Thursday, July 16, 2020

Untamed Desires

بِسْمِ ٱللّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيم
Assalamu'alaikum

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Hello, Lieblings!
How have you been? I hope despite all of the ups and downs, you'll always feel the warm rays of sunshine, shining through the green leaves, and may your face be always painted with a smile.

Anyway, I've been facing a major problem lately. You see, have you ever written one to-do list or countless schedules during your holiday and ended up doing only a few of them? Have you ever set targets and written study portions that only ended up as wall decoration? Have you ever opened Instagram just to check that one post, but turn out to stayed there for an hour straight?

Guys, I think we are on the same boat.
Good planner, bad executor. Or in Javanese for short: ra konkret!

At some point,  I realized that I have frequently, intentionally following my nafs or my desires. I let it control me, steer me away from the better person I could've been. I’ve been wittingly following the urge to stalk countless people, spending waaay too much time laughing toward unbeneficial receh posts throughout the Instagram realm. I’ve been doing the same mistakes all over again, stumbling all over again. How pathetic is that I'm most of the time, aware of the mistakes, yet too lazy to change the comfortable ‘routine’. My ears and eyes opened so widely yet I don't have the willpower to fight things that fritter away time.

Stuck in this maze of perplexion, I impulsively opened Instagram and randomly found one IGTV by sister Aida Azlin. I was... flabbergasted. Just by that 3 minutes and 26 seconds long IGTV. Her teacher's analogy of picturing nafs really fascinates me. She said nafs (desires) is no other than a 2-year-old child that doesn’t know how to make a proper decision yet.

Every day, when we are faced with different crossroads and are constantly forced to make a good decision, step back. Step back and actually listen to the voices inside your head and your head. Classify the voices. Which ones are good, which one is actually having a big possibility to break you apart?

Most of the time I was blinded with my desires and spontaneously choose one path, that I might never choose ever again. But I’m having no regrets anyway. Experiences are there either to teach us something good or alarming us that the road is not leading us to a better self.

Fighting our desires isn’t easy.
I’m completely aware.

But there is a heart touching, beautifully woven writing from one Instagram account that I kept close to my heart, from companionsofkhayr. Titled, “You are not supposed to stay here.”

All of us have been through a lot of things in our lives. Some of them broke us, some helped us, and some left deep scars. Some of them are still cherished and some deeply regretted. But no matter what they had been like, what matters now is, how you look back at them. 

When you look back at the difficulties of your past and the challenges of your present, you should be grateful that you have them in the first place. Because when something becomes difficult, it means you are doing something and going somewhere with your life. Looking at them only as a cause of distraught will only make it worse.

Everything in this life can either be taken as a learning experience or a balk, an obstacle that you think you can’t overcome. It is all a matter of how you choose to look at it.

You obviously know that each and everyone is facing some of the other difficulties in their life. And so you having them is not a sign or ill-fate or you being unlucky.

What makes you think that life has to be without difficulties?

Ask a 5-year-old child and a 50-year-old adult, both of them would say how difficult their life is.
And do you know what is the difference between those who are able to deal with everything in their life by the permission of Allah Azzawajjal and those who despair and see themselves as incapable of dealing with their lives? They are the ones who look at their problems as opportunities, or like a puzzle which needs to be solved and start learning how they can solve it.

That’s exactly what you need to do for yourself as well. You need to stop being dormant and start working on your life. And the first step to do that is to discern your problems. See for yourself, how solving this will equip you with better skills and make you a better person. We know that Allah Azzawajal doesn’t burden a person beyond it can bear, so what makes you think you can’t move forward?”

Wow, talk about an unbreakable chain of knowledge.

Anyway, being conscious of this 2-year-old child that is present inside me, is helping me doing better in decision making. Knowing which decision is actually good for me, not only my desire? Is this really me, or only my desires? By saying this, doesn't mean that all kinds of desire are ugly. Some do have good impacts on our growth! Don't let the existence of the 2-year-old child stops you from doing the good, instead, use that to filter things that you ought to do.

Before you buy that kind-of expensive, very very pretty backpack, ask yourself. Do I need it to buy it right now? Will it be beneficial if I buy it? Are there things I need to highly prioritize for purchasing rather than this backpack?

I pray that in every adversity that you are facing right now, in every crossroads you are going to choose, you will always find that sweet spot. Might not the one you like anyway, but what you need might not be the one you want... sometimes.

