At many high schools across the nation, including Air Academy High School, students are required to take at least one year of a world language. In February of this year, over 70 of AAHS’s German students exceeded expectations while taking the National German Exam.

German teacher Frau Lykens and her students shared what it was like taking the test and what the overall class covers in order to inspire students to challenge themselves and learn something new.

With this, The National German exam is a test administered to thousands of german students across the country to ultimately test their strengths and weaknesses in the subject. 

“The NGE measures the performance of students in reading and listening based on what they have typically learned in German classrooms,” writers at The American Association of Teacher of German wrote in an article titled The National German Exam.

In general, the test was designed to prepare students to immerse themselves in what the language is like outside of the classroom and in the real world.

“…[the exam] was to kind of test your comprehension on the subject and your inferences. Like if you could figure out what a word meant based on context clues or if you could listen fast enough because german is a faster-spoken language,” senior Jordan Swain shared.

Students claim that what really prepared them for the test was the overall class material. Lykens typically focuses on teaching listening and comprehension skills.

“The basic stuff we learn in german helps with the test, like learning how to pull out words from things you read and listening to audios and answering questions,” sophomore Ella Porter mentioned.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

German students this year have worked especially hard in every subject, specifically in understanding the language. These students continue to show great characteristics in many different settings which have paved the way for their success.

“We have a really strong group of German learners, they’re fantastic students in and outside of class,” Lykens included.

Students have not only put in hard work and appreciation but they’ve also grown a great application for the culture, which is a huge part of the German curriculum. 

 “I think it’s super important to not only learn about other people but it helps you then be more introspective to yourself and become a more empathetic person,” Lykens included.

Though students did exceptionally well on the test since it does not come easy to all. German learners were given several practice tests, but there were still things they found difficult. 

“I found the reading portion of the test more difficult than the listening because for me it was easier to listen and answer questions than it was to kind of comprehend what I was reading,” Porter communicated. 

Overall, learning about new languages allows students to immerse themselves in a new culture and gain perspective on how the world works. Students this year have seen their hard work pay off in such a difficult task, which shows and anyone can succeed in anything they put their mind to