Contents 1 Conveying information and opinions clearly 6 Maintaining the reader s interest Get started Get started 1 Sample response Sample response

Transkript

1 Contents Conveying information and opinions clearly Get started information clearly? opinions clearly and without ambiguity? 4 How do I avoid writing over-ambitiously? 5 Sample response 6 Your turn! 7 Review your skills 8 Giving sufficient detail Get started 9 How do I make the most of opportunities to use adjectives? How do I make the most of opportunities to use adverbs and adverb phrases? How do I give more examples? Sample response 4 Your turn! 5 Review your skills 6 Using a wide range of vocabulary Get started 7 How do I use a wider variety of verbs? 9 How do I use a wider variety of adjectives? 0 How do I use idioms? Sample response Your turn! Review your skills 4 4 Using a wide range of verb tenses and forms Get started 5 How do I use different persons of the verb? 7 How do I use different past tenses? 8 How do I use different methods of expressing the future? 9 Sample response 0 Your turn! Review your skills 5 Using a wide range of grammatical structures Get started How do I enhance my writing by using subordinate clauses? 5 How do I enhance my writing by using pronouns? 6 How do I introduce more complex grammar into my writing? 7 Sample response 8 Your turn! 9 Review your skills 40 6 Maintaining the reader s interest Get started 4 How do I vary the length of my sentences? 4 How do I use connectives effectively? 44 How do I write in an engaging and original way? 45 Sample response 46 Your turn! 47 Review your skills 48 7 Giving and justifying opinions Get started 49 How do I use all opportunities to express opinions? 5 How do I justify my opinions? 5 How do I justify my opinions convincingly? 5 Sample response 54 Your turn! 55 Review your skills 56 8 Maintaining accuracy in complex language Get started 57 How do I maintain correct sentence structure? 59 How do I improve the accuracy of my verbs? 60 How do I improve the accuracy of my nouns? 6 Sample response 6 Your turn! 6 Review your skills 64 9 Translating accurately into German Get started 65 How do I ensure that I include all key information? 67 How do I avoid making careless errors? 68 How do I produce readable German and avoid translating too literally? 69 Sample response 70 Your turn! 7 Review your skills 7 Answers 7

2 Get started Conveying information and opinions clearly This unit will help you learn how to convey information and opinions clearly when writing in German. The skills you will build are to: convey information clearly convey opinions clearly and without ambiguity avoid writing over-ambitiously. In the exam, you will be asked to tackle a writing task like the one below. This unit will prepare you to write your own responses to these questions. Deine Freundin Julia aus Österreich hat dich über deine Schule gefragt. Du schreibst Julia eine über deine Schule. etwas über den Schultag wie du den Stundenplan findest was du letztes Jahr auf einer Klassenfahrt gemacht hast was deine Pläne für nächstes Jahr sind. Du musst ungefähr 90 Wörter auf Deutsch schreiben. Schreib etwas über alle Punkte der Aufgabe. (6 marks) The three key questions in the skills boosts will help you convey information and opinions clearly when writing in German. information clearly? opinions clearly and without ambiguity? How do I avoid writing overambitiously? Look at the sample student response to this question on the next page. Unit Conveying information and opinions clearly

