🇩🇪 How to Pass the A1 German Exam: Tips to Ace Goethe Start Deutsch 1!

Hi everyone, welcome to my course how to pass my A1 German exam. My name is Jana. I'm a professional German as a foreign language teacher and online tutor and I created this course to give you the best possible extra preparation for your A1 German exam because I know from my own experience as well as my students that taking an exam can be quite a challenge. You might need an exam because of a visa or because maybe you applied for a job or you want to apply for something else and even though there's a few people amongst us who love to take exams because we just want to see where we are and we think it's just cool to take an exam and yeah just check how good are we but a lot of us really have to take an exam and if there are things connected to it like moving countries or switching jobs relocating maybe with your whole family there's so many things that pressure us anyway that passing an exam that we really need for all of this is just another layer of stress on top of everything and as much as we want to enjoy the language and learn the language and embrace the language and practice first things first sometimes we just have to get things done and there's absolutely no judgment in that every reason why you just want to pass an exam is absolutely valid and this is why I created this course because I know exactly the kind of situation that is and how it feels like. So in order to tell you what we're going to do to help you pass your exam we're going to first of all look at the basics and just check what is the A1 exam like what does that mean and why do I have to do that and is there something else maybe there may be something easier that I could do we will talk about all that in our first section. After that we will have a look at the different types of exams. There are different types that we can take to be especially legally on the safe side so that our certificate will be acknowledged by an institution or the countries. We will have a particularly close look at the Goethe-Zertifikat A1, Stadtdeutsch I, just as an example because many people choose to take that exam and we will have a very close look at that one to give you exact information and not just general but just very precise what does the exam require and that brings us to our third section abilities. Here we will talk about all the things that you have to be able to do in the exam and the requirements. So maybe you feel like oh I'm ready and then you check and like oh maybe not or you feel like oh I'm not ready yet and then you will have a look at this section you feel like oh I think I'm really ready for this that's where we want to get you and you might already know that there's different parts in the exam so you will have to do some reading, listening, writing, speaking and all these four parts have different requirements attached to them and we will talk about those in this big section of abilities. Next step, how can we prepare? What is there? Which different forms and styles and types of preparation are there? What is best suited for me and why? I will give you an overview of these things and I will explain to you why maybe an online course is good for you or a face-to-face course is good for you or it's absolutely valid as well to study by yourself if this is your type of learning perfect do it. I will also give you a personal selection of free online tools that are available to everyone because there's a lot out there and some stuff costs money and some stuff doesn't. I in this section will tell you what is there for free and at the same time these recommendations are really high quality materials so they are reliable and helpful and not just confusing and maybe full of mistakes and misleading. Finally, last but not least, the last steps before your exam. What can we do? We will have a look at a model exercise, we will check are you at the right level, can you already take the exam without running into the danger of well having maybe having to do it again but if we do all the steps before properly then that won't be the case. Okay and then as a little extra for you I have prepared some information that are not necessary particularly for the exam but they're very helpful especially in the preparation section. Like what kind of learner are you? You have to be aware of what kind of learner you are in order to make a really good choice to the type of course or the type of learning that you choose. Also cultural knowledge is important to pass an exam or it can be very helpful because especially if you are from a culture that differs a lot from german-speaking countries it might be very helpful to just know a few things to get more help in preparation and passing the exam. Yeah so that is what we're going to do together and I would say let's just get okay so let's get started with the basics. We start with a little bit of theory to give you some background information and knowledge. The european framework for languages or as the full term states the common european framework of reference for language abbreviated C.E.F.R what the hell is that? The C.E.F.R states exactly what you need to show in order to be proficient in a language. So the C.E.F.R was developed by the council of europe and it describes in detail what learners have to be able to verbally express and understand in a foreign language. So these guidelines are intended to facilitate the mutual recognition of language certificates. They basically wanted to acquire a situation