Until then, have a good day today!

Love and light,
Sintya💗

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

101 Series: Aufnahmeprüfung/ANP Confessions + Hacks (PT. 2)

بِسْمِ ٱللّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيم
Assalamu'alaikum

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Hallo, Lieblings!
I hope despite the current struggle of adapting to the new normal, y'all won't ever forget to light up and recharge that energy tank! 💥 Yesterday I've posted one brief disclaimer regarding Aufnahmeprüfung (ANP) or the entrance exam to the Studienkolleg. But this time, I'd like to actually confess about how ignorant (or rather stupid) I was before and some hacks that might be useful for y'all whether you are planning to go to Germany or if you are already in Germany. Hope you guys will find this post useful, feel free to ask me if you still have unanswered questions in your mind 😄

ANP Confessions

So, once upon a time...

There is this Lil girl who just arrived in Germany. Her first ANP was in February, in Marburg. Though everyone was very nervous, she went there feeling nothing. Guess why? Because this girl thought, How hard could it be anyway? My German is kind of adequate too, though. I finished all the practice exams. What could go wrong anyway?

The thing is, kids, ANP isn’t really that hard. As the materials being tested aren't as complicated as SBMPTN in Indonesia.

The wrong thing that I did was, I belittled ANP.
That time, I thought my effort was good enough. Forgetting something I learned recently from the anime Haikyuu!! I'm paraphrasing Coach Ukai on the first day of the high school tournament. OooOo I'm feeling so sentimental. 😚


No one that participates in this competition wants to lose. They all want to win! Every time we give our best in our exercises and training, others also do the exact same thing. No matter how strong or weak the opponent is, everyone that wants to win, will fight for it!

I wish I've watched Haikyuu!! days before the ANP smh.
And guess what? I've failed two from three of my ANP acceptance letter (Zulassung). For those who don't know, we can only take tests in places we've already received an acceptance letter (Zulassung) from. There's no guarantee every Uni you've applied to will give you the letter. In my case, I've got only three damn chances. If I fail 'em all, I need to apply again for the next semester.

Read my experience throughout ANP here: The First Footsteps: ANP Drama + Important Travel Tips!

But I regret nothing. Those failures are my staircases to the place where I belong today. Without those setbacks, I might always be the ignorant one. They all teach me golden lessons I wouldn't be able to experience otherways. I remember how heartbreakingly sad I was when I received rejection from Studienkolleg Marburg. Won't show it to anyone though, but deep inside I was hurt. Knowing I kind of fail... purposely.

On the next exam in Uni Halle, I remember tried even harder. This time I won't ever let myself down. I've been through that hole and would never want to feel the same again. It was tough indeed, as so materials need to be memorized. Especially in a language, I still feel so alien to. I remembered the sleepless nights and tired eyes learning Biology, Physics, and Chemistry in the city public library. Lol. On the day of the exam, I've never felt so confident about entering an exam hall. But this time, I was concentrated mainly in the science subjects as it looks so challenging. That one pal, makes my German... okay it was sad. In a nutshell, I failed and got rejection once again.

And there it was, my last chance. Uni Heidelberg Studienkolleg. Literally, almost EVERYone said that entering it is hard, and inside, harder. It has gotten in my nerves, tbh, but I'm thankful it wasn't for such a long time. I'm proud that I've beaten my fear of Studienkolleg Heidelberg with the fear of failing again. The fear of disappointing both of my parents and my friends, again. The fear of being called on the phone and answered, oh sorry not yet, again.

On the process, I wasn't actually hoping so much. I only did the best thing I could and leave it all to God. As it's my third shot, now I knew what kind of study sessions that I prefer and how long. What kind of entertainment that doesn't decrease my productivity level. What kind of activities I need to do to stay energized. I learned to understand myself more. And that, kids, is important. The outcome might be simple, but the journey into realizing the outcome? That one is priceless. Rather than thinking God might punish you for failing you, maybe we all can shift our perspective into thinking... What does God actually want me to learn and understand?

The day of the ANP in Uni Heidelberg wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I felt reassured knowing I've given my best and the thought that God is with me. He is Al 'Adl (العدل), The Just. He sees how hard I've been fighting for this particular day. Tbh I felt calmer this time, knowing something that has been decreed for me will never ever go wrong. And Alhamdulillah, all praises to Allah, I received, finally, my acceptance letter. 😊

Why do I think ANP isn't hard

Well, it ain't that hard. But that doesn't mean you can belittle them.
Let's look at this from the eyes of Indonesian highschoolers.

