Reading aloud
Reading a short text aloud so a German speaker understands every word, then talking about it.
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Reading aloud, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Know how the read-aloud task works and is marked
With AQA it is the second part of the speaking test, worth 15 marks: you read a short German text aloud (at least 35 words at Foundation, 50 at Higher), then answer four set questions on its topic. The reading earns up to 5 marks for pronunciation, and the four answers up to 10, marked together. With Edexcel it opens the test and is worth 12: a text of 35 to 40 words in five sentences at Foundation, or 50 to 55 in four at Higher, read aloud for up to 8 marks for pronunciation, then two short questions asking for your likes, dislikes or opinions in the present, worth up to 2 marks each.
Prepare the text during preparation time
With AQA you see the text in your preparation time but may not read it aloud there, so practise it in your head; Edexcel lets you try it aloud in the last minute. Mark the sounds that catch people out: every ei and ie, every umlaut, every w, v and z, and every sp or st at the start of a word.
Get the sounds the text is built to test
The text is written to test the sound-symbol rules in the specification. Words like Zeit, spielen, Wasser, schön, für, Straße, ich and Buch are there on purpose, so those sounds matter most. Keep long vowels long and short vowels short: Staat and Stadt differ only in that.
Keep the meaning clear and keep going
The mark weighs minor errors, which do not affect communication, against major ones, which do. A slightly English r is minor; saying schon (already) for schön (beautiful) changes the meaning. If you slip, say the word again calmly and carry on at a steady pace.
Stress the right syllable and follow the punctuation
Most German words are stressed on the first syllable (Schule, Freunde), but not after an inseparable prefix (besuchen, verstehen) or in many borrowed words (Musik, Theater). Pause briefly at commas and full stops, and let your voice rise at the end of a yes or no question.
Develop your answers to the questions on the text
The teacher asks the questions exactly as written: four with AQA, where the top marks need every question answered clearly with some answers extended and developed, and two with Edexcel, where each earns its marks for giving an opinion and making it clear. Add a reason, an example or something you did: Ich lese gern, weil es spannend ist. Gestern habe ich im Zug ein Buch gelesen.
Answer in the tense the question uses
Listen for the tense of each question: Was hast du letztes Wochenende gemacht? wants the perfect, Was wirst du im Sommer machen? wants the future. Start your answer with the same verb in the first person (Ich habe ..., Ich werde ...), then add an opinion. At Higher, ich würde and wenn ich ... hätte show range.
Reading aloud key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- Pronunciation
- How you say the words. In reading aloud it earns up to 5 marks with AQA and up to 8 with Edexcel, judged on how many errors there are and whether they get in the way of meaning.
- Major error
- A pronunciation slip that affects communication, such as schon for schön, which turns beautiful into already.
- Minor error
- A slip that does not affect communication, such as an English r in a word that is still clear.
- Sound-symbol correspondence
- The link between letters and sounds, such as w and the v sound. The reading-aloud text is written to test these.
- Word stress
- The syllable you say most strongly: usually the first in German (Schule), but not after be- or ver- (besuchen).
- Compulsory questions
- The questions on the text's topic that the teacher asks word for word: four with AQA, marked together out of 10, and two with Edexcel, asking for opinions in the present.
- Developed answer
- An answer with something added, such as a reason after weil, an example after zum Beispiel or something you did.
Common mistakes in Reading aloud
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Saying w, v and z as in English.
W is v, v is usually f and z is ts. Mark them in the text during preparation.
Swapping ei and ie, so Liebe sounds like Leibe.
Say the second letter in English: ei is eye, ie is ee.
Dropping the umlauts, so schön turns into schon.
A slip that changes the meaning counts as a major error. Round your lips for every ö and ü.
Rushing through the text, or stopping dead after a slip.
A steady pace keeps every sound clear. If you slip, say the word again calmly and carry on.
Giving one-word answers to the questions after the reading.
The top marks need developed answers. Add a reason with weil or denn, an example with zum Beispiel, or what you did or will do.