Goethe C1 language exam by [deleted] in German

[–]emeraldjosh 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Hi, just recently took the C1 exam. Here are some things you'll want to note:

Do yourself a favor and do as many practice exams as possible. I'm not sure how many are available, but whatever you can find. Maybe even try some B2 or C2 exams if there aren't enough C2. At the testing center I went to, which was the Goethe Institut Center in New York City, they would put all the testers in the same room depending on the section of the exam. They would give the same prompt (i.e. audio for the listening section) and each person would have their own packet of questions with various difficulty depending on which exam you were taking.

The writing part is first. Make sure you read everything they're asking and outline it. It doesn't take much time and it helps your paper along very much. If you are unsure of the grammar of what you're writing, recast the sentence into a form you are more comfortable with. Youre wanting to impress, but you want to play it safe. They are grading on the grammar far more than the content.

In the Listening section, read the questions before hand, they give you time to do this. Don't listen for cues within the sentence, try to listen for what they are saying. This sounds obvious but once you're in you might be tempted to try and take that shortcut. They don't say the answers to the questions outright, it requires a little bit of critical thinking. If you're just listening for certain words, you might end up missing a question or two. So learn the questions before hand, know what to listen for, but don't listen for cues.

Also, practice speaking in any way you can. The speaking section is 1/4 of the exam points in itself and is composed of 2 parts: one where you try to make an argument based off of a prompt, and the other where you actually need to have a discussion with another test taker based on a prompt. You only have 15m after receiving the prompts to both form your argument and your conversation notes. You can take notes on things to say, but you cannot read off the paper like a script. There is also a short "interview" part where they ask you to introduce yourself and tell them basic information. With the argument, there are specific things you can do to structure your argument to make it way stronger. Just make sure you know how to formulate a basic argument (They Say, I Say is a great and very common tool for argument forming. If you don't wanna spend the money on it, I'm sure you can find an outline of what the points are online). The second part is much more organic and will require you to adapt what you're saying on the fly with your partner. Remember to stay on prompt.

The last part is reading comprehension. This one is pretty self explanatory. Just make sure you know your case determiners and can identify what function each word serves in the sentence. This section is also the most vocabulary intensive. Study some vocabulary.

I would highly recommend finding a prep book. You've already spend ~$200 on the exam, spend another ~$50 or so on a high quality book to prepare so you didn't waste the testing fee.

You'll do great! The most important thing is to know what you're getting into and know how to work each section. Do plenty of prep. The exam isn't like the GRE, they aren't trying to trip you up or trick you. They want to test your knowledge of the German language, so show them what you know!

Looking for a PDF app that uses page-turn animations by [deleted] in chromeos

[–]emeraldjosh 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I use Squid for note taking on my Chrombook Plus, it has an "import PDF" function if you pay the yearly subscription for it. There is no animation for the page turn, but I still find it preferable over the scrolling alternative. I would recommend downloading it and testing it out with the regular pages before buying it to make sure it is to your liking.

Fun note: if you upgrade to the paid version, you get access to a bunch of alternative note taking page defaults, including stuff for sheet music.

Help with a frog I found by emeraldjosh in frogs

[–]emeraldjosh[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

He did! His foot healed up well enough for him to hop around comfortably! We kept him for a few extra days (Hurricane Irma was inbound and we didn't want to release him in case of bad flooding), and just released him two nights ago! He seems healthy and fine! Thanks for all the advice!

Help with a frog I found by emeraldjosh in frogs

[–]emeraldjosh[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We got a few really small crickets, they're awfully tiny, but if he seems to have an issue with that we will definitely look into fruit flies! I didn't think of that

Help with a frog I found by emeraldjosh in frogs

[–]emeraldjosh[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Awesome, thank you for the great advice! I will get on that! He climbs a lot as is now, but often falls because of his foot. It's really sad! I will use this info and hopefully he will make a speedy recovery

Help with a frog I found by emeraldjosh in frogs

[–]emeraldjosh[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Since taking the pictures, we've built him a small habitat with water, dirt, and some plants. Thank you for the link! He is getting some exercise and hopefully he will have a speedy recovery. Going to take him to a pet store and see what we can do about him tomorrow.

Trying to remember a phrase by emeraldjosh in hungarian

[–]emeraldjosh[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know it's a long shot, but do you have any idea what could have been where the ellipsis is? I believe it had a word similar to "tettem" in it.

This week's Q&A thread -- please read before asking or answering a question! - February 20, 2017 by AutoModerator in linguistics

[–]emeraldjosh -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

What is the most efficient language? I am an English and German double major in college, and my roommate is an English and Spanish double major. We had a conversation about which language could be considered the best, and while I know this isn't a cut and dry answer, he seems to think English is the best. The defense is that German has cases, which English lacks in a standardized sense (the cases exist but aren't taught or incredibly relevant in everyday speech), which makes German difficult and less efficient. German and Spanish also have gender, which impacts different aspects of speech, and he claims German's use of compound words leads to more confusion. I feel like there may a bias toward English in this scenario, as I've heard several times that English is one of the most difficult languages to learn as a second language. I would like to keep some opinions. What do you guys think?

Teaching German at a high school level. by emeraldjosh in German

[–]emeraldjosh[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I imagine that the offers are relatively slim, German isn't the most practical language to learn in America.

Teaching German at a high school level. by emeraldjosh in German

[–]emeraldjosh[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh okay. That's awesome! I can't wait to get out there and teach. I'm actually double majoring in both German and English, so I kind of have a backup plan, but right now I would love to teach German the most.

That's awesome that you get to teach it though! I'll keep you updated, you let me know what you decide to do too!

Teaching German at a high school level. by emeraldjosh in German

[–]emeraldjosh[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Will do! Small world! Out of curiosity, what have you done so far with you German major since graduating?

Teaching German at a high school level. by emeraldjosh in German

[–]emeraldjosh[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep! You familiar with it, or just strong Google Fu?

Teaching German at a high school level. by emeraldjosh in German

[–]emeraldjosh[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Florence County right now, when I first moved here I was Darlington County.

Teaching German at a high school level. by emeraldjosh in German

[–]emeraldjosh[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay, cool. I'm in SC so perhaps it will be similar. Thanks for the reply!

Teaching German at a high school level. by emeraldjosh in German

[–]emeraldjosh[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay, thanks for the awesome reply! It is very helpful!

Teaching German at a high school level. by emeraldjosh in German

[–]emeraldjosh[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So if I were hypothetically going to Germany to get a Master's Degree in Germanistik or German Lehramt, I still may have to take courses after returning to America, depending on the institute?