where language competencies between students are transparent and comparable. So not everybody can just do what they want to and just claim hey this person knows A1. That's the thought behind it. The C.E.F.R examined the partial qualifications like reading comprehension, listening comprehension, writing and speaking. I already mentioned these and formulated six levels of competency. So this provides a basis for curricular guidelines, learning materials and qualifications in european language work. So if you're looking for materials you don't have to like guess is that right for me or not. If you know your language level and you know oh I am A1 and you're looking for material or course and it states A1 you know that's me. Yeah so these levels are obviously A for basic uses, B for independent uses and C for proficient uses. And just to be a little bit more specific each level is further divided into 1 and 2. So there's A1 and A2, B1 and B2, C1 and C2. A1 being the most basic level and C2 is already very close to native language skills. We of course will only have a look at the A1 part. So let's do that. A1 in the C.E.F.R what does that mean? A1 has a very basic description. We will go into a lot more detail in the course this course but for now know that there's three basic requirements. One you can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the needs of a concrete type. Yeah so understand and use. But we are always and this is going to be something that will be repeated a lot familiar everyday expressions. Nobody expects you to suddenly describe some political event. Yeah don't be worried about that. You have to be able to introduce yourself and others and you can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where you live, people you know and things you have. Again we will go into much more detail later. And thirdly you can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help. Yeah so these three things are things that you need to be able to do in order to show that you have an A1 language level and deserve that certificate. So CEFR A1 we do understand now what that means and we're going to have another general look at the quality criteria that is expected of you. So we will have a general look at the quality criteria of the speaking section. So you will have to be able to describe things. Yeah particularly you. So you have to be able to give personal information such as address, telephone number, nationality, age, family and hobbies. Of course if there's anything that is a bit too private for you like you don't want to talk about your telephone number just make it up. Yeah they just want to see that in case of a real life event such as you are the doctors and they ask for your telephone number. Yeah in that case you should give your real telephone number and they just want to test if you have the ability to do that. You can understand, sorry you can very simply describe yourself and your family and you can very simply describe where you live. Yeah again we will have a very detailed look into all these things and especially how to say them in German a little bit later on. After describing another aspect of quality is that you are able to interact with other people. I mean that's the main purpose of language. Communication, interaction. So you can establish contact with people using simple words, phrases and gestures. I will tell you a lot about phrases that you can even learn by heart. You can say when you do not understand. That's pretty important and it's actually something that most people know and learn from the very beginning. And you can very simply ask somebody to repeat what they said. Yeah so this is something again that you will probably learn from the very beginning. What else is there? There are few quality criteria that are quite important. So the range. You have a very basic repertoire of words and simple phrases about family and personal details plus simple everyday situations but you're able to use them at the right time and in the correct situations. Precision. You can communicate very basic information about yourself and your family in a simple way but in a way that people understand you and are not very confused. You can link text and ideas. So you can join simple phrases with words like and in German und or then in German dann or danach. Accuracy. You can use memorized short phrases for specific purposes with reasonably reasonable accuracy. Sorry. So this is something that will actually help you a lot and it's quite important and should not be underestimated. Of course the main purpose is that you are able to use the language freely and to your needs but it is very helpful to learn certain phrases that just don't change because we do that as well as native speakers and we do that in every language. A wonderful example is guten appetit. There is not really an English equivalent to that. It just means if I see somebody eat I wish them enjoyment. To enjoy their food. It's very common and very polite to use that in German but you also have to be able to understand when do you use that. Like if I see somebody drinking I wouldn't say guten appetit because it's for eating. Also if I see people eating just like a bag of chips I wouldn't really say guten appetit. I mean I might say that if it's a group of friends and I'm just kind of making fun of them maybe I could use the phrase and indicate with my tone how I mean it. But generally we use guten appetit when we eat together and it's just a very polite phrase and something you can easily