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Home > German > Beginners Course > How to approach the exam > The Oral Examination > Oral Examination

How to approach the exam: The oral examination

1. Examination specifications
2. Preparing for the examination
3. During the examination
4. Related Board of Studies websites

1. Examination specifications

The new German Beginners syllabus was examined for the first time in 2008.

The oral examination will take approximately five minutes and is worth 20 marks.

The oral examination assesses your knowledge and skills in interacting in German. It relates to Objective 1 – Interacting, and the following outcomes, where you:

1.1 establish and maintain communication in German
1.2 manipulate linguistic structures to express ideas effectively in German
1.3 sequence ideas and information

The oral examination is held on a date in Term 3, earlier than the HSC written examinations. The Board of Studies publishes a Languages Oral Examinations Timetable each year at (http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/events/ . You should be familiar with the practical advice supplied with the timetable. You will be advised of the examination date, time and venue at least three weeks prior to the examination. Make sure that your school and the Board of Studies have your correct contact details.

The examination will consist of a general, unrehearsed conversation between you and an examiner. In the conversation, you and the examiner will discuss your personal world, as it relates to the prescribed topics in the syllabus.

You are not permitted to use dictionaries or refer to written notes during the oral examination.

Other useful and related documents provided by the Board of Studies are included at the end of this advice.

2. Preparing for the examination

You should aim to establish effective communication and to maintain the flow of the conversation to create the best overall impression. You should demonstrate you well you can:

• exchange relevant information (i.e. give relevant answers to the questions asked)
• exchange opinions and make comments (e.g. say why you like something, why you don’t want to do something etc.)
• use appropriate intonation and pronunciation
• demonstrate a variety of vocabulary and language structures.

This is an examination for which you can be well prepared. You will be asked about aspects of everyday life (see the topics listed below), from the perspective of your personal world. This is your opportunity to talk about yourself, your friends, your family, etc.

You are advised to:

• familiarise yourself with the topics prescribed in the syllabus. These are:
  • Family life, home and neighbourhood
  • People, places and communities
  • Education and work
  • Friends, recreation and pastimes
  • Holidays, travel and tourism
  • Future plans and aspirations
    
    
• learn as much useful vocabulary as you can. This will enable you to talk across the range of topics.
  
  
• practise your pronunciation. There are a number of resources available to help you do this, e.g. the audio material which comes with textbook courses, commercially available material which focuses specifically on pronunciation, etc. Some of these are available electronically. Listen carefully and try to model your pronunciation on what you hear.
  
  
• practise responding to a wide range of sample questions. Click here to see the list of sample questions included on this website.
  
  
• practise speaking with classmates, with different German teachers, etc.
  
  
• record your answers and, if possible, ask your teacher for feedback. This will give you practice in recording your voice and will also help you to assess areas on which you may need to focus, e.g. pronunciation, intonation, variety of vocabulary, sentence structure, etc.
  
  
• practise speaking in full sentences and extending your responses where possible. This will enable you to show a greater facility with the language than if you consistently answer with simple phrases or single words. Practise making a number of relevant comments in your response.
  
  

  e.g.	Examiner:	Wann hast du Geburtstag?
  	Student:	Am vierten Februar.
  	Examiner:	Was hast du zum letzten Geburtstag bekommen?
  	Student:	Ein neues Fahrrad. Das habe ich von meinen Eltern bekommen. Ich fahre sehr gern Rad, besonders am Wochenende mit meinen Freunden.
  	Examiner:	Also, das Fahrrad war ein gutes Geschenk?
  	Student:	Ja, klar! Mein altes Fahrrad war kaputt und ein neues Fahrrad kostet viel Geld – über zwei hundert Dollar! So viel Geld habe ich nicht.

  
  
• practise giving a broad range of information in your answers. You will be asked a range of questions from the perspective of your own personal world and you should not limit yourself to extremely brief answers. Conversing well across a range of topics will create a good impression. It is up to you to maximise this opportunity during the five minutes of the examination. You should remain consistent throughout the conversation, e.g. it is inadvisable to say you have three brothers at the beginning of the examination and then claim to be an only child at the end.
  
