Bouncing Back After Failed Exam

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MaggieMae
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Re: Bouncing Back After Failed Exam

Postby MaggieMae » Fri May 13, 2022 12:02 am

Cavesa wrote:So, perhaps your everyday interactions could be enriched by some activities that are no longer part of your everyday life, but used to be during your formative years. So, don't rely on texting people and doing mock exams, try writing stuff as if you were a germanophone highschooler. Don't focus just on exam-like reading, but read stuff a normally educated germanophone could be interested in and leave your comfort zone. Not sure my examples are clear enough to give you the idea.


No, this is perfect. I've been reading young adult books for a couple months now, some even suggested by my 6th Graders, I just really need the push to finish them. And with writing, the essay portion of the C2 is nearly identical to a lot of 5 paragraph theme essays that I had to write in high school, so that helps. My problem right now is that I write them like an English speaker, not like a German speaker. My teacher is often confused with what I'm trying to write. :lol:

Cavesa wrote:Yeah, the "comprehension" tasks are sometimes more "telepathy" tasks. :-D


And I HATE that! :cry: :cry: :cry:

Cavesa wrote:I think you want the exam, this thread really looks like it! And it will be awesome! Imagine the feeling, when you'll have received your C2 passing results! A proof that all that hard work paid off and you are absolutely badass!!!


Want is a strong word... if it were up to me, I wouldn't do it. But I want to teach, and the international schools are way too hard to get a foot in the door, unless you've got a decade of experience or more. And my license expires in 2024, without any chance of renewal at this point, whereas Swiss licenses never expire. So I have to do it, I have to do it well, and I have to do it quickly.

But you're right, when (not if) I get that C2, I'm going to feel like I can understand EVERYTHING. And then my husband will switch to Swiss German just to be mean, but I will have had those few moments of glory! ;)
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Re: Bouncing Back After Failed Exam

Postby IronMike » Fri May 13, 2022 12:40 am

Failure is an opportunity to learn and grow. As Jocko says when his guys tell him they failed: Good. It's good to fail because it means a) you pushed yourself to attempt something hard and b) you will learn from it.

My non-language hobby is marathon swimming, which is open water swimming 10 kilometers or farther. I think I'm at 40% DNF (did not finish) of my attempted marathon swims. But from every one of my failures I learned so much about the sport and, more importantly, I learned so much about myself. About my limits. About my abilities.

In my professional life, I mentor folks who have some language capabilities, as I've been taking the USG language tests since 1987. I always tell them: take the test. At the very least, you learn how the test is structured and can prepare yourself for next year.

You took that test and missed passing by a mere 2 points. You probably learned a lot about your preparation, and surely learned about the test. All positive points in your development, so: congrats!
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Re: Bouncing Back After Failed Exam

Postby BeaP » Fri May 13, 2022 8:58 am

I've done the reading part of the model exam. https://www.goethe.de/pro/relaunch/prf/materialien/C2/c2_modellsatz.pdf
Don't worry, it wasn't just to help you, I was curious. My German level is B2 certified. I passed the exam almost 30 years ago, I haven't really learned German after that. I've been preparing for a Spanish C2 exam.
My score: 30/29. I had one mistake in the first task. After rereading the paragraphs, it was clear for me that I made a mistake. I didn't pay enough attention.
I had a lot of unknown words, sometimes I didn't understand whole sentences. However, I was able to figure out the right answer. Exam techniques are crucial. General reading skills are a huge advantage: knowing how texts are usually structured, how to find information quickly without rereading everything (skimming). Note-taking, highlighting. Identification of key words and logical elements.

My remarks:
The biggest difficulty of the test is the time factor. You have to do a lot of mock tests to become really quick. Even if you know every word, there's no time to read the texts multiple times. Confidence, focus is a must. Practicality is very important: highlight, underline, write the 'topic' beside each paragraph on the margin. Develop your own system of signs.
Task 1.
It's very long, the statements are also long, but they're in order. Start with the statements. Read the first trio, read the first paragraph. If you're absolutely sure that a statement is incorrect, put a cross beside it, you won't have time to go back and read it again. Try to keep the time frame. If you don't know something, put an exclamation mark beside the question, come back to it later, if you have time.
Task 2.
Summary of paragraphs: that was really easy, although the text itself was difficult and boring. Read one paragraph of the text, look through the possibilities, choose the right one. Go on to the next paragraph.
Task 3.
Look for the cohesive elements at the beginning end the end of the paragraphs: pronouns, connectors. E.g.: Keiner dieser möglischen Auswirkungen - 'diese' refers to something in the previous paragraphs - which paragraph has a list of 'möglichen Auswirkungen' at the end? Another example: Deshalb lautet ... - why? what can be the reason for this thing that's given at the end of a paragraph? Underline these words, they're very important.
Task 4.
You don't really have time to read the texts even once. Go straight for the statements, read them all, and start skimming. Circle, highlight anything that is connected to the topics. If you have time to check your answers or go back to difficult questions, these markings help a lot and save time.

