Healthy Lifestyles: Exam Skills (AQA GCSE German): Revision Note

You hear an interview on Austrian radio with two health experts. What two pieces of advice does each expert give? Write the correct letters in the boxes.

• Expert 1:

• Expert 2:

Answers:

• Expert 1: D, C

Exercise is very important for health. You should go to the gym at the weekend or go hiking. I also recommend drinking lots of water.

• Expert 2: A, E

The day has to start with a good breakfast. Also, smoking is very bad for your health - you should avoid it.

• Use the five minutes' reading time before the listening exam starts to think about and/or note down possible German vocabulary for each option

• This helps you listen out for key words when the recording plays

• Remember that the speakers may not use exactly the words in the options - they might express the same idea differently

• Always listen to the whole extract before deciding on your answers

Foundation tier

You are talking to your German friend about health and fitness. Prepare the following role-play.

1. Say how often you do sport. (Give one detail.)

2. Say one activity you do to stay healthy.

3. Give one opinion about fast food.

4. Say what you like to drink. (Give one detail.)

5. ? Ask your friend a question about smoking.

Answer:

Here are some example responses.

1. Ich treibe oft Sport. I often do sport.

2. Ich gehe joggen. I go jogging.

3. Obst und Gemüse sind sehr gesund. Fruit and vegetables are very healthy.

4. Ich trinke gern Wasser. I like drinking water.

5. Rauchst du? Do you smoke?

Higher tier

You are talking to your German friend about health and fitness. Prepare the following role-play.

1. Say two things you do to keep fit.

2. Say how often and when you do exercise.

3. Say what you have drunk and eaten today. (Give two details.)

4. Give your opinion of smoking and say why it is dangerous. (Give one opinion and one reason.)

5. ? Ask your friend a question about their diet.

Answer:

Here are some example responses.

1. Ich schwimme regelmäßig und spiele manchmal Fußball. I swim regularly and sometimes play football.

2. Ich bewege mich dreimal pro Woche, meistens am Abend. I exercise three times a week, mostly in the evening.

3. Ich habe viel Wasser getrunken und heute Morgen habe ich Obst gegessen. I drank lots of water and I ate fruit this morning.

4. Rauchen ist sehr schlecht, weil es gefährlich für die Gesundheit ist. Smoking is very bad because it is dangerous for your health.

5. Wie ist deine Ernährung? What is your diet like?

• At Foundation tier, each task only needs one piece of information and a verb - keep it short and accurate

• At Higher tier, some tasks ask for two details or an opinion with a reason, so make sure you give enough information

• A response without a verb cannot score full marks

• Notice how the Higher sample answer for task 3 uses the perfect tense (habe getrunken, habe gegessen) - this is exactly the kind of grammar that impresses examiners

A German teenager called Lena has written a blog about her lifestyle. Answer the questions in English.

Ich versuche gesund zu leben. Ich esse jeden Tag Obst und Gemüse und trinke viel Wasser. Ich gehe nie ins Fast-Food-Restaurant, weil ich finde, dass das Essen dort sehr ungesund ist. Am Wochenende gehe ich mit meiner Freundin laufen - das macht uns beiden Spaß und ist gut für die Fitness.

Leider schlafe ich manchmal nicht genug, weil ich zu lange am Handy bin. Ich weiß, dass das schlecht für die Gesundheit ist. Nächsten Monat möchte ich früher ins Bett gehen und zweimal pro Woche schwimmen gehen.

1. Give two things Lena does to eat and drink healthily. [2 marks]

2. Why does she never go to a fast food restaurant? [1 mark]

3. What does she do at the weekend and with whom? [2 marks]

4. Name one unhealthy habit that she mentions. [1 mark]

5. What two things does she want to do next month? [2 marks]

Answers:
Here are the correct answers:

1. She eats fruit and vegetables every day [1] and drinks lots of water [1]
   Ich esse jeden Tag Obst und Gemüse und trinke viel Wasser.

2. She thinks the food there is very unhealthy
   ... weil ich finde, dass das Essen dort sehr ungesund ist

3. She goes running [1] with her friend [1]
   Am Wochenende gehe ich mit meiner Freundin laufen

4. She sometimes does not sleep enough / she is on her phone too long
   Leider schlafe ich manchmal nicht genug, weil ich zu lange am Handy bin

5. She wants to go to bed earlier [1] and go swimming twice a week [1]
   früher ins Bett gehen und zweimal pro Woche schwimmen gehen

• When answering reading comprehension questions in English, your answers do not need to be written as full sentences - concise, accurate answers are perfectly acceptable.

• Pay close attention to how many marks each question is worth: a two-mark question needs two pieces of information

You are writing an article about your lifestyle for a German school magazine. Write approximately 90 words in German. You must write something about each bullet point.

Describe:

• what you do to stay healthy

• what you did last week to keep fit

• your plans for a healthier lifestyle in the future

Answer:

Here is an example response of 83 words.

Ich versuche aktiv zu sein und mich regelmäßig zu bewegen. Ich treibe oft Sport und gehe dreimal pro Woche ins Fitnessstudio. Ich finde, dass Bewegung sehr wichtig für meine Gesundheit ist.

Letzte Woche bin ich mit meinem Freund spazieren gegangen und wir haben auch zusammen ein gesundes Essen gekocht - das hat uns viel Spaß gemacht.

In der Zukunft möchte ich mehr joggen und nicht so oft faul zu Hause sitzen. Ich weiß, dass ich mehr Energie haben werde, wenn ich sportlicher bin.

I try to be active and exercise regularly. I do sport often and go to the gym three times a week. I think that exercise is very important for my health.

Last week I went for a walk with my friend and we also cooked a healthy meal together - that was a lot of fun.

In the future I would like to jog more and not sit lazily at home so often. I know that I will have more energy when I am more sporty.

• The three bullet points in the 90-word task always require three tenses - present, past, future

• Make sure you use the right tense for each one - present tense for what you do now, the perfect tense for what you did in the past, and möchten + infinitive or werden + infinitive for future plans

• Tick off each bullet point as you cover it, and always check your work carefully once you have finished