3 Get started Skills boost Make sure you understand the task on page and which time frame each bullet point refers to. Here are translations of those bullet points: underline A the correct option to complete them. Then write the time frame you will need to use for your own answer. a something about the school rules / day / lunch b what you think / thought / will think of your timetable c what you will do / do / did on a class trip d what your plans are for next week / month / year Highlighting key words in each of the bullet point instructions on page will help you focus your answer correctly. information clearly? Always check that your sentences both make sense and address the task requirements. Write a simple sentence first, then develop it to include a conjunction and an opinion, where possible. Read your completed sentence and ask: Is the word order of the complete sentence correct? Does the verb match its pronoun? Does the tense match the bullet point? Practise writing sentences no frills, just the basics, but perfect! Translate the sentences below into German, watching out for word order, verb endings and the tense. a I go to a grammar school. b My favourite subject is maths. Die Hauptschule beginnt um Viertel vor neun und endet um halb vier. Das ist ein langer Tag, und am Abend muss man auch noch viele Hausaufgaben machen. Dieses Jahr haben wir am Dienstag eine Doppelstunde Latein. Ich finde das Fach besonders toll, weil ich Fremdsprachen interessant finde. Letztes Jahr habe ich mit der Klasse eine Woche an der Küste verbracht. Die Klassenfahrt hat viel Spaß gemacht, weil wir immer aktiv waren. Nächstes Jahr werde ich fleißig für die Klassenarbeiten lernen. Ich muss gute Noten bekommen und dann werde ich in die Oberstufe kommen. Read Emily s response above. Did she cover all the bullet points? Highlight each response to a bullet point in a different colour. a Answer the questions on Emily s response and underline A in her text the relevant section where you found the answer. i What detail does Emily give about her school day? ii What detail does she give about her timetable? iii What detail does she give about her class trip? iv What detail does she give about her future plans? b Circle A the words and phrases where Emily offers an opinion. Start a list of general expressions for giving opinions and add to them as you come across them they can be used or adapted across many topics. c We have five lessons each day. d The lunch break lasts one hour. e My class went to Wales last year. f Next year I will do an exchange. Match the phrases below to sentences a f from. Underline A the conjunction each time and note whether it changes the word order or not. Develop your a aber das finde ich zu kurz. sentences, but do not b weil ich gute Noten in der Grundschule bekommen habe. compromise c on clarity und das finde ich ziemlich anstrengend. make sure you d wenn meine Eltern das erlauben. are confident with the word e weil ich das einfach finde. order and verb endings before f denn meine Schule macht jedes Jahr einen Ausflug dorthin. you extend. On paper, translate the short sentences below into German to practise present, past and future tenses. Then expand them, adding a conjunction with a reason or an additional detail. a I like school. d We wore a uniform. b My teacher is nice. e He will study science. c I had German. f They will go on a class trip. present endings (ich -e, du -st, er/sie -t, wir -en, ihr -t, sie -en) past imperfect (e.g. war, gab, hatte) / perfect part of haben / sein + past participle at end future part of werden + infinitive at end Unit Conveying information and opinions clearly Unit Conveying information and opinions clearly

4 Skills boost Skills boost opinions clearly and without ambiguity? How do I avoid writing over-ambitiously? Opinions are often asked for in exam questions, but they must make sense and be grammatically correct. Start building up a stock of opinion expressions to apply across a range of topics. But always ensure that your chosen expression makes sense in the context. For example, when using ich finde das einfach, it should be clear what das refers to: Deutsch ist mein Lieblingsfach, weil ich das einfach finde. Draw lines to link each opinion expression to its matching second half. A Ich finde die Musikstunde toll, B Ich finde den Schultag anstrengend, C Ich mag den Direktor, a weil er gerecht ist. b weil wir im Sporthotel übernachten werden. c weil ich musikalisch bin. Always ensure your sentences have an element of grammatical complexity, grammatical clarity and a good range of vocabulary (see Unit ). Communication is of course key, but with limited words available for the task, you do need to keep your writing both tight and not too simplistic. a Read four students answers to the following bullet point: was du letztes Jahr in den Sommerferien gemacht hast. Copy and complete the table below by evaluating each answer A D, using the words in the box to help you. A conjunctions time frames opinions qualifiers Answer each and every one of the four bullet points provided for the 90-word task. It works out as around words per point, so make each word count. Complexity Clarity Vocabulary Relevance Length D Ich lerne nicht gern für die Klassenarbeiten, E Ich habe Angst vor dem Zeugnis, d denn ich habe dieses Jahr schockierende Noten bekommen. e denn man muss früh aufstehen. B C D F Ich freue mich auf die Klassenfahrt, f weil ich immer schlechte Noten bekomme. Write sentences in German similar to those in using the following prompts and either a weil or a denn clause. Make sure you are confident with using weil phrases in the exam (i.e. verb to the end of the clause), though you can also use denn + the normal word order to show you know more than one way of giving a reason for your opinion. a canteen / food tasty b timetable difficult / we have many compulsory subjects c German exchange / nice penfriend d maths / it is difficult e class trip / going to the mountains A C Letztes Jahr habe ich mit meinen Freunden in den Sommerferien jeden Tag Fußball und Basketball gespielt, und am Abend sind wir ins Kino und ins Schwimmbad gegangen, aber das war anstrengend und am Ende hat es mir gar nicht gefallen. Letztes Jahr habe ich die Sommerferien in den Bergen verbracht. Das ist toll. b Rank Write your own answer to the bullet point: was du letztes Jahr in den Sommerferien gemacht hast. Use the criteria from to analyse your work. B D In den letzten Sommerferien habe ich eine fantastische Woche mit meiner Familie in Deutschland verbracht und das hat uns besonders gut gefallen, weil die Sehenswürdigkeiten echt schön waren. Ich fahre jeden Sommer nach Italien, weil meine Schwester dort wohnt. Es gibt ein Freibad in der Stadt und wir gehen jeden Tag schwimmen, denn das ist mein Lieblingssport. the answers above in order of effectiveness ( 4) for a 90-word task. A B C D Keep it simple could be your starting mantra for the writing exam, but you should also include more complex language. Set phrases are a great way of doing this. Include qualifiers (sehr, ziemlich) and time expressions (immer, ab und zu) to make your sentences more precise. f school year / will see my friends If there are two verbs in the weil clause, the part of werden (future), sein or haben (perfect) or the modal verb comes as the final verb: Ich bin froh, weil wir ab und zu keine Uniform tragen müssen. 4 Unit Conveying information and opinions clearly Unit Conveying information and opinions clearly 5

