German C2.2: the words, the grammar and the mock exams

What C2 means

At C2 you understand virtually everything you hear or read. You can summarise information from different spoken and written sources, and express yourself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely, telling apart finer shades of meaning.

These are the levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), which the Goethe-Zertifikat and telc exams follow. Each step's words and grammar are Sogda's selection for its level.

The 20 grammar topics of C2.2

• Österreichisches und Schweizer Hochdeutsch
• Dialekt verstehen
• Jugendsprache: Mechanismen
• Neologismen und Zeitgeist
• Aussprache auf C2-Niveau
• Begriffsgeschichte
• Wirtschaftsdiskurs kritisch lesen
• Wissenschaftskommunikation
• Essayistik
• Zeichensetzung als Stilmittel
• Zweifelsfälle der Kongruenz
• Genus- und Pluralschwankungen
• Nominalkomposita
• Kohäsion auf Textsortenebene
• Redigieren
• Sprechen auf C2-Niveau
• Prüfungstraining Lesen (GDS)
• Prüfungstraining Hören und Schreiben (GDS)
• Prüfungstraining Sprechen; Modellsatz 1
• Modellsatz 2 und Lückenanalyse

The 3 mock exams

Each mock exam for C2.2 has 40 questions and two tasks, 48 points in all, with a result for each section. Like the real exams, they test listening, writing and speaking, plus vocabulary and grammar; there's no reading-comprehension part. They're generated from the step's words and grammar, not official Goethe or telc papers.

• Vocabulary: 10 questions
• Reverse (from the meaning to German): 8 questions
• Articles: 6 questions
• Word forms: 4 questions
• Gap fill: 6 questions
• Grammar: 4 questions
• Listening: 2 questions
• Writing: a text of at least 250 words
• Speaking: up to 120 seconds

25 of the 276 words

A sample from step C2.2: each word with its article and forms where it has them, its meaning in English and a pronunciation guide. The app has all 276, with examples.

eigenwillig

idiosyncratic (ambivalent) — /AI-gen-vil-lihy/

ward

became (archaic past of werden) — /VART/

das Fehlerprotokoll · Fehlerprotokolle

error log — /FAY-ler-pro-to-kol/

die Gütekriterien

quality criteria (validity, reliability, objectivity) — /GEW-tuh-kri-tay-ryen/

die Selbstironie

self-irony — /ZELPST-i-ro-nee/

abgegriffen

worn-out (of expressions) — /AP-guh-grif-fen/

heuer

this year (Austrian & southern German) — /HOY-er/

die Rüge · Rügen

reprimand — /REW-guh/

der Erfüllungsaufwand

compliance cost — /air-FEWL-loongss-owf-vant/

schnacken · schnackt · hat geschnackt

to chat (northern) — /SHNAK-ken/

die Zwei-Quellen-Regel

two-source rule — /tsvai-KVEL-len-ray-gel/

die Textumformung · Textumformungen

text transformation task — /TEKST-oom-for-moong/

die Novelle · Novellen

novella (with an 'unheard-of event') — /no-VEL-luh/

die Klammerspannung

distance between the verb parts — /KLAM-mer-shpan-noong/

die Gedankenführung

the development of an argument — /guh-DANK-en-few-roong/

unbeschadet

without prejudice to / notwithstanding (+ genitive) — /OON-buh-shah-det/

die Falschbalance

false balance — /FALSH-ba-long-suh/

die Verteilungsfrage · Verteilungsfragen

distributional question — /fair-TAI-loongss-frah-guh/

hineinlesen in · liest hinein · hat hineingelesen

to read into — /hi-NAIN-lay-zen in/

die Bevormundung

paternalism / patronising — /buh-FOHR-moon-doong/

dünken · dünkt · hat gedünkt

to seem (archaic/literary) — /DEWNK-en/

augenzwinkernd

tongue-in-cheek — /OW-gen-tsvink-ernt/

der Leitpunkt · Leitpunkte

guiding point (in the task) — /LAIT-poonkt/

revidieren · revidiert · hat revidiert

to revise (a view, a figure) — /ray-vi-DEE-ren/

der Geist

mind / spirit (philosophical) — /GAIST/

Questions, answered.