Skip to main content

The One Who Got Away (Part 3)

In contrast to registering for the citizenship test, taking the test is pretty straightforward.
I arrived at my assigned testing center 20-ish minutes before the prescribed start. And, because this is professional level Ausländershit, I was not the first to arrive. There were at least 15 bureaucratically-seasoned test takers already there. Respect. We all knew what was up.
Like I mentioned previously, there's a pool of 300 questions + Bundesland (state) specific questions. But I'm going into this with some 20+ years of learning German history and culture. Go to the iTunes store or Google play and get a free/well-rated app. Do all the questions at least once or twice (more if you find it difficult) and then just do practice tests until you feel "comfortable enough".
For me, comfortable enough meant that regardless of the constellation of questions, I could answer 20 with 100% confidence (you need 13 correct to pass). I don't think I ever got 33 correct, but I consistently got 28 - 30 correct.
Mind you, I almost exclusively just did practice tests and only did the whole 300 question pool twice.
The test proctor was very nice and experieced. She explained the procedure for marking questions and how to make corrections very clearly. She also gave everyone some great advice before beginning, namely: If you're not sure... then guess. Wrong answers don't result in  points off and there's a 25% chance your answer is right.
I think... at worst I got a 26... but I'm think more along the lines of 28-29. It falls in my testing range and it's over 13. I'll update in 3-6 weeks when I get the results.

Previous Parts:

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Best Taco Bell in Germany

 Last weekend, I crossed off a major item on my bucket list. I went to Taco Bell in Germany. "But Raven, shouldn't you aspire to better, healthier things that have a measurable positive impact on society?" I know that's what you're thinking, but I don't really give a crap... because you are not the boss of me.  I wanted Taco Bell, because it's probably the one thing from back at home that I crave the most. Say what you want about it (again, I don't give a crap), but get at me when you've spent years away from your homeland and are unable to acquire whatever nasty-ass comfort food is available wherever you're from. For me, my nasty-ass comfort food of choice is Taco Bell...with Sonic a close second. However, you can't even find Sonic all over the U.S. and I don't find myself craving burgers and hot dogs all the time (plus, those urges are a lot easier to satisfy than a craving for Mexican or Tex-mex).
3 comments
More crap »

The One Who Got Away (Part 6): PLOT TWIST

Quick Translation: This confirms that German citizenship will not be opposed, if within two years it can be verified that the aforementioned person no longer possesses citizenship for Trinidad and Tobago e   and/or has fulfilled the requirements for the loss of this citizenship and that nothing has happened in the meantime, which would forbid naturalization.  I almost forgot what it felt like to receive a industrial size dose of 100% homegrown German bureaucratic pedantry. Luckily, the German authorities will never leave you too long without a fix. You can count on that. As you can see from the picture above (and from my previous posts), Trinidad and Tobago e  had only been mentioned once in passing up until now, when I finalized my application and paid the fee. Mr. S: Your mother was naturalized in the U.S. after you were born? Me: Yes, but she never applied for Trinidadian citizenship for me, which would have had to have been done by my 18th birthday.  Mr. S: Ok. (Ac
Post a Comment
More crap »

The One Who Got Away (Part 5)

Pro tip: Don't estimate the amount of time it will take to review your citizenship application based on the amount of time it took to get the results of your citizenship test. So far, this has been the area of the German-side of the process that ran a little closer to my bureaucratic expectations, namely, if an official expresses a length of time -- e.g. 3-6 months -- things will start moving closer to the six month mark than the three month mark. Getting down to the wire, I was (and still am) slightly concerned that this would drag on and I would have to renew my U.S. passport first, since it's getting kinda close to the point where it's only valid for six months. This would have cost me 1.) more money 2.) plus a trip to a consulate that actually does shit for U.S. citizens 3.) money and time off work for a trip to Bremen, Berlin, or Frankfurt. As luck would have it, I finally received notification that the Germans are letting me in! The full term is that they are
Post a Comment
More crap »