If you are science students from highschool (re: anak IPA) and are taking science courses in the Studienkolleg (M-Kurs or T-Kurs) you would probably think the same. Science isn’t gonna change, regardless of your nationality. It’s just the depth of the materials, the level. The redox reactions that I learned in Indonesia for example, isn’t going to change to some kind of random reaction in Germany. It stays the same.

On the other hand, I talked with my friend from the social realm (re: anak IPS) that took G-Kurs in the Studienkolleg. She said it was rather challenging as it’s not an exact knowledge like Biology or Physics. Many factors could affect the materials, as different countries have lotsa variety of cultural aspects along with some touch of different geographical and historical perspectives. For example, in History, she learned more about World War 2 from the perspective of Europe, mainly Germany, and of course not VOC lol.

For more tea spills about the courses in Studienkolleg, feel free to read my post about Studienkolleg in General!

Long story short, the problem in writing ANP isn’t really about the level of subjects, but rather the language and the competitive environment. Imagine, so many people from different parts of the world are fighting for limited seats in the Studienkolleg. When I took ANP in Heidelberg, the test-takers are as many as 2 big halls. Meanwhile, the quote of acceptance is only around 20ish people for each course (M/T/W/G/S-Kurs). Remember, this differs from each university and depends on the semester. Sometimes, the Studienkolleg MIGHT even accept more people in the winter semester. With that being said, still, I can’t guarantee that though. Just.. try your best.

But no worries, as long as you prepare for it, there are no obstacles you can’t overcome. It is not easy, but hard doesn’t mean impossible anyway. Have faith in yourself! You are stronger and more capable than you think you are. As long as you try, you've come out of that exam hall as a fighter. 💪

Here, let me give you some hacks and stuff I wish I would've known waaaaay before I even arrive in Germany. I realized I've wasted so much time... How foolish smh. I really hope you guys could see these tips as useful. Please don't do the same mistakes as I did! I divided the tips into two categories, when in Indo and when in Germany to make it easier to read.


When In Indo

What did I do wrong:
I wasted time not trying as hard as I could to study. I took it too easy, thinking that I'll still have enough time to study 'em all once I arrived in Germany. Bad time management, I suppose. Spent too much time hanging out with the gang.

The reality:
Well, I do have plenty of time once I arrived in Germany, but there are tons of other things I must do too. Like, to adapt there, explore (ugh don't do this, kid), do some bureaucracy paperwork, and homework from the language school in Heidelberg. If we have the privilege of extra time to study for ANP... The gap time between receiving a B1 level certificate and your date of the flight to Germany is the golden time to prepare. 👍

Tips:
  1. Download every sample exam questions from every Studienkolleg you could find. The name of the school doesn’t matter, what counts is the amount of the actual exercise you are putting time and effort for.
  2. Write essays and ask your teacher, seniors, or friends to actually mark it. This way, you can learn from your mistakes.
  3. Practice your communication skill with your gang, form group discussions!
  4. Find some people from Germany to actually talk. Like tandem partners. Some people know each other due to similar interests. For example, BTS fandom could actually found other ARMY from the other part of the globe easily.
  5. Join online classes. Especially when you came from Indo or could actually speak Indo, IWKZ Berlin is actually giving free online classes for ANP preparations! 
  6. Never stop to do research, ask people, make some relations with people from certain cities you are aiming to go to. Stay active in PPI Jerman's Facebook group for example!
  7. Memorize Grammatik and consume as many vocabularies as you can. Use apps like Quizlet to hep you make Karteikarten/flash cards.
  8.  Use apps (in Play Store, think it's available in others too) to help you, like Beelinguapp in Play Store and Deutsche Welle. I'll give the full list of my recommended apps another time!

When In German

What did I do wrong:
  • I was frequently distracted by new places to explore and the blessing of having free time with no one watching. I took too much time to learn to self-discipline myself.
  • As I've said before, I belittled my first ANP, which is something you could never EVER do.
  • I was too scared to ask and seek help from the teachers too as I was lacking self-esteem back then. I thought I need to be perfect just to speak German.
  • Stressed out. Distancing from everyone, thinking I can solve my problem myself.
  • I joined IWKZ Berlin free online ANP tutorials but I wasn't consistently showing up to the class. Oopssss. I regret this so so much as some of my friends that joined have already accepted in Studienkollegs, while all I got was rejection. Heu.