If you find this useful and have questions, feel free to ask. I hope some other members will become interested, do the test and reflect on their score. It would be a good and useful experiment. Remember that my result is just one, however, it might help.
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Re: Bouncing Back After Failed Exam

Postby zenmonkey » Fri May 13, 2022 9:19 am

MaggieMae wrote:@BeaP I also have the Klett and Hueber books for C2. I haven't started on those yet, but I did use the Klett C1 book to prepare for C1. I do love how they explain everything in there. For C2, I'm also using Endstation C2 and Erkundungen C2 to learn the necessary material. I'll likely be taking C2 in the fall.


Just a quick comment since you've already gotten some great advice.

Remember that these tests also have a subjective aspect and statically speaking you could take the test over and pass the next time without any additional knowledge. So don't beat up yourself on what you know. Plan, take your C2 and you'll get there.

And I love the Klett books - I used those for my exam prep for B1 and B2 and have the C1 book (somewhere - I won't' be taking further tests in the near future). My daughter is using the Klett C1 for her test prep.

Good luck in the fall!
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Re: Bouncing Back After Failed Exam

Postby Cavesa » Fri May 13, 2022 9:37 am

MaggieMae wrote:
Cavesa wrote:So, perhaps your everyday interactions could be enriched by some activities that are no longer part of your everyday life, but used to be during your formative years. So, don't rely on texting people and doing mock exams, try writing stuff as if you were a germanophone highschooler. Don't focus just on exam-like reading, but read stuff a normally educated germanophone could be interested in and leave your comfort zone. Not sure my examples are clear enough to give you the idea.


No, this is perfect. I've been reading young adult books for a couple months now, some even suggested by my 6th Graders, I just really need the push to finish them. And with writing, the essay portion of the C2 is nearly identical to a lot of 5 paragraph theme essays that I had to write in high school, so that helps. My problem right now is that I write them like an English speaker, not like a German speaker. My teacher is often confused with what I'm trying to write. :lol:


Not sure whether YA is the answer, it might actually be a step back at your level. Tons of YA literature, that is a rather new boom, with some advantages (the well written ones are an excellent new light genre for natives and for intermediate learners) but also some disadvantages (I really hate how some labels and their marketing are sort of confining readers and stopping them from exploring the wider options, and I am afraid the huge boom of YA is doing that. And YA is not enough at C2, it can be just a part of the reading). When I was a teen (not a germanophone one, but this is a much more universal thing), the obligatory reading list (that always had more options to choose from but common topics etc) made me read 14-20 books a year just for school. Classics, modern, various. And any sort of fun books (including what is now called YA) was on top of that, like 5 books a month. That's the kind of amount and variety that really helps at the high levels of language learning, just like it helped create me the person I am in the native language.

Also a highly underestimated thing for language learners are non language coursebooks, or similar literature. Have you read some popular physics book or a coursebook for highschoolers? The point is not to make you a physicist, but to put you on par with people, who had basic physics classes up to high school and are likely to discuss a new energy source or something like that in a pub or by a coffee during a break at work. I know the exams often feel too humanities oriented, but it's not all there is to the basic education in the new language. One should have some basic idea about how to talk popular physics, geography, history, basic maths, computer stuff, popular biology etc. And the way these are presented in resources for language learners is just the top of the iceberg.

Cavesa wrote:I think you want the exam, this thread really looks like it! And it will be awesome! Imagine the feeling, when you'll have received your C2 passing results! A proof that all that hard work paid off and you are absolutely badass!!!


Want is a strong word... if it were up to me, I wouldn't do it. But I want to teach, and the international schools are way too hard to get a foot in the door, unless you've got a decade of experience or more. And my license expires in 2024, without any chance of renewal at this point, whereas Swiss licenses never expire. So I have to do it, I have to do it well, and I have to do it quickly.

