Beruf
(fragment)
by Bogdan Georgescu


Place – A small office, 4 school desks facing each other in a circle, a tight high window through which one can only see a slice of grey sky. It’s the oral exam for the B2 German Course, a small private languages school in Berlin.

Time – Fall

Note – almost the whole scene takes place in approximate German, but we’ll share it with you in English.

“/” always marks an interruption

Characters
(should all four be performed by immigrants to Germany)

Evaluator 1

Evaluator 2

Student 1

Student 2

One

(On Evaluator’s 1 desk there are five printed pictures spread out. He picks up one randomly and shows it to the students)

EVALUATOR 1
What do we see? Please describe/

EVALUATOR 2
Excuse me for the interruption, but shouldn’t we start with introductions and presentations of the candidates?

EVALUATOR 1
/And let me remind you, this is B2, not B1, or A2, or A1 or… so please really get into the depths of the photography, let’s not limit to clothes and…

EVALUATOR 2
I would like to hear their presentations, to who they are.

EVALUATOR 1
You could ask of course for another picture, but that will of course impact your final score. And let me remind you, this is B2 niveau. Deutsche sprache schöne sprache. (pause) It’s late, we’ve been here for over eight hours, you’ve been waiting locked in a room with no phones and/

EVALUATOR 2
/transparent water bottles/

EVALUATOR 1
/and no getting out and no smoking, not that smoking would do you any good, so let’s help each other and get done with/

EVALUATOR 2
/I still think we need to start with the presentations. [pause. To the student 1] Please, introduce yourself.

STUDENT 1
Hi, I’m a single mother and an immigrant. Sometimes I feel like I live a double life, the life I have when I’m with my daughter and the life when she’s with her father/

EVALUATOR 1
/That’s exactly why I suggested we move on and skip the presentations. Hearing these learned by heart at home presentations doesn’t give us any understanding of the quality of your German language skills.

EVALUATOR 2
You have to let her speak.

EVALUATOR 1
Beruf beruf beruf. That’s our topic. Nothing else. Deutche sprache schöne sprache.

STUDENT 1
I’m an architect, I have a degree in architecture/

EVALUATOR 1
Women and architecture… [he shakes his head in doubt]