How to Study for a German Language Placement Test

The placement test for the Fall 2008 German course is coming up in a few days, and I've been studying. They told me you shouldn't study for a placement test, but I really don't want to be stuck going over basics for a whole semester.

Here's what I've been doing to prepare:

Listening
Listen to Austrian talk radio. Ö1 Inforadio is a great news channel with lots of information and talk, you can click through and start streaming it right now if you want.

I need to listen more. In addition to good practice, it's a good gauge of my ability. I listened to it a few months back and didn't understand as much as when I tune in now.

Reading
I've been reading a children's book in German called Der kleine Nick. It's a German translation of the original French childrens' book called Le Petit Nicolas. It's simple, and funny, and the chapters are short. The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zietung called it, "Das beste Kinderbuch der Welt." Good enough for me!

Sure, even at this level the German is formidable. On a first read, I can only understand about 40% of what's going on. But my strategy for unpacking each chapter is simple and works really well: first, I note down each vocabulary word I don't know, about 70-90 words per chapter. Then I blow through my vocabulary list using the online German dictionary Leo.org, writing down all the definitions in my notebook. Then I study and try to memorize all the words. Then I read the chapter again and understand almost everything, at least 90%. It is very, very gratifying.

Plus, there's pictures. So click here to pick up a copy on Amazon.com right now and you'll be reading German in no time at all.

Grammar
I found excellent online charts of the four German cases and copied them into my notebook. I learned these in college but really need to freshen up, and About.com's charts are the best ever.

Speaking
I've been speaking to locals in German a little, but there are two reasons I don't think it will be so helpful for my placement test. First, the German dialect in Austria is so different from the high German that will be taught and tested at the university. Second, my grammar is really bad and while it's good to improvise and practice speaking, people don't correct my mistakes and worse yet I could be reinforcing some bad habits.

Now, my test is on Wednesday. If anyone has any more study tips please drop them in the comments below, and don't be shy!

Austrian Fascist Hearts Che Guevarra

Time Magazine covers the upcoming Austrian elections and profiles the hard right's rising star Heinz-Christian Strache:

Though he has built his career on dire warnings about the dangers of foreigners, Strache poses on his website as Che Guevara, donning the rebel's trademark beret and highlighting the last three letters of his name for anyone who misses the point. He praises Venezuela's left-wing demagogue Hugo Chavez and, in his campaign rap "Viva HC!", chants "Yes-We-Can" (in English), a reference to the campaign slogan of Barack Obama. That's an odd choice given that Strache is urging that some African immigrants be deported. "Austria! First!" he sings, backed by an unsettling crowd chant. "Our Homeland! Our people! Our culture! Our language! Is what I stand for, HC Strache!"

The Austrian right, including the party led by Jörg Haider, whose favorable comments about Adolf Hitler's policies led to international condemnation a decade ago, could garner 25% of the vote when polls open on September 28.

German Course in Klagenfurt, Austria

I signed up for a German course today at the University of Klagenfurt, Austria. It cost 216 Euros (right now, that's US $305).

It's not an intensive course, just a regular "learn German" course that will last a whole semester from October to February. There will be two classes a week, each three hours long. If I want to I can pay a 33 to 100 Euros more for a supplementary course in conversation, grammar, phonetics, business German or test prep, but I probably won't because six hours a week is enough to spend in class.

All I needed to sign up was my passport and a wad of cash. I rolled out of bed, walked downstairs and over to the enrollment office next door, about 10 minutes before the office closed at 12pm.

After signing up, I asked the lady if she had any tips on how to study for the placement test. She looked surprised and said it's not something that you study for, it's just a test you take so the instructors know which level course to place you in.

I told her that I'd studied German in college so I'd rather get into the most challenging course. She said I'd do fine, and then to demonstrate she spoke to me in well pronounced high German and I understood 90% of it. She said something like, "you can already speak and listen in German, so your test will reflect that."

At this point I experienced a flicker of buyer's remorse. Do I even need a German course? Perhaps my regret was the outcome of her botched attempt at flattery. But then again I didn't really get the sense that she was trying to flatter me. In fact she'd been mostly cold, formal and impersonal the whole time.

Which made it all the more surprising when she followed up in English by saying, "you know, the best way to learn German is to fall in luhv."

Really, that's how she said it. A smoldering, baritone, "luuuhv". Kinda strange. Well, I do that often enough but it doesn't seem to help with learning German ;-) So I guess it's best that I take this German course.

The university's brochure says there are six different German Course levels (each with a strange name in English):

A1 | Grundstufe I | Breakthrough Level
A2 | Grundstufe II | Waystage Level
B1 | Mittelstufe I | Threshold Level
B2 | Mittelstufe II | Vantage Level
C1 | Oberstufe I | Proficiency Level
C2 | Oberstufe II | Mastery Level

Obviously, I want to get into the "Mastery Level". If I can do that I'll glide through original Nietzsche and stuff (I hope).

Realistically, though, I might test into "Proficiency Level" or even "Vantage Level".

If I test into "Waystage Level", I will cry.