10 Tips for 'A/S' Success

1. Write on alternate lines !

2. Read the question carefully and do exactly what it asks for - summarise, criticise, offer reasons whatever. If not you will lose marks.

3. Letter writing: - Address it properly

( Lieber Johannes ! / Lieber Herr Schmidt / Liebe Suzi ! / Liebe Frau Ospelt ! or sehr geehrte Damen und Herren ! ).

4. Write at least 100 words or you will only be able to get 2/3 of the marks.

5. You need both comprehension points from the stimulus and also some personal reaction to get a good mark for communication. Therefore read the text and extract the relevant points with a luminous marker. Don't forget you can never use more than 6 words in order from the text / tape - so try as much as possible to rephrase. Keep it simple too !

6. Verbs
Be consistent with DU and SIE and check your verb endings....
Watch man vs Mann
Check less commom things like the imperatives of DU or get your modals out !

7. See if you can get a passive and a conditional (Wennsätze) in there somewhere. Try out some weil or dass clauses and get the verb at the end.

8. General Language points : verbs / (possessive) adjectives and cases. At the very least, be consistent and wrong rather than all over the place. Try and nail those adjective endings. It might sound patronising, but don't forget the CAPITALS on your nouns.

9. Have some useful letter phrases ready to deploy and make your own collection. Here are some to start you off !

Vielen Dank für Deinen letzten Brief, den ich gestern bekommen habe.
Ich habe gerade diesen Artikel gelesen, und habe an Dich gedacht, weil .....
Ich finde, diese Idee ist unglaublich / wahnsinnig / schwachsinnig / toll usw., weil ....

10. Have some useful opinion phrases ready to deploy and make your own collection. Here are some to start you off !

Ich bin der Meinung, dass es eine fantastische Idee ist, weil
Meiner Meinung nach ...
Es wäre eine tolle Lösung
Ich glaube... / ich glaube, dass ....... vb
....in Betracht ziehen
Laut + DAT / Nach + DAT