  
• practise speaking in the past tense (e.g. ich habe ein Auto gekauft).
  
  
• practise using subordinate clauses (e.g. with wenn and weil).
  
  
• concentrate on verbs and know how to use them correctly. You should be able to talk not only about yourself and what you do etc, but also about other people – your family, friends etc. To do this, you will need to use different verb endings and should practise this.
  • e.g. ich gehe gern ins Kino / meine Schwester geht gern ins Kino
  • e.g. ich spiele gern Tennis / mein Vater spielt gern Tennis

3. During the examination

You should:

• remain calm and speak confidently and clearly.
  
  
• avoid the temptation to rush into a response. If you need a moment to think about your answer, then take this – just as you might in a normal conversation. On the other hand, long pauses would not be natural, and should be avoided, especially as this examination only lasts for five minutes.
  
  
• listen carefully to the question. If you have not understood, or are uncertain, then ask the examiner (in German) for clarification, or to repeat it, e.g. Wie bitte?, Können Sie die Frage wiederholen?
  
  
• be aware that the questions may follow on from the answers you have already given. However, the examiner will need to cover a number of different topics and may switch to other unrelated topics during the course of the conversation. You should be prepared for this to happen.
  
  
• be prepared to expand your answers. This does not mean giving a prepared monologue and attempting to dominate the conversation. However, you should attempt to expand your responses by making a number of relevant comments to demonstrate the range of vocabulary and language structures you have at your disposal. You may find that aiming for roughly three comments in an extended response will assist you in this.
  
  
• try to treat every question as a springboard to show what you know. Avoid the temptation to restrict your response to Ja or Nein, or to simply repeat the question. Consider the following examples. Which response do you think would make the better impression?
  
  

  Example 1	Examiner:	Hast du einen Teilzeitjob?
  	Student:	Ja, ich habe einen Teilzeitjob.
  Example 2	Examiner:	Hast du einen Teilzeitjob?
  	Student:	Ja, samstags arbeite ich in einem Cafe in der Stadt. Die Arbeit gefällt mir gut und ich verdiene sechzehn Dollar die Stunde.

  
  
• be aware that this is not a normal ‘conversation’, but rather a one-way conversation, with the examiner providing a series of questions. It is therefore not appropriate for you to ask the examiner questions, e.g. whether he/she has seen a film, where he/she goes on holidays, etc.
  
  
• remember that there is a wide range of possible questions that you could be asked. It is impossible to accurately predict the questions in this type of examination. However, if you have practised, you can be confident you will be able to handle any line of questioning that develops.
  
  
• answer as best you can, but do not worry if there is a question you cannot answer. A range of questions will be asked across a range of topics.
  
  
• be aware that you should not ask the examiner for assistance, other than to repeat or clarify the question.
  
  
• note that if you are asked a question with ihr (“you” plural), then you are being asked about yourself and other people, and will probably want to respond with wir (“we”).
  
  

  e.g.	Examiner:	Du hast einige gute Freunde? Was macht ihr zusammen am Wochenende?
  e.g.	Examiner:	Du hast einen Bruder? Treibt ihr gern Sport?
  e.g.	Examiner:	Deine Familie hat ein Ferienhaus an der Küste? Wie oft fahrt ihr hin?

  
  
• be prepared to answer a question(s) in the past tense.
  
  
• avoid using English words if you don't know the correct word or expression in German. You should have a range of appropriate vocabulary at your disposal and should keep to what you know to be correct. The examination is not a good time for experimentation.
  
  
• always remember that the examiner’s role is to facilitate the examination. The examiner will be aiming to provide you with a positive experience, by giving you the opportunity to show your range of ability in spoken German.

4. Related Board of Studies websites

At the Board of Studies website (http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/ ), you can access the following:

- German Beginners syllabus
- HSC (Year 12) Examination Timetable
- 2008 HSC Specimen Examination Package
- Past examination papers
- Notes from the Examination Centre
- Equipment Checklist for Higher School Certificate Examinations and School Certificate Tests
- Rules and Procedures for Higher School Certificate Candidates.