The truth:
No one actually cares about you, sweetheart. Most people are already too busy with their own life. Painful huh? That's the perks of living alone abroad surrounded with ppl from different cultures, I guess?

Your teachers won't be able to know your difficulties IF you don't ask. Your friends won't know if you need support IF you don't tell them your concern. You will never be fluent in German or excel in ANP IF you've never tried and braced yourself to face failures. You are the one responsible for your well being, physically AND mentally. Know when to stand by yourself and your boundaries to finally seek help. You can't wish everything will resolve by itself. Never stay still, MOVE.

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Tips:
  1. Be proactive in your language classes. Have courage, break your boundaries, explore!
  2. Be brave, have courage. You've got all the facilities and all the chances to ask questions and to seek help from the pros. Don't waste it!
  3. Don’t be distracted with things that aren’t your priority. Going and travel to places may be such a golden chance, but at this particular time, it is really really important to constantly remind ourselves of our purpose of coming all the way to the other side of the globe.
  4. Make relations, be adaptive, ASK if you don’t know.
  5. Constantly practicing. Ask people that have already done the same entrance exam from the same Studienkolleg. There is a very big chance that the Studienkolleg don’t change the exam questions completely a.k.a making the questions similar each year.
  6. Tirelessly learning vocabulary and grammar. Mastered B1? Then take B2 courses. Mastered B2 courses? Start to learn the C1!
  7. Participate in online classes like free online tutorials from IWKZ Berlin or even register to classes for ANP preparation in German-Indo Professionals (GIP).

I'll explain German-Indo Professionals (GIP) briefly. It's an offline language school or in my opinion, tutorial institution for ANP preparation located in Berlin, Germany. Some of my friends went there too. The teachers are all Indonesian and are known to teach the students very intensively. If you guys know Inten in Indonesia by any chance, I think they both are alike. I've heard, they are good in teaching math and other science subjects too. They frequently hold offline ANP tryouts that might be useful for preparing ANP even without joining.

However, if your problem is in your German, I think you should think twice before joining. As far as I know, the students there learn to practice grammar, writing, listening, and answer ANP questions but not to actually communicate with native. (More information: https://www.mein-gip.com/)

ANP is actually machbar -- possible without taking extra classes or tutorials IF you have good self-discipline. But we can't generalize others by looking at the cover tho. I went to German by an education agency, therefore I've got plenty of friends and resources already. If you are planning to go here alone, maybe taking extra courses is the right choice for you. You guys know yourselves better though. Just remember, you are all indeed strong, but know when to seek help from the right people. Just don't be lazy to do your research and choose wisely! 💪


Recommended resources for German tests

These books are the must-have starter pack for ANP test takers. You could actually buy these books through Amazon or even the Kindle App, the e-book reader from Amazon. Orrr you can actually nitip to people that balik kampong from German to Indo. Not recommending you the illegal ways tho *winks.

 



    Title: Mut zur Lücke! B1
    Writer: Maya-Christina Helmich
    Content:
  • Various exercises for the C-Test (fill in the blank) type of exam including the answers.
  • For the level B1.
 


    Title: Mut zur Lücke #2
    Writer: Maya Christina Helmich
    Content:
  • Various exercises for the C-Test (fill in the blank) type of exam + answers.
  • For the level B2.
  • Might not be necessary and might have lesser relevance for some Studienkolleg ANP. But better do it anyway.

 


    Title: Übungsgrammatik fuer die Grundstufe
    Writer: Friedrich Clamer & Erhard G. Heilmann
    Publisher: Verlag Liebaug-Dartmann
    Content:
  • Exercises for all types of grammatical aspects from the level A2-B2.
  • Very VERY recommended. This helps me a lot getting through ANP Heidelberg.
    Amazon
 


    Title: Übungen zum Wortschatz der deutschen Schriftsprache
    Writer: Ursula Turtur
    Publisher: Verlag Liebaug-Dartmann
    Content:
  • Exercises to improve your ability to write texts in German. Full of vocabulary and their use.
  • A holy grail you should get if you want to master the writing exam, especially if you've gotten into Studienkolleg.
  • Not really necessarily important for the ANP preparations.
    Amazon