memorize. All right. Fluency. You can speak in short phrases and isolated words but without thinking about it too much you are able to spontaneously use those tools that you have. And then the last is a socio-linguistic aspect. So you can use the simplest everyday polite forms of greetings and farewells introductions and saying things like please, bitte, thank you, danke, sorry, entschuldigung. So these are again related to cultural things sometimes. All right. So this is generally what is important in A1 specifically speaking and we will have a look at all the details just about now. Okay so enough with theoretical background and general information. Let's have a look at the types of exams that we have. So this is a bit separated or divided into three parts and we will start with a short overview and something that is called Ehrgartenmacht. So for everybody for who this is relevant you know exactly what that means. Everybody else I will explain that in a second. We will have a look at what you will have to do in the exam and then as promised we will have a look a detailed look into the Goethe-Certifikat A1. Okay so let's start with the overview. Which exam can I take? There are three providers that fulfill the legal requirements. So that means certain institutions only accept certificates from specific providers because they know that these providers have a very high quality management. There is no to well maybe tiny tiny tiny little one but basically there's no chance of corruption. So people who come with a certificate from these providers really had to prove the language skills. These are reliable. The institutions trust these providers. So if it's an important reason for which you have to take an exam I would recommend taking an exam with one of these three providers. The first one is the Goethe-Certifikat A1. Staatdeutsch 1 is for adults. So basically everybody who's 16 years old or older. If you're a teenager or a young person and you want to do the exam as well there's a specific exam for you. It's called Fit in Deutsch 1. It has the same requirements but it's adapted a little bit to the age group. Then there is Telgdeutsch A1. It has the same exam name Staatdeutsch 1 by the Telg GmbH. So the Telg GmbH and the Goethe Institute developed this exam together. So it's the same exam basically. And then there is the Goethe-Certifikat A1. That's the Austrian version. So the Ö stands for Österreich. German word for Austria. So these three are super reliable high quality exams that will be accepted by all institutions governmental wise and well university job wise. As I promised a little bit of extra information. Just a short one. Ehegattennachzug. Basically family reunification. So if you want to join a spouse in Germany for the purpose of family reunification. One requirement for the visa is to prove that you have basic A1 German language knowledge. And so these three providers that I mentioned they are the ones that will be accepted for that. If you have to do this very specific form of proof use these providers. So you don't have any risk at running that your exam that your certificate will not be accepted. So go with this one. Lovely. All right. So what else do we have? Okay. So let's have a look at what you will have to do in the exam. As I already mentioned there's four different parts. So there's reading, listening, writing and speaking. And we will have a look at those specific requirements just about now. As a bit of general information before we have a detailed look into those. Be aware that reading and listening comprehension are considered to be passive or receptive skills. Writing and speaking are productive or active skills. So you have to transform your passive knowledge and produce something. Many people say that productive or active skills are a bit more difficult because it's generally considered easier to understand or especially read something than actively producing the same thing. It depends on you what kind of type you are and how you go with a language or just in general or specifically. Just be aware of it. Okay. That if you wonder why writing or speaking is more difficult or why you have more trouble with these ones, it's probably very common. So don't freak out over that. All right. So let's have a close look at reading. Reading comprehension is divided into five segments. Not on the exam but from an examiner perspective. Things that people want to test you. That's the things that you are required to be able to do if you want to achieve the A1 level. So overall reading, what does that mean? It means that you can recognize names, words and phrases and you know how to use them and understand very simple sentences if they are pictures. That's very important information for the exam as well. There is going to be photos, not photos, pictures, drawings to support your need to understand something while you're reading it. Second thing, reading for orientation. You can understand words and phrases on everyday signs. For example, station or car park. Such things as like Bahnhof or Parkplatz. Usually these are street signs and they are supported as well with a photo or sign that is partly international and you will be able to understand from maybe a little train on the sign or something that is on it. Or things like no parking, Parkverbot. Sometimes there's like a red line through the word or the So that is meant by support. No smoking, keep left, things like that. Read info and argument. You can understand simple forms well enough to give basic personal