Hilariously Stupid GCSE Dutch Question

This, I believe, was from June 2010.

On the cassette, a woman is being interviewed. Pauses make it extremely obvious which answer goes with which question. The answers are spoken slowly, at well below speed, and then repeated at the same pace.

The candidate must decide how old Miranda is. They must tick '17', '18' or '19'.

The answer on the cassette, given in isolation after the question (in Dutch) 'How old are you?', is 'Zeventien.'

In case you're wondering, Dutch phonetics are not so far removed from English so as to make this anything other than blindingly obvious to someone who had never learned a word of the language.

Now, I know this is just one mark, but what exactly are they testing?! Never mind that even a G-grade student should be familiar with the question and the numbers up to 20, I think a U-grade one might be able to make the connection!

It is just one mark. But if I had got it on a paper I think I might have had difficulty not cracking up!

This, I believe, was from June 2010.

On the cassette, a woman is being interviewed. Pauses make it extremely obvious which answer goes with which question. The answers are spoken slowly, at well below speed, and then repeated at the same pace.

The candidate must decide how old Miranda is. They must tick '17', '18' or '19'.

The answer on the cassette, given in isolation after the question (in Dutch) 'How old are you?', is 'Zeventien.'

In case you're wondering, Dutch phonetics are not so far removed from English so as to make this anything other than blindingly obvious to someone who had never learned a word of the language.

Now, I know this is just one mark, but what exactly are they testing?! Never mind that even a G-grade student should be familiar with the question and the numbers up to 20, I think a U-grade one might be able to make the connection!

It is just one mark. But if I had got it on a paper I think I might have had difficulty not cracking up!

Why would anyone take a Dutch GCSE?

that only about 250 students in the whole country get an A* in German each year

I'm going with to learn Dutch. Possibly just for lols, but most likely to learn Dutch.

Is that really true?!

And why would anyone want to learn Dutch? Apart from for lols, obviously.

You're forgetting - or maybe just not realising - that there are people who actually know nothing. Some students genuinely won't be able to tell the answer. These questions are designed to weed out the students who can do nothing from the ones who can do something, but not much. If all the questions were hard then all the students with less ability would score zero. It's the same idea as distinguishing A* from A.

Even with the better students some might not really know the basics, and others might not pay attention. So whilst it's an easy mark for you, some of the more able students may lack focus to answer the stuff they see as stupid.

Being a language student at GCSE and A level (German) I must say that I thought the gap between the two was big. I mean, A level German was tough. The speaking was great, but the writing was very difficult. I think the standard of writing at GCSE is so bad that it makes the step up too difficult. Good, intelligent students in my class struggled with the A level over two years. Only the natives seemed to excel whilst the rest of us struggled. I think the reason why we found it most difficult, is because we barely understood our own language. For example, many phrases were used which none of us really properly understood in English, such as what an infinitive was. There are many other examples but that is always the one which springs to mind. We were effectively trying to learn English Language and German at the same time and this was very costly in terms of time.

I think the reason why we found it most difficult, is because we barely understood our own language. For example, many phrases were used which none of us really properly understood in English, such as what an infinitive was. There are many other examples but that is always the one which springs to mind. We were effectively trying to learn English Language and German at the same time and this was very costly in terms of time.

You're forgetting - or maybe just not realising - that there are people who actually know nothing. Some students genuinely won't be able to tell the answer. These questions are designed to weed out the students who can do nothing from the ones who can do something, but not much. If all the questions were hard then all the students with less ability would score zero. It's the same idea as distinguishing A* from A.

Even with the better students some might not really know the basics, and others might not pay attention. So whilst it's an easy mark for you, some of the more able students may lack focus to answer the stuff they see as stupid.

Zeventien?