Epilogue

So that you guys will remember it better, let me summarize and share the final hacks!
  1. The competition is very real, despite the easier exam questions (compared with Indo level).
  2. The faster you got accepted into Studienkolleg, the better. That way, there wouldn't be any problem at the time when you are required to renew your visa.
  3. NO ONE that participates in the exam wanted to fail. They tried their best to get in, you have to, too.
  4. Quality over quantity, though both are important.
  5. Prioritize, have good time management.
  6. Don’t panic, it ruined everything.
  7. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.
  8. Have the courage to ask if you don't understand something. Even every little thing people thought it's stupid to ask. We are learners anyway and everyone is a beginner at some point.
  9. Know when to seek help from the right people.
  10. Never ever see any chance of ANP as a ‘test drive’ where we aren’t actually doing our best thinking that we might have a chance on another shot.
  11. DON’T WASTE EVERY SINGLE CHANCE YOU’VE GOT!!!! 💣

I hope in whatever adversity you are facing right now, may your heart always be filled with warmth and kindness. Despite the tons of work, don't forget to love yourself and spend time with others too! Reward yourself for working hard 😉

I hope you guys find this post useful. Please, please be wise on choosing which tips to take and which to throw away lol. These are all my opinions, not facts, based on my real experience. Our situations and conditions might differ. Most importantly, have fun and stay determined out there, warriors!

Love and light,
Sintya👀

Sunday, July 5, 2020

101 Series: Stumbling upon Aufnahmeprüfung/ANP (pt. 1)

بِسْمِ ٱللّٰهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيم
Assalamu'alaikum
Hallo, Lieblings!
How are you today?
At this particular time of the year, I think most people who are going to enter Studienkolleg in the upcoming Winter Semester in September/October are busy preparing for the entrance exam -- the holy Aufnahmeprüfung (ANP). Jjeng, here I am ready to tell you guys some introduction about the ANP itself including tips and hacks you guys might find it useful to prepare for your study! 😄
For those who are actually interested in reading my actual experience of going to the Studienkolleg, I recommend you to read The First Footsteps series part 4, Aufnahmeprüfung (ANP) Dramas + Important Travel Tips. Here, I’m just going to explain (kind of) briefly of what ANP actually is.


What is Aufnahmeprüfung (ANP)?

Aufnahmeprüfung (ANP) literally means entrance examination in English. This is a test that soon-to-be students must take in order to enter Studienkolleg (university preparatory course) before entering University. The test between each University might differ, that’s why you should check it one by one. No worries, normally the Uni will provide its soon-to-be students with sample ANP questions.
TIP: To get the sample questions, enter the keywords "ANP Studienkolleg Uni (the name of the Uni) Musterbeispiel" in the google search, and voila! Don't forget to download it.

 Nevertheless, the test generally consists of 2 main subjects:
  1. German,
  2. Additional subject depending on which course you are taking (M/T/G/W/S Kurs).
For more info about Studienkolleg, I've written some posts about it too regarding my experience and also the must-know stuff about Studienkolleg!
Let me give you an example.
I wanted to take M-Kurs entrance exams in Studienkolleg Marburg, Studienkolleg Halle, and Studienkolleg Heidelberg. In Marburg, I was obliged to take Mathematics and German. In Halle, the ANP I needed to write was German and Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, and Biology – yes, three). Whereas in Heidelberg, I only needed to prepare for German. Your course is no guarantee that you'll only take certain subjects in the exam.

The Exam in a nutshell

We all now knew that each university has different subjects to be tested. To make things easier, I’m using practice questions (mainly) from Uni Halle. You can download the questions here: https://www.studienkolleg.uni-halle.de/aufnahmetest/.

 Along with some brief explanations about the types of exams, I'm going to sparkle them with some hacks too! Please be wise of taking the tips, as everyone has unique ways of learning. You don't have to follow the exact same thing that I did. 🙅
In general, the foremost thing to do before the exam is actually done as many practice questions as possible. I mean it. Download all practice questions (Musterbeispiel) from as many universities as possible, regardless you apply to it or not. Repeat it again and again until it’s stuck in your mind that you might bring it to your sleep.
Back to the topic.
The subjects, that are being tested in Uni Halle Studienkolleg entrance exam depending on each course are:
  • M Kurs: German + Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, and Biology)
  • T Kurs: German + Math
  • G Kurs: Geman + English
  • W Kurs: German + Math
  • S Kurs: they aren’t offering S Kurs classes, sadly.
The German test includes: C-Test, Leseverstehen (reading), Schreiben (writing)

Writing The German Exam

In the German exam, most universities will give you these types of tests:
  •  C-Test,
  • grammar/Grammatik,
  • listening/Hörverstehen,
  • reading/Lesen,
  • writing/Schreiben.


