My Adventures with “Lena” – Preparing for the TELC B1.2 Writing Exam

Okay, so this is embarrassing to admit, but I’ve been struggling a lot with German writing. Seriously! Living in Berlin, you talk to people constantly, and I desperately want to be able to express myself clearly, especially when it comes to work – I’m an IT assistant at a small logistics company. But putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard!) in German? Ugh.

The TELC B1.2 writing exam is looming, and the task they gave us was: “Describe an AI Chatbot You Have Used.” Honestly, it felt incredibly daunting. I wanted to nail this, not just for the grade, but because it’s a really useful skill that would make my job so much easier. So, I decided to practice with something…well, as close to artificial intelligence as I could get without actually going completely mad!

Meeting Lena – My First Chatbot Encounter

I started using this chatbot called “Lena.” Don’t worry, it’s not a fancy name or anything – it was part of an online German course. Basically, you type in a question and she responds with answers, explanations, and sometimes even tries to have a little conversation. At first, I just used her to check my vocabulary. Like, when I wrote “Ich habe Probleme mit dem Computer” (I’m having problems with the computer), she corrected me gently: “Es wäre besser, zu sagen ‘Ich habe Schwierigkeiten mit dem Computer’ – it sounds more professional.” “Schwierigkeiten” is definitely a better word to use in a business context!

A Typical Conversation – And My Huge Mistake

Here’s how a typical conversation went. I was trying to learn how to ask for directions:

Me: “Entschuldigung, wo ist der Hauptbahnhof?” (Excuse me, where is the main train station?)

Lena: “Der Hauptbahnhof ist ungefähr 20 Minuten zu Fuß von hier. Gehen Sie geradeaus für fünf Straßenkilometer und dann rechts ab an der ersten Ampel.” (The main train station is about 20 minutes’ walk from here. Go straight for five kilometers and then turn right at the first traffic light.)

Me: “Vielen Dank! Ich bin ein bisschen verwirrt.” (Thank you very much! I’m a little confused.)

Lena: “Kein Problem! Es ist normal, am Anfang etwas zu verunsichern. Wollen Sie, dass ich das Beispiel noch einmal erkläre?” (No problem! It’s normal to be a bit disoriented at the beginning. Would you like me to explain it again?)

My mistake? I replied with “Ja, bitte!” without thinking. Lena responded instantly and gave me another explanation! I realized I needed to learn how to ask for clarification. Learning this was actually really helpful, and I could have used it in a practical situation, like finding my way from the airport – which happened to me last week.

Vocabulary That Really Helped

Lena helped me build up some useful vocabulary that’s actually used. Here are a few phrases I found particularly helpful:

• “Ich verstehe das nicht ganz.” (I don’t quite understand that.) – Super important! It’s much better than just saying “Ich weiß nicht.”
• “Könnten Sie das bitte erklären?” (Could you please explain that?) – A polite way to ask for clarification.
• “Wie sagt man das auf Deutsch?” (How do you say that in German?) – I used this a lot when I wasn’t sure about a word or phrase.
• “Das ist sehr hilfreich, danke!” (That’s very helpful, thank you!) – Always good to show your appreciation!

My Attempt at the TELC Task – And What I Learned

Okay, now for the real challenge. They asked me to describe Lena in a written paragraph. Here’s what I wrote:

“Ich habe eine KI Chatbot namens Lena benutzt. Sie ist sehr nützlich, um Deutsch zu lernen. Ich stelle ihr Fragen und sie antwortet mir mit Erklärungen. Manchmal finde ich ihre Antworten verwirrend, aber ich kann sie bitten, sie zu erklären. Ich glaube, diese Chatbots können ein guter Helfer für Deutschlerner sein.” (I have used an AI chatbot called Lena. She is very useful for learning German. I ask her questions and she answers me with explanations. Sometimes I find her answers confusing, but I can ask her to explain them. I believe these chatbots can be a good helper for German learners.)

Looking back, it’s…okay. It’s definitely grammatically correct – I know my case endings! But it feels a little bit basic and repetitive. Lena pointed out that I need to use more varied vocabulary and connect the ideas better. She suggested something like: “Lena ist eine unglaublich hilfreiche Ressource für meine Deutschlernen. Durch ihre präzisen Erklärungen und die Möglichkeit, nachzufragen, habe ich schnell viele neue Vokabeln gelernt und meine Sprachkenntnisse verbessert.” (Lena is an incredibly helpful resource for my German learning. Thanks to her precise explanations and the ability to ask follow-up questions, I quickly learned many new vocabulary words and improved my language skills.)

Final Thoughts – And a Word of Encouragement!

Practicing with Lena has been a massive help. It’s given me confidence and shown me how much I can actually do in German. The key thing I learned is that it’s okay to make mistakes – even when talking to an AI! I’m still going to be nervous during the TELC exam, but now I have some practical experience and a better understanding of what’s expected. And honestly? Talking to Lena has made learning German feel a little less scary. Viel Glück with your writing exams too – you can do it!