details such as name, address, date of birth. Fill out a form. Read instructions. You can understand very simple instructions if they're supported by pictures and if you know this type of instruction. So think of maybe IKEA instructions that are basically just photos or drawings anyway. But if there's a few German words for that, you would be able to understand that. Don't worry, this is something that is usually not in an exam precisely. And last but not least, read correspondence. In everyday situations, you can understand simple messages written by friends or colleagues. For example, back at four o'clock. Don't worry, I will translate things like that. Like just simple short phrases for those of you who already know a little bit of German and just feel like, oh, is that this or that? For all of you who have not really started learning a one or just started just basically now, don't be confused by that. I'm literally translating only these very short phrases. Alright, listening. Basically the same structure. So overall listening, what does that mean? What do they want you to know? What do they want you to be able to? Overall listening means that you can understand simple words and phrases like excuse me, Entschuldigung, or sorry, Entschuldigung. So English has two words for that. We use the same word for it. So in this case, it's actually a bit more difficult for us to distinguish. Okay, so Entschuldigung. Sometimes I have to use sorry, sometimes I have to use excuse me. For you in this case, it's a bit easier. Well, that means the English native speakers amongst us. You can understand the days of the week and months of the year. You can understand times and dates. You can understand numbers and prices. We will have a look at all the German stuff at the end of the course. You can listen to an interlocutor. So you can understand basic greetings and leave taking like hello, hallo, goodbye, auf Wiedersehen, good morning. You can understand simple personal questions when people speak slowly and clearly like what's your name? Wie heißt du? Was ist dein Name? How old are you? Wie alt bist du? What's your address? Things like that. You can listen in a discussion. So when listening to a conversation, you can understand words and short sentences provided that people speak very slowly and very clearly. Nobody expects you to listen to a lecture in uni or something like that. Basic, simple, everyday language. Listen to announcements. That is actually something very important and will be tested definitely in the exam. Because imagine you're at a train station or at the airport and there's like your flight number. These things you have to be able to understand at this basic A1 level. So you can recognize simple, clear messages like this. Wonderful. You might be able to already tell that it's always a bit repetitive. It's not really, it doesn't, it's not too challenging in terms of super complex. So I hope this takes away a little bit of fear or unexpected requirements. You will be able to do all of these tasks easily. Overall writing. What does that mean? You can write about yourself and where you live using short, simple phrases. Reports, info and argument. You can understand a hotel registration form well enough to give the most important information about you. And correspondence again. So you cannot just read a message from somebody that they gave you, but you can also write something like that. You can write a greeting card, for example, a birthday card or an invitation or just a short note to someone. And then speaking. Speaking is separated into two parts. Spoken production and spoken interaction. We already mentioned that. So we'll start with the spoken production, which is very basic because you basically just have to describe things. That's what is required of you if you produce something by yourself. So basically you're holding a monologue. So that's why it's just a tiny little bit. So we already mentioned that you can give personal information about yourself, telephone number, nationality, always the same stuff. You can describe yourself and your family and you can describe where you live. Everything in simple words and phrases. Spoken interaction is a little bit more. So first of all, there's conversation. So you can use basic reading and leave taking expression. You can ask how people are. Yeah, quite important. You can generally interact in a simple way, asking and answering basic questions. And you can also repeat something if asked or repair if something wasn't very clear. You can ask and answer simple personal questions like what's your name? How old are you? And if the other person speaks slowly and is very helpful. Yeah. So that is interaction, not just producing and giving information, but interacting with a person who just spontaneously asks you these things. So secondly, there's information exchange. That means you can ask people questions about where they live, about people they know, things they have. And you can answer such questions addressed to you, provided that somebody else articulated slowly and clearly. Transactions. You can buy things in shops where pointing or other gestures can support what you say. Yeah. So you can use and understand simple numbers in everyday conversations such as the prices or telephone numbers. Yeah. We all know that we go to a fruit stall and we just point at that because we don't know what the English or, sorry, the German word for watermelon is or anything else. Yeah. So pointing. Telephoning. Probably one of the more