 Before you start, please do take your time to read the instructions. They are as important as your answers, don’t ever belittling them.
Translations
Your entrance exam would only be scored, if you observe these instructions:
  • Helping aids (e.g. dictionaries, cell phones) and outside help is not allowed.
  • The use of pencil and (pen with) the color red is not allowed.
  • Tearing apart the clamped test documents is not permitted.
  • Please stop the test immediately as instructed by the examiner.

#1 C-Test (fill in the blanks) – 10 min ~ 45 min depending on the number of questions

In this certain exam, we have to fill in the blanks with the right words or even complete the word. Here, let me give one sample question.
Challenge: Could be the trickiest. You’ve got so so many possibilities and options to write yet the time is very short.
Hint: Your vocabulary and your grammatical skills are being tested in this exam. Both quality and quantity are important, think fast and correctly
Tips:
  • Get a good grip on grammatical structures and the detail like articles (der, die, das).
  • Read as many texts as possible, either from German news like Deutsche Welle, Deutsche Welle Top Thema, Die Zeit, and tagesschau.
  • Borrow German books from the libraries or buy books from Amazon kindle (kids books, preferably).
  • Read not only the news but also fictional stories like fables or children's stories. You can use an app like Beelinguapp. It's an app where you can read children's stories and even listen to audiobooks. 👶

#2 Grammartik (Grammar) – approx. 45 min

Not all universities include this one in their entrance exam questions. From all the ANP that I've written, only Uni Heidelberg includes Grammar. Others only bother to infuse the grammatical aspect with the C-Test. Download the sample questions of Uni Heidelberg here: http://www.isz.uni-heidelberg.de/e_pruef_et.html.


Challenge: no one knows which kind of question would come, could be this easy or even harder. If you look at the sample questions, you can see why haha. Sorry, I'm too lazy to screenshot the other questions lol, this one is the shortest.
Hint:  any type of grammatical problem could possibly come, depending on the required German level. (B1/B2/C1)
Tips: DO. PRACTICE. QUESTIONS. 💪💪


#3 Hörverstehen (listening) – approx. 30 minutes, excluding the listening time

This type of exam requires your good understanding and comprehend information from the speaker. On the contrary of some might think, just by having one pair of ears doesn’t mean we are automatically good at listening. Need practice, definitely, Though Uni Halle wouldn’t ask you to do this type of test, others might. Again, Uni Heidelberg for example is kind of extra so they include this one too. Download the sample questions of Uni Heidelberg here: http://www.isz.uni-heidelberg.de/e_pruef_et.html.
The technical aspects might differ from each Uni, but based on my experience writing ANP in Uni Heidelberg, it’s mainly like this.
The examiner will read one text comprising approx. 30 lines twice. In the first read, the students are allowed to take notes on a piece of paper. After that, the students will be given the question papers and are allowed to read the questions (and scribble the answers there) while waiting for the second read by the examiner. After the second read, the students are given time to write the answers completely.
Challenge: the examiner will read one German text in German, in a German pace of speaking (sometimes slower though).
Hint: try your best to adapt your ears into listening to the German people talking in their normal pace (which is, DAmN faST at first. But no worries as time goes, it'll be ok). 🙉
Tips:
  • Listen to lots of stuff in German EVERYDAY. Set 10-30 minutes from you 24 hours to actually listen.
  • Watch Netflix not only with German subs but German dubs.
  • Watch videos from German Youtubers! My personal favorites are Kurzgesagt, MaiLab, and Pocket Hazel. 
  • Listen to Podcasts in German, my favorites are Forschung Aktuell, DW Top Thema, tagesthemen, Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten, and sometimes I do listen to Sternengeschichten. (I'm using Google podcast, FYI)
  • Sometimes after I listen to a podcast or video, I tend to re-tell the content's context with my own words with xxxtra personal thoughts and record it. In that way, the words wouldn’t just slide from our left to right ear, but we are forcing our brain to actually comprehend and grasp the information. By recording it, I could easily spot the mistakes that I made while speaking. Trust me guys, talking is different.

