[jaxxa]

I have my German oral exam next week, and am confused slightly by what happens & how I need to prepare for it. The AQA specification says the first part involves a "stimulus card" being presented to you which is based on one of the 4 topics (media, pop culture, etc). Must I then discuss this topic? I'm kind of lost on what happens here..

The AQA spec. then says the second part of the exam involves you talking about 3 further topics, one of which you choose in advance (such as Kino, Musik, etc). Again, is this correct? If so, does anyone know what kind of questions to expect? How long am I expected to discuss each topic for?

I don't have any teachers or anyone to ask these questions because I'm studying it all on my own as a private candidiate. It may seem like basic info I should already know, but, as I don't have anyone telling me this stuff, I need to be 100% clear.

MANY THANKS for any help.

[Buongiorno]

I study Spanish, but the format of the speaking exam is the same for all languages on AQA.

There are 4 topics in total: Media, Popular Culture, Healthy Living and Relationships. Each of these is made up of 3 subtopics. There cannot be any ovelap between topics in the test, so say your chosen topic is Holidays (from Healthy Living), you cannot discuss the remaning two Health sub topics at any point during the test. All topics have to be covered though.

First 5 minutes: in the first half you get asked about the stimulus card and respond to the five questions printed on the card. You get a choice of two cards and 20 minutes to prepare your answers to these questions. The other 2.5 minutes are further discussion of the the same subtopic, the examiner will ask you to eleborate on some of the points you made in your answers.

The following 3 minutes: discussion of your nominated subtopic. You put forward five bullet points you wish to discuss and the examiner will ask you about these.

The last 6 minutes: discussion of further two subtopics (2 x 3minutes). This can be any subtopic from the remaining two topics.

Hope this helps a little.

[jaxxa]

(Original post by Buongiorno)
I study Spanish, but the format of the speaking exam is the same for all languages on AQA.

There are 4 topics in total: Media, Popular Culture, Healthy Living and Relationships. Each of these is made up of 3 subtopics. There cannot be any ovelap between topics in the test, so say your chosen topic is Holidays (from Healthy Living), you cannot discuss the remaning two Health sub topics at any point during the test. All topics have to be covered though.

First 5 minutes: in the first half you get asked about the stimulus card and respond to the five questions printed on the card. You get a choice of two cards and 20 minutes to prepare your answers to these questions. The other 2.5 minutes are further discussion of the the same subtopic, the examiner will ask you to eleborate on some of the points you made in your answers.

The following 3 minutes: discussion of your nominated subtopic. You put forward five bullet points you wish to discuss and the examiner will ask you about these.

The last 6 minutes: discussion of further two subtopics (2 x 3minutes). This can be any subtopic from the remaining two topics.

Hope this helps a little.

Very helpful indeed, thanks! Do you know what sort of questions are featured on the stimulus cards? (I'm guessing they're the same type of questions you're expected to answer in the other subtopics?)

[.snowflake.]

(Original post by jaxxa)
Very helpful indeed, thanks! Do you know what sort of questions are featured on the stimulus cards? (I'm guessing they're the same type of questions you're expected to answer in the other subtopics?)

On the stimulus card the first question is ALWAYS Worum geht es hier? The stimulus card will contain a little bit of text, and some pictures or statistics. So you briefly describe what is on the card. Questions 2 and 3 the answers are on the card in the text/ statistics. Questions 4 and 5 are ones where you're expected to expand your answers.so if the card is on the relationship between teenagers and their parents, Q4 might by 'Why do you think teenagers sometimes do not get on with their parents.' Q5 tends to be a personal one.


The other topics are slightly different questions. You'll be expected to expand on all of them. so if you're asked 'Hast du Geschwister?' and you dont, you could say that you dont, but then say what you think it would be like if you did/ whether you'd like to have them.

[Buongiorno]

(Original post by jaxxa)
Very helpful indeed, thanks! Do you know what sort of questions are featured on the stimulus cards? (I'm guessing they're the same type of questions you're expected to answer in the other subtopics?)

The first question asks you to say what the card is about, you should briefly explain and summarise the theme.

The second question might, but not necessarily ask you to make some interpretation of the card, for example, "what are these people doing?".

The other questions are usually centered around the same topic and may ask you about your personal experiences, so if the card is about music listening habits - "what kind of music do you like?" or if it is about the trends in marriage - "would you like to get married in the future?" etc. Justify the points you make.

The fifth question tends to be quite open and asks for your opinion/judgement, for example "What is the importance of music in today's world?" it is crucial to prepare a good answer to this broad question as further discussion is likely to be based on it. Try to come up with a balanced argument. The examiner might challenge what you say so think of some counter arguments in your preparation time, do not put forward controversial ideas if you cannot argue them well. Having said, that examiners do like original ideas.