uhr fünfundvierzig.' Later: 'Die Anzahlung von 1 200 Namibia-Dollar muss bis zum 28. Februar auf dem Schulkonto sein; danach wird der Platz an die Warteliste weitergegeben.' The candidate writes 7:15 for departure and is unsure whether the deposit deadline is 28 February or 1 March, because the speaker also says 'Anfang März verschicken wir die endgültigen Formulare.' The listening question asks for the meeting time and the last day for the deposit. The candidate must decide what the question is actually testing.
1. Which departure time should the candidate write, and why? Refer to the correction signal in the audio.
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The answer is 6:45, not 7:15. The audio contains a self-correction: Wir treffen uns um Viertel vor sieben - nein, Entschuldigung, ich muss das korrigieren: um sechs Uhr fünfundvierzig. Two clues matter. First, Viertel vor sieben already means 6:45, so the candidate's 7:15 is a mishearing of Viertel nach sieben. Second, the speaker explicitly flags the change with nein, Entschuldigung and ich muss das korrigieren; the final version after a correction is the one the question tests. In a listening exam, do not write the first number you hear. Note the time next to the action (Treffpunkt) and check it against the second playing.
2. Is 28 February or 1 March the deadline? Explain how 'Anfang März' functions in the audio.
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The deadline is 28 February. The relevant sentence is Die Anzahlung ... muss bis zum 28. Februar ... sein; bis zum marks the last day. Anfang März belongs to a different action: Anfang März verschicken wir die endgültigen Formulare. It is a near-date distractor, not the deposit deadline. The judgement call is to match each date to its verb/action: deposit → 28 February; forms sent → early March. If the question asks for the last day for the deposit, 1 March is wrong even though it is close. A useful habit is to note dates as 28.2. Anzahlung and Anf. März Formulare, so the purpose is visible.
3. Name one listening strategy and one note-taking habit that would prevent both errors.
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Strategy: listen for correction markers (nein, Entschuldigung, ich muss das korrigieren, also) and treat the repaired information as final. Habit: write the action beside every number/date, not just the number (6:45 Treffpunkt, 28.2. Anzahlung). This prevents 7:15 from surviving as an unlabelled time and stops Anfang März from being attached to the wrong noun. Also leave a small margin so you can cross out and replace a note during the second playing; exam audio often corrects itself, and neat but wrong notes are still wrong.