Deutsch A2 at the VHS – The Test

I wanted to mention the last few days of the course in my previous post but as I was nearing the end it seemed the political discussion so dominated my other thoughts that it was best just to break off there and leave that as it’s own post. Also, it’s 3:30 am and I must get some sleep.

(continuing after some sleep).

The last Tuesday and Wednesday of class was the big test, a practice test actually, designed to model the actual official test one has to take in order to demonstrate to the state your level and progress. Many people in the class need this for various reasons (showing where they are on the path to integration, receiving certain state benefits and aids, possibly this test would also be the official way to demonstrate to a university that you’ve met entrance requirements, I honestly don’t know). The test is really of no consequence to me at this point, and so I’m really content to move along at my own pace. I hadn’t given much thought to it and so it was almost a surprise when it came.

It’s difficult to know just where you stand in such a class as this, in regards to your level of German, and this is in contrast to my first class at the private school where we were all beginning pretty much from scratch and so, were mostly at the same level. Many in this VHS class had been living in Germany for some time and regularly use and communicate in German fluently, though often with very poor grammar and many errors. Natali (Ukraine) for example, has lived in Germany for 10 years and speaks German quite fluently  but her grammar is not good. Erina (Russia) also speaks German fast and comfortably. Many of the Muslim women speak German comfortably and regularly communicate with each other in German.
I’ve always felt like I was somewhere in the middle to low end. My grammar is not terrible but vocabulary is practically non-existent. I tend to have to look up words 5 or 6 times before they make their way in smoothly. I’m also pretty slow to understand people speaking German at a normal pace.

The test was in 2 parts: Verbal (Tues.) and written (Wed.). For the verbal part we were each paired with a partner and we were to (alone in the room with just 2 teachers/graders) have a Q&A with each other on a certain topic (which turned out to be “daily life”). My partner, as chosen by the teacher, was Natali who’s also my girlfiend. I blanked in trying to think of a question and so I came up with “Wie langa hast du in Deutschland gewohnt? (how long have you lived in Germany)”. This was a flub for 2 reasons: 1. It didn’t match the topic 2. I put Natali in the awkward position of having to admit that she lived here for 10 years and could only speak German at this level. I was quite sure it was a flub as soon as I said it because Natali immediately gave me a look that seemed to say: “WHAT??!!!??” – oops.

Anyway, it was really all in good fun and very casual. The teachers were friendly and laughing all the time, helping us when we needed it.

The next day was the written test which was more difficult than I’d ever imagined it would be. But I went through it slowly and carefully.

Anyway, let’s cut to the chase. I missed class Thursday to attend my new class (which unfortunately overlapped the first week, more on that later I hope), but came back Friday for the final day which was really just a big feast (more on that soon I hope). However, I was quite shocked to find out that I had actually scored second best on the test, a 92!! Second only to Erina (who incidentally didn’t come to class for the last 3 weeks or so. She’s dealing with a lot, including her second child who’s I believe about a year and a half.). They don’t give the tests back, only the number grade, I guess because they follow the official version quite closely and don’t want the questions and answers getting out, and so, to be honest I’m actually deep in my heart a bit skeptical. I know I did OK, but I can’t fully get around the thought that perhaps an extra 1 was carried erroneously or something.

But anyway, there you have it. I can now speak German at the A2 level. I’m taking a course now which focuses only on conversation, also at the VHS (though a different one), and is really just a chance to practice German at the A2 level. I’ll take up B1 in September I think.