difficult tasks. Usually not tested in an exam because it would be a bit probably too difficult when it comes to logistics and organization. It is a very difficult task because when you are on the phone with a receptionist or somebody, not your friend where you can do a video call. So usually you don't have a face, you don't have gestures or a facial expression that can help you understand. Yeah. So if you see a person face to face, the way they look usually helps you, tells you, oh, that person has no idea what I'm saying. And so it should just motivate you to say something else. But generally, A1 level requires you to answer the phone, give your name, answer simple questions such as, when is Mrs. Jones back? Wann kommt Frau Meier zurück? Um vier Uhr. Simple as that. All right. So these are the four parts of an exam, any exam, no matter which one you choose at the end. And these four parts now had a detailed look at all the things you are expected to do. Not all of these will be tested, but this is what you're generally expected to be able to do. Now let's have a closer look at the Goethe-Zertifikat A1, Stadtdeutsch 1. Now we are really starting to get into detail, which is probably something most of you are waiting for. So let's get straight to it. So we already said it's the exam for adults. There's a version for younger people as well. No matter where in the world you take it, which is either the local Goethe-Institut, a Goethe-Center, or a certified exam partner, it's going to be always the same exam. So the standards worldwide are always the same. Also, it doesn't matter if you do the print or the online version, it's always the same. There's no exam for just doing it at home, obviously, so you won't cheat and it can be tested professionally. The exam consists of two parts, the written part and the oral part. The written part will take approximately 65 minutes, the oral part 15 minutes. It is not a modular exam, so you have to complete and pass both parts, the written and the oral part. Only one is not going to be enough. If you are from a language background that does not use the Latin alphabet, you have to make sure that you are really proficient in using the Latin alphabet, because there's no alternative to that. If you have special needs, special regulations are possible for participants. For example, if you're dyslexic and you can prove that with a medical form from your doctor that shows that you have it, do that before the exam, not after the exam, do it before the exam and you might be able to get extra time. Read maybe or ask at the local institute or wherever you want to take the exam. If you have special needs in any form, mention them, ask if you can get some sort of support, help, just so it's fair. It's just supposed to be fair. What to expect from the Goethe-Zertifikat Staatdeutsch I? The written section is an individual task. You will be sitting in a room, possibly, most likely with other students. There will be one person in the room who oversees everything. For example, that only one person at a time goes to the bathroom. Otherwise, you have to do your stuff alone. You will get the documents for all three parts at the right time, so don't stress, it's really well organized. You will also get an answer sheet. You will, for example, first do your exercise and your answers on the respective document for the listening exercise. Then you will have to transfer it to the answer sheet. Everything will be explained to you. The oral section is a group task, a maximum of four participants. If there should, for some reason, not be any other participant, there's going to be two examiners. You will do the exercise with one of them. You will get keywords and storyline cards, which means basically small cards that you pick up, have a look at them, there will be a picture. Remember, that is something that is going to support you and it's given to you. It's not going to be taken from you, that sort of support. So you will have a word and a photo, drawing, I always say photo, it's a drawing, and you will use these for the exercises. There will be no preparation time, so speaking will be pretty spontaneous. The written section in detail is the listening comprehension, reading comprehension, and writing comprehension. You can see here that it's approximately 20 minutes for all three of them each. Listening will be short everyday conversations, phone messages, or public loudspeaker announcements, and you have to complete related practical exercises. Reading will be texts such as brief notes, classified ads, information signs, and notice boards, and again you have to answer related exercises. That's why it's passive, you don't have to produce anything. Writing, you have to fill in a simple form and write a short personal text about an everyday situation. But we will have a closer look now. So listening. Listening has the goal that you understand information and instructions. That's what they want to see. There's three parts. The first listening part is going to be short everyday conversations. So the structure is a dialogue, you will hear two voices. You will hear the dialogue twice and then you will have to choose between three answers that come with a picture each. There will always, for all parts in the entire exam, there will be an example. We will have a look at how that looks like in a second. The second part is going to be a public loudspeaker announcement. So by the nature of that we can already tell that's going to be a monologue. And we're only going to be able