The Voicemail with Two Corrections
Lena, a Year 12 student from Hamilton, is six weeks into an exchange in Kassel. In the Listening section she hears a voicemail from her host mother, Frau Brandt, played twice with a 30-second pause between playings. Frau Brandt speaks quickly, in a mild North Hessian accent. The relevant part runs roughly: 'Wir treffen uns um Viertel vor acht am Bahnhof, damit wir noch in Ruhe einen Kaffee trinken können - der Zug nach Göttingen fährt nämlich erst um Viertel nach acht. Und denk dran: Gleis drei, nicht Gleis fünf, die haben das kurzfristig geändert. Ach ja, die Fahrkarte - ich hatte sie in die Küchenschublade gelegt, aber nein, warte, ich habe sie doch in deine Jackentasche gesteckt. Zieh bitte die blaue Jacke an, es soll schütten. Mach dir keine Sorgen, das klappt schon.'
Lena must complete a short note in English giving the meeting time, the departure time, the platform, where the ticket is and one item to take. Each item is worth one mark and there is no partial credit within an item.
1. What time must Lena be at the station, and what time does the Göttingen train actually leave? Explain how the two times are signalled, and describe the mistake a weaker candidate typically makes.
Read the worked answer
Answer: at the station by 7:45; the train leaves at 8:15.
Reasoning chain:
- 'Viertel vor acht' = a quarter before eight = 7:45. 'Viertel nach acht' would be 8:15 - the preposition is the whole mark here, so decode it before writing anything.
- The two times are not interchangeable because of the connector 'damit' ('so that we can still have a coffee in peace'). A purpose clause tells you the meeting time must be earlier than the departure; otherwise the purpose is impossible.
- 'nämlich' then introduces the explanation for the early meet-up and confirms 8:15 as the train time.
Typical weak answer: writing 8:15 for both, or 7:45 for the departure. That happens when a candidate hears one time, recognises it, and stops listening for the second. The audio deliberately gives two numbers close together, so the judgement being tested is which number answers which question - not whether you can decode 'Viertel vor'. Note also that a 30-minute buffer is the kind of practical detail NCEA listening items like to check.
2. Which platform should Lena go to, and where is the ticket? Explain how the recording signals that the first answer was wrong.
Read the worked answer
Answer: platform 3; the ticket is in her jacket pocket (the blue jacket).
Reasoning chain:
- 'Gleis drei, nicht Gleis fünf' - the negated item is the wrong value, the value before it is correct. German news and announcements routinely state the correct item first and then close off the alternative. If you hear only 'fünf', you have heard the half of the sentence that is explicitly cancelled.
- For the ticket the correction is signposted twice: 'ich hatte ... gelegt' (pluperfect - what was true earlier) followed by 'aber nein, warte' and then 'ich habe sie doch ... gesteckt'. 'Nein, warte' is a self-repair marker; 'doch' here signals that the earlier statement is being overridden.
- Rule to apply under exam pressure: the last stated version wins unless the speaker signals uncertainty about it.
Why it matters: 'Küchenschublade' was genuinely said, so a candidate who stops at the first mention produces a plausible but wrong answer. Marks here are lost to listening habits, not to vocabulary.
3. What does 'Mach dir keine Sorgen, das klappt schon' tell you about Frau Brandt's attitude, and why is a word-for-word translation dangerous?
Read the worked answer
Attitude: reassurance with confidence and a touch of casual warmth - she expects things to work out and does not want Lena to worry.
Reasoning:
- 'Mach dir keine Sorgen' is the standard idiomatic instruction 'don't worry' (literally 'make yourself no worries'), addressed with 'dir', which confirms the informal du relationship.
- 'klappen' means 'to work out / go to plan'. Literal renderings ('it already clicks', 'it flaps') produce nonsense, and a candidate who writes 'she tells Lena to clap' has understood the words but not the meaning.
- 'schon' is a modal particle, not the adverb 'already'. Here it adds reassurance ('it'll be fine'). Modal particles carry tone rather than information, which is exactly why listening items ask about attitude rather than translation.
Exam judgement: questions about attitude usually need an adjective plus evidence. 'She is reassuring' alone is thin; 'she is reassuring - she tells Lena not to worry and says it will work out' is what earns the mark.