National German Exam
What is it?
The National German Exam is an exam given each year by the AATG. It is designed for German students with two or more years of German courses. Students who score above the 90th percentile are eligible to win an all-expenses-paid study trip to Germany.
Testing Chair
Walter Grom is the testing chair for the Hudson Valley chapter. His contact information can be found on the Officers page.
The Exam
The AATG offers three different exams: one for second year students, one for third year students, and one for fourth year students. All three exams consist of both a listening section and reading section. Students must complete short conversations and read and comprehend longer passages.
Prizes
Students who score at or above the 90th percentile nationally are eligible to enter to win a study trip prize from AATG/PAD. Students selected for this prestigious award spend about a month in Germany living with a family, attending school, and participating in field trips. These trips are paid for by the Federal Republic of Germany through the Pedagogical Exchange Service. The Hudson Valley Chapter has had several students in the past years selected for this prize.
In addition, students who score at or above the 70th percentile nationally receive a certificate from the local chapter. In past years, the Hudson Valley Chapter has presented students who score at or above this mark with various German items including pins and gummibears.
Grammatical Specifications
The AATG national website lists the following grammar specifications for each level:
| Level 2 | Level 3 | Level 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Article and Case | -formation and use of definite article in N, A -use of D after preposition -formation and use of indefinite article in N, A -use of D after preposition -ein-words |
-definite articles in Dative (as indirect object) and Genitive -indefinite articles in Dative (as indirect object) and Genitive der-words |
|
| Adjectives | -predicative -comparison: as appropriate for beginners (cont. at level 3) -endings in very common formulas such as "guten Tag", "liebe/r Tante/Onkel" |
-comparison: complete | -weak endings -strong endings -attributive vs. adverbial use -used as nouns |
| Adverbs | -time expressions: as appropriate for beginners (continued at level 3 and 4) | -in 1st position -time expressions: as appropriate for this level -meaning of some adverbs of place and manner (order of adverbs not tested) -some differentiation of location vs. motion spatial adverbs (also in level 4) |
|
| Nouns | -plurals: as appropriate for beginners (continued at levels 3 and 4) -genders: natural gender, agent nouns in -er, common fem. endings, "Mädchen" |
-plurals: as appropriate for this level (also at levels 2 and 4) -genders: as appropriate for this level |
-n-nouns (weak nouns) -genders |
| Pronouns | -personal pronouns in N, A -"er, sie" reference to inanimate objects -indefinite pronouns: "man" [no "einen, einem"] and forms identical to article -demonstrative in N, A -interrogative in N |
-personal pronouns in Dative -relative pronouns in Nominative -interrogative pronouns in Acc., Dat. -demonstrative pronouns in Dat. |
-possessive pronouns (within reason) -interrogative pronouns in Genitive -relative pronouns in Accusative, Dative, Genitive -indefinite pronouns |
| Verbs | -present tense: all personal endings, vowel change -modal auxiliaries: present [includes "möchte"] -imperatives without vowel change -pres. perf. (wk., str., mix.): as appropriate for beginners (cont. at levels 3 and 4) -"hatte, war" as vocabulary items and for basic manipulation tense -auxiliaries: "haben/ sein" -dative verbs: "helfen, danken, gefallen" -reflexive verbs as appropriate for beginners (cont. at 3 & 4) -impersonal verbs: weather expressions, "es gibt" -infinitives without "zu" with modal verbs -past participles should be understood in comprehension as appropriate for level |
-pres. perf. (wk., str., mix.): as appropriate for this level (also at levels 2 and 4) -modal auxiliaries: simple past -simple past: comprehension only, exc. very common forms (e.g. "war, hatte" some modals) -imperatives with vowel change -future tense -separable and insep. prefixes (including word order) -conditions contrary to fact: recognition of "hätte, wäre, würde" -past participles should be understood in comprehension as appropriate for level -impersonal verbs: as appropriate for this level (also at levels 2 and 4) -dative verbs: as appropriate for this level (also at 2 & 4) -reflexive verbs: as appropriate for this level (also at 2 and 4) |
-pres. perf. (wk., str., mix.): as appropriate for this level (also at levels 2 and 3) -simple past, active knowledge -infinitives with "zu" (no "brauchen") -past participles: should be understood in reading -present participles: should be understood in reading -modal auxiliaries: perfect tenses, double infinitive (within reason) -passive voice: (present, past, pres. perf.) -Conditions contrary to fact -present subjunctive: active use of "hätte, wäre, würde" and frequent modals -past subjunctive (basic construction) -subjunctive wishes -indirect discourse: recognition -impersonal verbs as appropriate for this level (also in 3) -dative verbs as appropriate for this level (also in 3) -reflexive verbs as appropriate for this level (also in 2 and 3) |
| Prepositions | -dative prepositions as appropriate -accusative prepositions as appropriate -meaning recognition of common mixed prepositions |
-dative prepositions and accusative prepositions (all common ones) -mixed prepositions (continued in 4) -prepositional compounds: "da-" compounds active; "wo-" compounds recognition |
-mixed prepositions (also in 3) -verbs with certain prepositions (list to be proposed) |
| Conjunctions | -"und, oder, aber, daß, weil" (including word order) | -conjunctions as appropriate for this level (also at levels 2 and 4) | -all (within reason) |
| Word Order | -main clause and simple dependent clause | -main clause: inversion dependent clause placement of noun and pronoun objects | -all (within reason) |
| Verb-Noun Combinations | -Will be rare | -Will be rare | -as appropriate for this level |
| Idioms | -Will be rare | -Will be rare | -as appropriate for this level |
| Use of Correct Words | -As appropriate | -As appropriate | -as appropriate for this level |
| Time Expressions | -as appropriate for level | -as appropriate for level | -as appropriate for level |
| Numbers | -cardinal numbers -some ordinal numbers, but no adjective endings |
||
| Flavoring Particles | -"denn, doch, mal" | -"wohl" | |
Adapted from: http://aatg.org/student-programs/32-national-german-exam/562-grammar
Page updated: 04 January 2011