5 Get back on track Get back on track Sample response Your turn! To convey information and opinions clearly, make sure that: you use the correct word order with conjunctions (subordinating/coordinating) your verb endings are correct you use the correct tense to reflect the bullet point you follow the question asked, and don t go off on a tangent. Look at this new exam-style writing task and Oli s answer below. Dein Freund Max aus der Schweiz hat dich über deine Schule gefragt. Du schreibst Max eine . etwas über die Lehrer(innen) wie du die Schulordnung findest was du gestern nach der Schule gemacht hast etwas über deine Pläne für morgen. Du musst ungefähr 90 Wörter auf Deutsch schreiben. Schreib etwas über alle Punkte der Aufgabe. (6 marks) The third bullet point asks what you did after school yesterday, so use past tenses to answer. The last bullet point refers to tomorrow (morgen), so make sure you use a suitable tense. You are now going to plan and write your response to this exam-style question. Deine Freundin Anna aus Österreich hat dich über die Schule gefragt. Du schreibst Anna eine . etwas über die Uniform was du in der Pause machst wie die Grundschule war was die Pläne für die nächste Klassenfahrt sind. Du musst ungefähr 90 Wörter auf Deutsch schreiben. Schreib etwas über alle Punkte der Aufgabe. (6 marks) Plan your answer for each bullet point. Write the tense you will use and note key words in German, covering all the categories in the box. conjunctions nouns verbs adjectives adverbs of time An meiner Schule gibt es über 60 Lehrer(innen) und sie sind sehr hilfsbereit. In der Pause sind sie entweder auf dem Schulhof oder im Lehrerzimmer. Wir haben viele Regeln, aber sie sind oft echt dumm, meine ich. Im Winter muss man immer einen Pullover im Klassenzimmer tragen. Gestern habe ich Fußball gespielt, weil mir das immer Spaß macht. Ich habe aber keine Hausaufgaben gemacht, und heute war es in der Schule ziemlich stressig. Morgen werde ich in die Stadt fahren, denn ich werde meine Freundin im Sportzentrum treffen. Ich freue mich total darauf! 4 Tense Key words Read Oli s response above. Did he cover all the bullet points? Highlight each response to a bullet point in a different colour. The following elements in Oli s text make it clearer. Find the German Including qualifiers, time expressions, translations and write them down. conjunctions and idioms all contribute to a piece a but and of good German writing. b because () c either or d today yesterday tomorrow e I am looking forward to it. How many verb forms can you find in Oli s text? On paper, copy the table and make a note of them. Present Perfect Imperfect Future Adapt expressions from Oli s answer for your writing, e.g. An meiner Grundschule habe ich oft Fußball gespielt. Pay attention to word order put the verb in second place in a main clause. Using your draft plan from, write your answer to the question in full on paper. Once you have completed it, check it against the elements in the checklist. Checklist In my answer do I include a response to each bullet point? keep to the word limit for the task? mirror the tense used in each bullet point? use verbs which match the subject? i.e. ich habe gemacht offer opinions as well as facts? use conjunctions to extend my sentences? use the correct word order, especially in weil clauses? avoid over-complicating my sentences? 6 Unit Conveying information and opinions clearly Unit Conveying information and opinions clearly 7

6 Get back on track Review your skills Check up Review your response to the exam-style question on page 7. Tick you think you have done each of the following. the column to show how well Not quite Nearly there Got it! conveyed information clearly conveyed opinions clearly and without ambiguity avoided writing over-ambitiously Need more practice? On paper, plan and write your response to the task below. Dein Freund Paul aus Deutschland hat dich über die Schule gefragt. Du schreibst Paul eine . über deine Fächer was du nach der Schule machst was du gestern vor der Schule gemacht hast was du auf dem nächsten Tagesausflug machen wirst. Du musst ungefähr 90 Wörter auf Deutsch schreiben. Schreib etwas über alle Punkte der Aufgabe. (6 marks) How confi dent do you feel about each of these skills? Colour in the bars. information clearly? opinions clearly and without ambiguity? How do I avoid writing over-ambitiously? 8 Unit Conveying information and opinions clearly