How can I improve my German?

Factual Questions
1

I’m a second year German student. A few weeks ago I took the AATG National German Exam and placed sixth in my state (South Carolina) for the level two exam. This puts me in the running with eleven other people for a month-long study program in Germany. An interview in two weeks will determine which of us gets to go. All I know about the interview is that it will be conducted in English with clearly-indicated German speaking portions.

So, any tips on how to sound more natural when speaking German? Are there any particular resources that you’d recommend?

2

Studied German 4 years in college, but no expert so take as you will.

First, are you 2nd year in high school or college? (don’t know what AATF is)
Are you in the US?

I’ll hold my advice for now, since those answers will determine any advice I can give, if any.

3

Sorry for being unclear. It’s my second year of high school German (though I’m a senior). Yes, I’m in the US. The AATG is the American Association of Teachers of German.

4

Sorry not to get back sooner.

Here are my suggestions, though not all may be feasable.

First is to ask your teacher for tutoring.While he/she may be good, I’d tend to push you to the second suggestion.

  1. Are you at all near a University? State or private? This is the one I thought of when reading your post. CAVEAT: 2 weeks may not be enough time, but I don’t know how quick you are to learn stuff.

Monday morning, call the language department and do what you can to talk to a German-language professor. (This may also work if you can’t get face-to-face time).

This does 2 things. First, he/she can tell you anything you need for advice on what is expected.

Second, since they are professors, they know what these competitions look for, since they will instruct you further in college. And that’s where you hope to be if you win?

IMHO, I know that most German speaking people understand there is a “high” and “low” German. The language is essentially the same, but as with all languages there is a difference in dialect, pronunciation, regional differences, slang, etc. Technically, Austria, North Germany and South Germany all speak German (yes, there are more), but you have to know the difference in language to completely understand the nuances.

To condense, just speak the language. The judges will understand the differences in the language. You need not worry of getting a certain sound right, nor your inflection, accent.

Just get the words right. And the structure of the sentence. That’s all they can ask of you.

Alles Gute! (German but could also be Viel Gluck; with the u being umlauted)

Now go and learn the German language

And good luck

5

Don’t confuse him. Hochdeutsch or high german is what is considered proper german, everything else is just regional dialects.

Alles gute auch von mir!

6

Assuming the AATG system is not unlike that of the Goethe Institut, then your level 2 exam would have been only written. Seeing as you’ve placed 6th in the state, you obviously have no problems with grammar. Therefore, I can only advise you to speak as much as you can in German.

Find some friends with whom you can converse, talk with your teachers if you can, talk to yourself if you have to! Just get yourself used to speaking German.

Familiarise yourself with the german accent (and speed of speaking) by watch a german language TV station. DW-TV (Deutsche Welle) if you get it, is not a bad choice for that. The presenters speak in Hochdeutsch, which is what your interview will most likely be conducted in.

Two weeks isn’t much time,but it will at least give you a headstart.

7

Und noch viel Glueck aus Indien!

8

Try a german speaking web-radio and listen to it permanently for the next two weeks.
This station: http://www.br-online.de/b5aktuell/
has news 24h a day, so only words and no music.

9

Read aloud to yourself a lot. (In German)

Rent any movies you can find in German.

Watch t.v. with the sound off, describing the events to yourself in German.

Ask for advice on what type of questions are likely to be asked, so that you can prepare and rehearse your answers (just like people do for college admissions or job interviews.)

10

Same kind of thing here: http://www2.dw-world.de/german/dw-radio

Also (as j66 said) check out the foreign section at your local blockbuster. One of my favorites that will probably be there is The Princess and the Warrior. (von tom tykwer, wie lola rennt.) First watch with subtitles, paying attention to words you don’t know. Then watch it again, without subtitles, with a pencil and paper, and write down the words you don’t know. Watch it a third time.

Best damn vocabulary exercise i ever discovered.

11

Also, switch your internal monologue (if you have one) to German. Das ist, wie ich ein bischen Deutsch noch sprechen kann (I think. I hate subordinate clauses) even though I took my last German class 10 years ago. I always talk to myself in German, occasionally looking up words as I go. It helps to keep the language close to mind. I’m also lucky in that I work retail – I have a couple of regular customers who are native German speakers and we try to converse in German when I run into them.

I also third everyone’s recommendation to listen to as much spoken German as possible. Books, music, movies, anything. On occasion, I’ll watch the Deutsche-Welle Journal that’s broadcast on my local PBS station just to see how much of it I can puzzle out.

12

Ach, ich vergaß! Viel Glück aus Florida!

13

What everybody else said: Expose yourself to German a lot. Get hold of German magazines and newspapers. At first, you won’t understand much, but keep plugging. Get a good German-English dictionary to help you along.