Two Minutes with a Twenty-Four-Year-Old
Anna's Level 2 German interaction lasts about two minutes. Her teacher plays Herr Klose, a 24-year-old former student of the school who is doing a practicum there before starting university. He opens with: 'Hi Anna! Ich bin der Jonas - sag einfach Jonas zu mir. Du bist doch die Austauschschülerin, oder? Wie war denn dein Wochenende?' Anna has rehearsed Sie-forms throughout, because her practice partner at home was a retired teacher. Her task card requires her to (1) ask two questions, (2) give and support one opinion, (3) use the past tense at least once, and (4) keep the exchange going for the full two minutes. Her vocabulary list offers 'am Wochenende', 'wandern', 'müde' and 'meiner Meinung nach'. At one point Jonas says he is looking forward to his 'Feierabend' - a word Anna has never met. The interaction is recorded and marked mainly on communication and interaction, not on accuracy alone.
1. Should Anna use du or Sie with Jonas? Justify the choice and explain the risk of getting it wrong in each direction.
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Choice: du.
Reasoning, in order of weight:
- Explicit invitation. 'Sag einfach Jonas zu mir' is an offer of du. In German the offer is decisive: accepting it is normal and polite; refusing it creates distance the other person did not ask for.
- Age and role. At 24 he is close to her age group, he is on practicum rather than a qualified teacher, and he opened with 'Hi Anna'. A student would use Sie with the principal and du with a young practicum student.
- Setting. An informal one-to-one conversation, recorded for a speaking task, rewards natural register.
Risks:
- Using Sie here is not a grammar error, but it makes the exchange stiff, undercuts requirement (4), and signals she did not understand the offer.
- The real error is mixing: 'Können Sie mir sagen, was du am Wochenende gemacht hast?' A single sentence containing both forms is what markers penalise.
Rule to carry into the exam: default to Sie with unknown adults, then switch the moment du is offered - and switch completely, including possessives ('dein', 'dir', 'dich'), not just the verb.
2. Jonas says he is looking forward to his 'Feierabend'. Anna does not know the word. What should she do, and what should she avoid? Give model German she could use.
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What to do: stay in German, flag the gap, check meaning. Asking is a legitimate interaction strategy and is credited; silence, nodding, or switching to English is not.
Model German:
- 'Feierabend? Das Wort kenne ich nicht - was heißt das genau?'
- or a check-and-confirm paraphrase: 'Ach, du freust dich, dass du bald mit der Arbeit fertig bist?'
Reasoning:
- A direct request for meaning keeps the turn, keeps the language German, and shows the examiner she can manage a breakdown - one of the things the interaction standard is looking for.
- A paraphrase check is even stronger, because it tests a hypothesis rather than asking for a translation. Here the compound is guessable: 'Feier' + 'Abend' = the end of the working day, knocking off.
- After the answer she must return to her own task - asking two questions and giving an opinion - not just say 'okay' and stop.
Avoid: switching to English ('what does Feierabend mean?'), apologising repeatedly, or guessing and answering as if he had said 'evening'. Also avoid sitting silent for more than a second or two; a short filler like 'Moment, wie sagt man...' keeps the floor while she thinks.
3. Anna has covered two of her four requirements at 1:20. How should she use the remaining time to satisfy the task, and how do her answers need to be shaped?
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Plan for the last 40 seconds: answer + reason + return question, twice.
Model shape: 'Am Wochenende bin ich mit meiner Gastfamilie gewandert - das war echt anstrengend, aber die Aussicht war super. Und du, was machst du denn am Wochenende?'
Reasoning:
- Tenses are cheap marks. A Perfekt sentence ('bin ... gewandert') ticks requirement (3) in about eight words. She should not save it for a grand story.
- A return question ('Und du?') ticks one of the two question marks and keeps the exchange alive, so it does double duty under time pressure.
- An opinion with a reason ticks requirement (2): 'Meiner Meinung nach ist Wandern besser als Shopping, weil man dabei an die frische Luft kommt.' One 'weil' clause is enough - it shows she can support a view rather than list adjectives.
Judgement being tested: the task card is a checklist, not a script. Candidates who rehearse a monologue and then run out of time lose marks for requirements they could have met in a single sentence. Budget roughly 30 seconds per requirement and monitor the clock at the halfway point.