Goethe Institute A1 German Exam Preparation

Important Tips and Notes

Author. Ahmad Mahmood Former Student B1 at Goethe Institute Karachi

Contents

•Hören Teil- Listening part•Lesen Teil- Reading part•Schreiben Teil- Writing part•Sprechen Teil- Speaking part•Modal Test-Model test papers

Hören Teil

•For Hören Teil you have only 20 minutes time.

•And you have to solve two parts of hören teil.

•Hören Teil 1 •Hören Teil 2

How to prepare for Hören teil

•What will you hear during hören teil?•In hören teil you will listen to some short

audios from different sources like radio, telephone messages, loudspeaker announcements etc.

•What is the best way to prepare for Hören teil?

•The best way is to listen German live from native sources. For example Radio. TV Movies.

How to listen German Radio Stations on internet?•Here you can find thousands of German

Radio stations. Please choose non Music station. So you can hear maximum talk shows, news, weather updates, traffic updates, commercial audios etc.

•http://www.tunein.com/radio/Germany-r100346/

http://www.tunein.com/radio/Germany-r100346/

I don’t understand a single word, when I try to listen German Radio. • Yes its true at the very first moment, my reaction

was the same. Actually you can only understand the words you hear when you already know them. For example Guten Tag, you know this word if you hear this word in radio it clicks your mind in seconds that you know this word and its meaning. So try to focus only the words you already know. Don’t be panic that you don’t understand a single word. Day by day you will used to it. It will refresh your German. So rather than listening music. Use your time listening German Radio.

How to watch German TV?•The best online source for watching German

TV•www.daserste.de•www.zdf.de•www.ardmediathek.de

•Some German websites requires German IP address to watch live tv. Download “torch” browser and install “Zenmate” app to your torch browser. You can browse youtube too with this app.

This is how ZenMate app works on Torch Browser. Change IP address from Pakistan to Germany

How to watch German Movies

•Here is a source for Movies with German Subtitles

•http://mediathek.daserste.de/sendungen_a-z/1933898_fernsehfilme-im-ersten

•You can watch hundreds of movies with German Subtitles on YouTube too.

•Use ZenMate app or other proxy software to unblock Youtube in Pakistan

German Movies with Subtitles

What is the possible material for preparation of Hören Teil?•You will be able to solve this part if you

are good enough with following stuff.

Zahlen…Numbers

Uhrzeit...Telling Time

Zeitmaße, Zeitangaben…Time Dimensions•die Sekunde, -n •die Minute, -n •die Stunde, -n•der Tag, -e •die Woche, -e •das Jahr, -e

woche/wochentage… days of the week•der Wochentag, -e •der Sonntag•der Montag •der Dienstag •der Mittwoch •der Donnerstag •der Freitag•der Samstag/Sonnabend •das Wochenende•am Wochenende

Tag/Tageszeiten…time of day

•der Tag•der Morgen •der Vormittag,-e•der Mittag•der Nachmittag,-e•der Abend,-e •die Nacht,¨-e

monat/monatsnamen..Months• der Januar • der Februar• der März• der April• der Mai• der Juni• der Juli• der August• der September• der Oktober• der November• der Dezember

Jahr/Jahreszeiten..Seasons

•der Frühling/das Frühjahr •der Sommer•der Herbst •der Winter

Währungen…Currency

•1 Euro 100 Cent

maße und Gewichte dimensions and weights

länder/ländernamen/nationalitätenCountries. Nationalities

Farben…Colors

•Schwarz• grau •blau •grün•Weiß• rot •gelb •braun

Himmelsrichtungen…Directions•der Norden •der Süden •der Westen •der Osten

Example of the Audio clip. And Mcqs

•Transkript der Ansage-Transcription of the audio clip

“Hier ist das Büro von Dr. Bruch. Herr Stefan? Ich habe jetzt einen Termin für Sie. Bitte notieren Sie: Morgen, am Dienstag, um 18 Uhr bei Frau Dr. Bruch. Ein anderer Termin geht morgen leider nicht. Auf Wiederhören. „

Test Question

•Wann ist der Termin?a) Dienstag, 18 Uhr•b) Dienstag, 8 Uhr•c) Donnerstag, 18 Uhr

How can I practice hearing part? Is there any book?• •You can download the book from this link•http://

www.almanii.blogspot.com/2014/04/download-fit-fur-fit-in-deutsch-1-und-2.html

Here is the link for another ebook of German A1 test Preparationhttp://

almanii.blogspot.com/search?q=fit+für+A1

For more Listening Practice you can visit Goethe Institut’s website•http://

www.goethe.de/lrn/prj/pba/bes/sd1/mat/enindex.htm

Part 2. Lesen Teil…Reading

•In this part you will read short emails, letters, notices, or newspaper advertisements.

•There will be statement you have to identify what is right and what is wrong.

•Or there will be MCQs.

