Tackling the TELC B1: Current Events & Indirekte Rede – My Struggle (and Small Victories!)

Okay, so I’m officially in my third month working as a receptionist at a small marketing agency in Munich. It’s brilliant, the work is interesting, and I’m slowly but surely getting the hang of things – and, crucially, I’m desperately trying to pass my TELC B1 exam. Honestly, the biggest hurdle right now feels like current events and understanding indirect speech. It’s exhausting! I keep getting tripped up, and it’s frustrating, but I’m determined. This is how I’m trying to tackle it.

Current Events: Keeping Up (Without a Nervous Breakdown)

Let’s be honest, I’m terrible at current events. I mean, I read a little about politics on my phone, mostly scrolling through Bild (yes, I know, I’m embarrassing myself!), but I don’t really understand anything. The exam asks us to discuss things, and the last time I tried to follow a news broadcast, I ended up just nodding blankly and pretending to listen.

My colleague, Klaus, keeps telling me to watch Tagesschau. It’s supposed to be more reliable than the tabloids, but… it’s still a lot to process. I’ve started trying to focus on one or two key stories a week. Last week it was about the rising cost of energy.

“Der Energiepreise steigen immer weiter!” Klaus told me. (The energy prices are rising constantly!) I almost choked. I managed to reply, “Ja, das ist wirklich ein Problem!” (Yes, that’s really a problem!) I still wasn’t completely sure why it was a problem, but at least I had the vocabulary. I’m trying to build my understanding slowly, linking it back to my everyday life – like how much I’m paying for heating.

Grammatik: Indirekte Rede – The Devil is in the Details

This is where it gets really tricky. Indirect speech. I’ve spent hours trying to get my head around the verb conjugations, the tense shifts, and the extra words like “dass” and “obwohl.” It felt completely illogical at first.

Let me give you an example. I was trying to tell my boss, Frau Schmidt, that I’d spoken to a client earlier. I wanted to say something like, “Ich habe dem Herrn Müller gesagt, dass das Projekt verzögert ist.” (I told Mr. Müller that the project is delayed). But I ended up saying, “Ich habe gesagt dem Herrn Müller, dass das Projekt ist verzögert.” It felt wrong, and I immediately knew I’d messed up.

Frau Schmidt patiently corrected me, explaining that I needed “dass” after “gesagt” – “Nein, du sagtest dass…“ (No, you said that…). It just… clicked a little then, but only after a lot of repetition.

Here are a few simple examples I’ve been practicing:

• Direct: “Ich bin müde.” (I am tired.)
• Indirect: Er sagte, er sei müde. (He said he was tired.)

• Direct: “Sie hat gesagt, sie kommt morgen.” (She said she is coming tomorrow.)
• Indirect: Sie sagte, sie komme morgen. (She said she was coming tomorrow.)

The biggest problem I face is remembering which tenses shift! I’m making flashcards for every tense shift – past simple to past perfect, present to past, etc. It’s a slow process, but it’s helping.

Real-Life Scenarios & Mistakes

Okay, this is important. It’s not just about knowing the rules; it’s about using it. Yesterday, I was talking to a new colleague, Daniel, about a restaurant we’d both been to. He said, “Ich habe dort ein sehr leckeres Steak gegessen.” (I ate a very delicious steak there.) I immediately wanted to respond with the indirect speech version – “Du hast gesagt, du hast dort ein sehr leckeres Steak gegessen!” It just felt… correct?

But Daniel looked at me strangely. “Warum sagst du das so kompliziert?” (Why are you saying that so complicated?) It hit me – I was overdoing it! He was just telling me what he had done. I corrected myself and simply said, “Ja, das habe ich auch gehört! Es war sehr gut!” (Yes, I’ve heard that! It was very good!). That moment really hammered home the point: context matters. Don’t always jump to indirect speech, especially when it’s not needed.

My Next Steps

I’m planning to focus on practice questions specifically targeting indirect speech in the TELC exam materials. I’m also going to try to find opportunities to hear it being used – maybe by watching more news clips (with subtitles!) or practicing with Klaus and Daniel. And most importantly, I’m trying to be kinder to myself. I’m making mistakes, and that’s okay. It’s part of the learning process. I’m aiming for small victories, not perfection.

“Ich muss mich verbessern, aber ich bin optimistisch!” (I need to improve, but I am optimistic!). Wish me luck!

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Would you like me to generate another section focusing on a specific aspect, such as vocabulary related to the current events topics I mentioned, or perhaps a more detailed explanation of a particular grammatical point?