Advice on how to get an A in AS-level German please?

I have been considering whether or not I should do AS-level German. I managed to get an A* in German for my GCSEs, so I was wondering whether I should take German.

Sadly, we didn't focus much on our conversational skills during class, as teachers mainly tried to get us to learn the vocabulary in preparation for the exam. Therefore my speaking skills are lacking a bit, as in I find it quite difficult to hold a conversation and respond spontaneously.

My listening skills could still improve as well...

That being said, could anyone offer me some advice on how to get an A in German, please?

Check out a post I replied to here first - saves me having to type it out all over again!


I can actually give specific advise for German though, so here it is! I did AS and A2 German with WJEC.

If you're planning on taking German to A2 level, no matter what you get at AS, retake both units. You naturally get better at a language, so it just makes sense. I barely scraped a D at AS German, but I resat it this year along with my A2 exams (and no revision!) and got B (a few UMS off an A).

For the speaking exam, you need to make sure you keep talking. So if you're unsure whether or not what you're saying is correct, it's better to say something than nothing at all. You wont lose marks for accuracy (unless it's a very basic and obvious mistake that you really shouldn't have made), and you'll possibly gain marks for keeping the conversation going.

To help practice your speaking, always make an effort to talk in German during class and to anyone who can talk German fluently. So it might be worth staying behind/going to a lesson early to chat with your teacher in German about nothing in particular. You can also find native speakers online who may be willing to talk over skype - a good place to start for this would be /r/German. In fact, /r/German is a good resource overall to help with everything, and it's a good place to ask questions too.

Another good idea is to watch German films (with English subtitles if you prefer) to see how German is used when it's spoken. Personally I'd recommend Goobye Lenin! as it's easy enough to follow. If you want to practice listening comprehension then flick on the German subtitles so you can read what is being said. Don't worry if you don't completely understand it, sometimes the subitles wont match exactly what is being said (it's the same in English and almost every other language ever), just try and match the words and the sounds.

To put your listening comprehension to the test, check out the Top Thema on Deutsche Welle. You listen to a short news story (with a transcript underneath but try not to look at that) and then have to answer some questions based on what you heard/read.


Any other questions? Just ask!

Got an A this year first time round, luckily on the boundary - learn lots of vocab and try to speak German as much as possible. Also try to get to grips with the grammar early on; this will give you a huge advantage.

I have been considering whether or not I should do AS-level German. I managed to get an A* in German for my GCSEs, so I was wondering whether I should take German.

Sadly, we didn't focus much on our conversational skills during class, as teachers mainly tried to get us to learn the vocabulary in preparation for the exam. Therefore my speaking skills are lacking a bit, as in I find it quite difficult to hold a conversation and respond spontaneously.

My listening skills could still improve as well...

That being said, could anyone offer me some advice on how to get an A in German, please?

.
If you're planning on taking German to A2 level, no matter what you get at AS, retake both units. You naturally get better at a language, so it just makes sense. I barely scraped a D at AS German, but I resat it this year along with my A2 exams (and no revision!) and got B (a few UMS off an A).