How to practice Reading part?•You need to learn some basic vocabulary. If

you want to pass this part.•Words about following topics you must

learn•Persönliche Beziehungen • (Nachbarn, Familie)/Wohnungswechsel/ •Wochentag/Uhrzeit/Essen und Trinken•Personal relationships • (Neighbors, family) / change of residence / •Day / time / Food and Drink

Is there any book for Level A1 German vocabulary?•Yes there are hundreds of books. but you

don’t need to learn the difficult books. You need only basic words that You can find at the official wordlist of Goethe A1 test guidebook. Here is the link.

•http://www.goethe.de/lrn/prf/pro/hdb/Pruefungsziele_Testbeschreibung_SD1.pdf

•Wordlist starts from Page number 83

Is there any authentic source of German Dictionary? •Yes here is a link for Authentic German

Dictionary•www.dict.cc•You can translate the words into English.•You cant translate the whole sentence.

Beacuse you need correct use of Grammar and right context of the words.

•Please Note : Google Translate is not authentic source for translating German Text into English.

Example of Lesen Teil .•Read this textLiebe Nachbarinnen und Nachbarn,am vorletzten Wochenende sind wir, Sabine Schnabel, meine kleine Tochter Tina und meine Katze Mina, hier im zweiten Stock eingezogen.Ich möchte Sie am Mittwoch, dem 15.8. um17.30 Uhr zu Tee und Gebäck einladen. Ich freue mich, wenn Sie alle kommen.Sabine Schnabel

Richtig oder Falsch…Right or wrong

•Frau Schnabel lädt alle Nachbarinnen und

Nachbarn zu ihrem Geburtstag ein.

Thats the way you can solve this question. If you understand the meaning of the

words then you are able to tell whether the statement is right or wrong.

So please learn all the words from wordlist.

3. Schreiben Teil…Writing

•In this part you write a short email or letter.

How to write email or letter?

•There are two types of emails/letters•1. formal emails/letters•2. Informal emails/letters

1. Formal Email/letter

•If you writing a letter to an office, school, university, etc. its called formal letter

•In Formal letter you use• the specific greetings. Like sehr geehrte

Damen und Herren (SGDH)•You always use Sie and Ihnen, •You always end the letter with mit

freundliche Grüße •viele Grüße

zum Beispiel..For example•sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,•mein name ist ABC. ich bin 30 jahre alt. ich

möchte Deutsch lernen. ich habe Ihre anzeige über Deutsch kurs gelesen. ich habe eine frage über Dutsch kurs. wie viel kostet den kurs. können Sie mir eine Broschüre schicken.

•vielen Dank.

•mit freundliche Grüße•XYZ

2. Informal email-Letter

•If you writing email-letter to a close friend, relative, family member, then its called Informal Letter-email.

• In Informal letter-email you use•Hallo Lieber freund.../Liebe Freundin....•Du/dein/ deine•You use informal greetings for example•Liebe Grüße

zum Beispiel...For example•Hallo mein lieber Freund!•wie gehts? mir gehts sehr gut. ich bin in Berlin

gerade. das wetter ist toll. die Leute sind sehr freundlich. Alles wunderbar. ich vermisse dich. kannst du mir in Berlin besuchen? zusammen können wir viel spaß machen. was denkst du?

•bitte ruf mich an bald. Hier ist die nummer 01234567.

•ganz liebe Grüße•xyz

Frequently asked questions• how many words should we write in a letter?• Is there any limit?• Minimum 30 words. The important thing is that you

cover all the points. So it should be 3 to 4 lines email or letter.

• How many marks count for Grammar? How many marks count for overall structure and usage of words?

• Every thing is important. Grammar, correct use of Structure, correct use of Words all counts.

• Write to the point, conscise but complete information that is being asked by examiner.

Sprechen Teil/ Speaking (Oral exam)

• In this section you have 3 parts• In first part of oral exam you introduce yourself. And

answer the questions asked by examiner.• In second part you sit with a partner. The examiner

gives you some cards. • Each card has a topic and a word. You should ask a

question according to the topic. And your partner will respond to you. And vice versa.

• In third part the examiner give u again some cards but this time each card has a picture on it. You have to talk a little about the picture with your partner and your partner will respond to you. And vive versa.

How to Prepare for Oral Exam?•For oral exam again you need vocabulary.

There are specific topics that are important.

Themen…Topics • To pass this part of the exam you should able to speak a

little on the following topics• Familie• Einkaufen• Wochenende• Essen und trinken• Urlaub• Freizeit• Sport• Schule• Reisen• Person• Kommunikation

How to introduce yourself in German? •You should be able to give the following

information in German•Name•Age•Country•Profession•Hobbys•Telephone number/Mobile Number•Address

Buchstabieren… Spelling

•In the first part of oral exam, the examiner ask to tell spelling of your

•Vorname first name•Nachname Last name•Mittelname middle name•Familiename family name•So you should spell your name in German

Alphabets

are there any past test papers for A1?

•No unfortunately not. Goethe Institute strictly control its past question papers. One cant access it from any source.

•But there are model test papers from which you can get an idea that how the exam look like.

Links for Model test papers

•http://www.goethe.de/lrn/prj/pba/bes/ft1/mat/enindex.htm

•http://www.goethe.de/lrn/prj/pba/bes/sd1/mat/enindex.htm

•http://www.almanii.blogspot.com/2013/02/download-telc-start-deutsch-1.html