It’s the last day of 2016 and as much as I think that nothing grand happened for me this year, I am very grateful for the gift of life!
Today I will be talking about the best way to get ready for the Einbürgerungstest!
When I registered for the language class, I met a lot of people who told me that I would have to write the nationality test two maybe three times before I make it.
They made it seem like rocket science and to be quite honest, it scared me.
We all know what fear can do. It either makes you or break you and the choice is yours. How do you want to be affected by fear?
I’m going to list out the things I did, that helped me ace my test just the one time I wrote it. For this test, you are required to answer 17 out of 33 questions right to pass it.
The Einbürgerungstest is one of the requirements for applying for German citizenship. So you can imagine the hype it gets and with good reason too!
A co worker who has lived in Germany for over 20 years has been trying to apply but because she hasn’t passed the test, she’s never going to get it. Her complain being why should she learn something that half the German locals don’t even know!
So anyways, check my list and follow me on Instagram to talk about what you did to ace yours.
1) Don’t Just Attend Classes
One of the best things you can do to help you pass the test is to attend your language classes. As long as you registered to write the test, most of the questions you would come across will be taught in class. The fun thing about it is that depending on your teacher, you would most likely get conversational and talk about the differences between the German system and that of your country’s. My Lehrerin did a lot of teacher talk and she helped make a lot of what she taught quite sticky so it was easy to answer the questions we faced during the actual test day. Another thing she did was practice the test with us. All of the 330 or so questions can be found online so she would with the help of a projector, go through as many questions as time allowed with us. This helped me a great deal because I never missed a class except it was an emergency!
2) Practice On Your Own
As I said earlier, all 330+ questions are online. So what I used to do days before I had to go in for the test was go online and try to answer all the questions. The questions you would get are random and only 33 so there is no way whatsoever of knowing which questions you get. Like my fellow Nigerians would say…Cram. But the truth is when you take the online test over and over and over again, the questions and answers stick in your head and won’t go anywhere! I kept on answering the questions over and over until I got a result I was happy with. There is no way your teacher would cover all the topics which is why the questions being online help a great deal.
3) Get A Study Buddy
The questions and answers are also available for printing out and studying if online isn’t your thing. So having a partner to go through all questions is really helpful. I didn’t actually do this because the girl I wanted to study with was not interested. The reason I wanted to study with her was because the teacher partnered us (usually, two students go in together to sit before the examiners)for the speech test. And the speech test was a day before the Einbürgerungstest. The idea was to allot a time for each test so we are prepped. Our Lehrerin’s reason for pairing us was because she wanted to give everyone a chance to pass. Her point being that two really good students should not go in together.(I had wanted to go in with the other English speaker who was great in class too) The one good student can help the not very good student during the speech test which wasn’t a bad idea. The funny thing was that all the bad students were not interested in actually learning the language. The truth is that sometimes, learning with a partner can help boost your chances. Another truth is that you cannot force anyone to do anything. Especially when it comes to learning. So if you do get a chance, grab a mate who is as dedicated maybe even more than you in learning and study all 330+ questions, compare class notes and passing won’t be just a dream!
4) Don’t Listen To Past Failers(no that’s not an actual word!)
You will most definitely come across people as I did who will tell you that the test is very hard and no one can pass it once. Well we know for a fact that this is a big fat lie. I got 31 out of 33 questions right and on my first attempt so hey. These people will put the fear of God in you and try to convince you that this test is very difficult to pass. Do. Not. Under. Any. Circumstance. Listen. To. Them. They are lazy, not interested in integration and do not care about learning new things. The one major thing they have in common is wanting to get a German citizenship. How do you get this if you won’t do the things required of you? Sure the language is very difficult and hell, even the locals have a huge problem with the bloody articles. But it’s an amazing thing to integrate into a new culture. One that has become your home. You don’t expect the govt to make accommodation for ibibio, Igbo, Efik, Yoruba, Hausa etc translations. Who you be na? Plus why the hell should that be done? Learn the freaking language and make your life easy.
I remember one time a German friend who had spent a few years working in Lagos tried to convince me to use my holiday to learn German. At the time, I never thought I would end up living here so I didn’t see the pressing need to learn the language. He kept on trying to convince me and so I asked him if he could speak Yoruba and he’s like why should I? Errrm you were there for a few years working. Why shouldn’t you?!
People are here for various reasons so their needs according to integration are priotized. I had the classmates who just wanted the papers so they could apply for citizenship. I had the ones who were just there because it was the requirement for a residence permit. Hell I was there so I could get a residence permit too but this is my life now. I won’t get to speak or hear English all the time. My life is German now so it would do me a great deal of good to integrate and language acquisition is the greatest part of integration. The Baker doesn’t speak English. My dentist doesn’t either. Oh my bills don’t come in English. When we do have kids, I won’t have to be waiting on Liebhaber to come home and read a letter from the school or worse, wait on my kids to grow so they become my Übersetzer or is that Dolmetscher???!!!
So that’s basically it. As you can see, it’s not that difficult indeed. I do not have any sort of flare for languages. I cannot speak ibo and my ibibio is as dead as a mummy. But here I am, trying my bloody best to perfect my Deutsch not just because I have to, but also because I would like to. One of my new year’s resolution is to not speak English except with my sister and friends who aren’t German. I want to be fluent in Deutsch by December and the only way I know how is to speak it more!
Merry Christmas y’all and please, stay safe this Silvester Nacht!