#4 Leseverstehen (reading) – approx. 10 min

This type of exam could be in different forms, could either be diagrams or texts along with questions to answer. The answer might be in the form of multiple-choice or short answers, depending on the Uni. Here in Uni Halle, for years, they haven’t been changing the format from multiple choice answers.

Challenge: lotsa (preferably scientific) words that we might not be used in our daily activities. 👽
Hint: In the case of describing graphs, understand the format, and memorize the Redewendung – the usual phrases used in describing graphs might help. In the case of reading short texts, you need to have as many vocabularies as possible and the ability to comprehend information from sentences fast and correctly.

Read more: https://deutschtraining.org/methodik/grafikbeschreibung/ | https://www.lehrerfreund.de/schule/1s/beispiel-beschreibung-diagramm-schaubild/4246
Tips: Read as many usual phrases (Redewendung, tbh don't know how to translate it in English) about describing graph texts as possible. The more you used to it, the better ad easier your brain will comprehend the info coming.

#5 Schreiben (writing) – approx. 10 ~ 45 min depending on the questions

Test-takers are required to write one text from a wide spectrum of options. Sometimes it might be describing graphs or certain pictures, sometimes could be writing recount letters like this one that Uni Halle had given in their entrance exam.
Challenge: for me personally, writing in different languages is not the same. Most of the time, I have the idea and I know what to write but I just don’t know HOW I could express my idea because of the lack of my vocabulary.
Hint: enrich your vocabulary along with German idioms and phrases. The examiner will look at how good you can actually express your idea with the words from your certain level e.g. the vocabulary for level C1 has a wider variety than the vocabulary for level B2. If the test requires you to have the ability of B2 students, don't use only vocabs from the B1 levels!
Tips:

  • Use suitable Nomen Verb Verbindung and Redewendungen (usual phrases, idk how to translate?) when describing graphs or tables. And yes, they are something you better memorize. They will give your exam paper kinda sparks and sparkles haha.
    (read more: https://www.grammatiktraining.de/nomenverb/grammatikliste-nomen-verb-verbindungen.html)
  • Memorize the format of writing a letter (formal and personal), observe which pronouns are suitable, and the time (past/present) too.
  • Avoid starting the sentence with the exact words. Example, "Ich bin am Wochenende nach Heidelberg gefahren. Ich habe Spass."
  • Write as many texts as possible and ask someone to actually correct and score it. Could be a friend, a senior, or a teacher. Without any feedback, for me, it's kind of hard to keep on the track as we keep going without knowing our mistakes. We learn from trials and failures, you know.


Writing the other Exam

Well, I’m not going to explain in detail because it clearly depends on whether which course you are going to take. Let me give you some examples from the Physics part of the M Kurs ANP Uni Halle.

Challenge: sometimes the number of materials are too much to comprehend, like Biology for example. Too many memorizations. 😤
Hint: the questions that came out aren’t actually in-depth questions and I'd rather say it's not really hard -- only the basic knowledge about certain subjects.
Tips:
  • STAY CALM, don't call 911 and panic.
  • Ask the seniors that have been accepted in the Studienkolleg you are applying to, their past experiences and ANP questions might be a huge help.
  • Use your time wisely. I know you want to learn 'em all, but you should also prioritize which ones are worth more of your time. Other than studying everything to answer the questions, make your study portion is foremost based on the questions that came in the exam.
  • Borrow books from the library or even from Amazon Kindle (the E-book version).
  • If you guys came from Indo, the materials are actually not far from that. I think SBMPTN questions are way harder. You might want to revise your highschool materials, but not all are relevant. Smh Indo questions are much more complicated. Learn from Youtube with the keyword '(the subject) Abitur' (FYI, Abitur is the Indo National Examination (UN) version in Germany)
  • Watch educational Youtube videos and look for resources on the Internet.
    My forever fave channel since pre-Studienkolleg days till the last end-of-the-semester exam is The Simpleclub!!! They have different channels for different subjects, for example, Biology and History. They are like the free German version of Ruangguru or even Crash Course. On the other side, my fave web of Physics materials is Leifi Physik.

Pheew.
That was a very long write. Payback for having 2 weeks not writing anything, sorry guys haha. Been quite busy with a couple of stuff currently. Keep on going, once you are preparing for ANP... It's not easy I know. But many survived, and you will too! Quitting is not an option, the only way is to go through. HAJAR! 💪💥

Well, I guess we'll meet again shortly for the second part of this post! Until then, stay healthy and energized. 😄

Love and light,
Sintya✌
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