But you're right, when (not if) I get that C2, I'm going to feel like I can understand EVERYTHING. And then my husband will switch to Swiss German just to be mean, but I will have had those few moments of glory! ;)[/quote]

It doesn't matter what exactly is the reason for which you want the exam. People sometimes pretend that the default reason is need for an exam, not love for the language or exam. :-D Whatever it is, the reason just needs to be strong enough, and yours looks very solid! Good luck!
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Re: Bouncing Back After Failed Exam

Postby alaart » Fri May 13, 2022 9:48 am

In Japanese (also in Korean and Chinese) there is a saying that roughly translates to: Failing is the mother of all success. (成功は失敗の元)

In German we say: "Es ist noch kein Meister vom Himmel gefallen." (No master has suddenly appeared from the sky) and "Übung macht den Meister" (practice makes masters). - so mastery takes time and practice, and failing is a part of it.

I understand that failing hurts (I actually too failed my last Japanese proficiency exam by 2 missing points, and I have failed many other exams), and I would get even more nervous than you in a similar situation. So I'm in no way free of this. I usually have some down time where I stop studying, where I'm sulking do something else or where I'm otherwise occupied with myself. Then at a later point I'll start again, sometimes with more motivation and determination, sometimes with less if I decided that I overreacted.

I'd recommend you take a small break even while you are on a schedule or timer. Maybe 1 week without learning, maybe just 3 days - what ever works. You will recover the lost learning time with a fresh mind and will make up for it.

Go into the forest or on top of a mountain (since you are in Switzerland). Reflect a bit, and think about what you have achieved and if and why this particular goal is so essential for your self-evaluation. Then maybe about if it is worth stressing yourself so much about it, or if it is ok to take longer. Or if you absolutely have and want to succeed now you can think about what went wrong and how you could improve.

This is pseudo-advice but it would be what I would do. Hope it is helpful somehow.

Best of luck with your exam, I have helped a Japanese friend some years ago prepare for the Goethe-C1 (she also failed) and I was really surprised how anyone would be able to pass this easily, especially since there was like a proverb section where you basically had to know a thing or two about the Bible in German.

P.S. Here is my failed Japanese exam (90 points to pass), so you are not alone.
JLPT2 Result.png
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MaggieMae
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Re: Bouncing Back After Failed Exam

Postby MaggieMae » Sat May 14, 2022 5:58 pm

Oh wow, so much to reply to! Thank you all! I'll try to get to everyone! I love all the advice in here!

@IronMike: Thank you. I really needed to be reminded of that. We don't learn without making mistakes, and every experience teaches us something.

@BeaP: Thanks for the tips, I'll definitely use them! I've only just started learning what's required on the C2. It's sooooo much different from the C1 that I failed, but I feel like it's actually grading me on what I'm understanding instead of trying to figure out exactly what word they want me to write. I feel like I'll do better on this level, once I get my skills up to par.

@Zenmonkey: Absolutely! I'm glad to hear you've also had success with the Klett books!

@Cavesa: I can see that. Even in English, I've always gravitated toward YA books for my pleasure reading. But you're absolutely right, if I grab some textbooks, there's a ton I could learn from that, since I'd already be familiar with the concepts. It's how we learned these terms in our native language, after all.

@alaart: It's good to hear I'm not alone, even if it stinks that you failed your exam, too. We'll definitely do better next time! The quote about masters falling from the sky reminds me of a TwoSet Violin tshirt that I really wanted (and was sad to find out it was discontinued). On the front, it said, "Geniuses are born, not created," and on the back it said, "Just kidding. Now go practice!"

Thank you all again! I love how supportive everyone here is! <3
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Re: Bouncing Back After Failed Exam

Postby Lawyer&Mom » Sat May 14, 2022 8:53 pm

I’ve found that native high school textbooks and college entrance exam preparation books (Abitur, Baccalaureate etc.) are a great language learning resource. They use high level vocabulary, but the texts are a bit more straight forward than college level books. I have some Abitur prep-books in German that give a great overview of literature, history etc. (It’s sort of depressing how much higher the level is than what *I* was taught in high school, but still easier than college!) I know there are also science and math review books too. Good luck!
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Re: Bouncing Back After Failed Exam

Postby MaggieMae » Sun May 15, 2022 11:11 am

Lawyer&Mom wrote:I’ve found that native high school textbooks and college entrance exam preparation books (Abitur, Baccalaureate etc.) are a great language learning resource.


Another thing I hadn't considered! Thank you so much!
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Re: Bouncing Back After Failed Exam

Postby Lawyer&Mom » Sun May 15, 2022 6:18 pm

Looked at my book shelf and found more to recommend. Haven’t used either, but the green one looks particularly full of good information.

41C85CFB-9E90-4C69-A6E8-A9069E9C0BBE.jpeg
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