Role-Play Phone Call: Repairing Premature 'du'
In an 8-minute NSSCO German oral exam, a Namibian candidate has 5 minutes' preparation for a role-play. The candidate plays a learner from Windhoek calling Frau Krüger, a host mother in Hamburg. The task card requires: introduce yourself; say you arrive at 18:40 at Hamburg Hauptbahnhof; ask whether to take the S-Bahn or the bus; explain that one suitcase has not arrived; ask for advice. The candidate begins: 'Hallo Frau Krüger, ich bin der Tomas. Kann ich du sagen?' and continues with 'du' throughout: 'Kannst du mir sagen, wo die Haltestelle ist?' The examiner, as Frau Krüger, replies coolly: 'Entschuldigung, wir kennen uns noch nicht.' The candidate has 6 minutes left and still has to mention the lost suitcase. The examiner then interrupts with 'Isst du kein Fleisch?' The candidate must manage register, repair the relationship, cover every content point, and keep the exchange natural. The marking grid rewards communicative success and sociolinguistic appropriateness, not just correct grammar.
1. What is the register problem in the opening, and how should the candidate repair it without losing fluency?
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The problem is premature du. Frau Krüger is an unknown adult host mother in a formal exam role-play; the default is Sie until she offers du. Hallo Frau Krüger, ich bin der ... kann ich du sagen? is not automatically rude, but it asks for intimacy before any introduction and then continues with du, so it sounds presumptuous. A repair should be brief and strategic: Entschuldigen Sie bitte, ich habe Sie geduzt, obwohl wir uns noch nicht kennen. Ich möchte Sie natürlich siezen. Then continue with Sie: Können Sie mir bitte sagen, ...? Do not spend 30 seconds apologising; the examiner is testing sociolinguistic repair and task completion. If she later says Wir können du sagen, switch once and stay consistent.
2. The examiner interrupts with 'Isst du kein Fleisch?' while the candidate still has to report the lost suitcase. What should the candidate do?
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Answer the interruption briefly, then bridge back to the unfinished content point. For example: Doch, ich esse Fleisch, aber kein Schweinefleisch. Entschuldigung, ich wollte noch etwas Wichtiges sagen: Ein Koffer ist nicht angekommen. This shows interactional competence: you can handle a follow-up question without abandoning your task. The lost suitcase is a required content point, so it cannot be dropped. Use a transition phrase (Entschuldigung, ich wollte noch sagen, Übrigens, Noch eine Frage) to signal the return. If the examiner's question is ambiguous, a short clarification (Meinen Sie, ob ich Fleisch esse?) is better than guessing. Markers reward both communicative success and management of the exchange, not just grammatical accuracy.
3. How should the candidate ask about S-Bahn vs bus so that the question is clear and polite?
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A clear polite question is: Entschuldigen Sie, soll ich vom Hauptbahnhof mit der S-Bahn oder mit dem Bus zu Ihnen kommen? It names the station (Hauptbahnhof), offers the two options, and uses soll for advice. Mit der S-Bahn and mit dem Bus are the correct collocations. Avoid the vague Wie komme ich? because it does not force a choice, and avoid Kann ich S-Bahn nehmen? because it sounds like permission rather than asking for a recommendation. If the candidate wants to be more formal: Was würden Sie empfehlen: S-Bahn oder Bus? The judgement call is to keep the question short enough for the role-play but explicit enough that the examiner can answer with a route.