to listen to it once. There's going to be a right and a wrong answer option. Number three will be a telephone message, private or public. Also by the nature of it will be a monologue and you have to choose between three possible answers. This one you're going to be able to listen to twice, just like on your phone. If you want to listen to the message from your friend again, you can. You can already see that there are slightly different amounts of points that you are able to get. We will have a very detailed look at that as well. All right, let's have a look at some examples. Number one I already told you is going to be a dialogue. So this is how it's going to be looking like. The example. What is right? You have to make a little cross. You can see that here at the bottom at C and you can listen twice to everything. This could be anything really. Number two, the right or wrong. Marked and bold letters. Only once will you be able to listen. The traveler is supposed to go to the information in hall C. Is that correct or not? It is correct. So make the cross here. And then the third one is again a monologue. Make your cross A, B, C. Here again, you will have support and you can actually see the numbers. So that's the listening part. Not too bad, huh? We continue with reading straight away. Reading has the goal that you understand information and instructions. Again, it's going to be everyday texts. The first reading exercise will be short letters. You can choose between right and wrong. The second one is going to be small ads. You can choose between A and B. And then lastly, short notices. Again, right or wrong. Each one of these parts gives you five points max. And again, there will be examples which we're going to have a look at right now. Number one could look like this. So basically an email with some information and you're going to read a sentence. Like at the top of the frame, you can see Is that right or wrong? In this case, it's wrong. Number two, you can choose between A and B. So you can see why it's like always two options. But why is it wrong and right in A and B? This is why you have to compare two information sources. You want to know, does it rain in Germany? And then you have basic information. So if you would look at a German website, you might at level A1 not be able to understand every single detail. But you will be able, don't be surprised, you will be able to understand at least the topics, the big bullet points. And this will lead you to get information because weather is a very good example for the support of photos. So it's not just something made up for the test or the exam. But this is how real life looks like. We can see a little sun or cloud. So you can see how this is going to look like. Number three, again, a right and wrong. You're going to have five of these. So it's going to be like little signs, information. Yes, that is correct. You have to go to the Beethoven Street 23 to learn German because they moved houses. All right. And that's reading. Easy as. Okay. So let's continue with the writing section. What do we have here? The goal in writing is to give information about a person in written form. Again, remember the example of going to a doctor or any other situation where you have to fill out a form. In this case, you have to fill out a form with individual words. Number two will be asking for information or giving instructions in the form of a short letter. This is called directed writing because you're going to be given a certain purpose. You don't have to just make something up. And you have to write according to three pre-formulated main points. We'll have a very close look at that. 30 words doesn't seem too much. It isn't. So I think we can absolutely do that, especially now that you're going to find out what is really going to be important. First of all, we'll have a look at the examples again. So here you can see on the top, you will get the information. So this is about your friend, Eva Kadavy, who with her husband and their two sons, 8 and 11 years old, want to go for a holiday trip in Zeheim. At the travel agency, she books a bus trip around the, oh, what's that lake? Lake Constance is the name in English, for next Saturday. And she has no credit card. You can see the form below. And you can see that there's five pieces of information missing. You want to help your friend and fill in the information that is missing. You can see here as well, the last sentence with a bold printed that is the word for answer sheet. You have to transfer these words to the answer sheet at the end. So her name is Eva Kadavy. How many are they? And so on. We will have a closer look at that. Don't worry. And then the second part is that you have to actively write a whole text alone by yourself. So you want to visit Dresden, and you have to write an email to the tourist information. And you have, these are the three points, the three points that you will get points for. Number one, warum schreiben Sie? Why are you writing? Number two, bitten Sie? Ask for information about movies, museums, and well, the cultural program. Also ask for the address of the hotel. And you can see at the bottom, it says exactly what you have to do. Write one to two sentences about each point, about 30 words. Also write a form of address. Very formal would be sehr geehrte and some sort of farewell. Something like that. Don't worry. We'll have a look again at this. All right. That was the writing part and thus the written section. We will move on from here to the oral section.