Should I tell tutor about errors?

[clary]

What do people think? I tutor my subject (MFL) and am about to work on a very limited basis with a new student. Their usual tutor has supplied me with a list of work, in the target language, that they have been doing with the student. I have noticed two errors in it.

They are not typos, as they are repeated more than once – so the tutor must think the words are spelled like that. They aren't. I know (and I have also checked).

I don’t think that either construction would actually be used in writing or speaking exams by the student. So do I let the tutor know that their language is incorrect? Or do I let it go as, frankly, it’s no business of mine, and it’s not going to affect the student’s work? Would you want to know?

I should add here that a colleague picked me up the other day on an error I had made (not to do with tutoring), very pleasantly, face to face. And I did need to know. But I still felt a little twinge of annoyance (mostly with myself for not checking it tbh).

I don’t want to be an annoying person to this tutor.

I would, but prepare for it not being well received.

Hi there! I'm an MFL teacher and tutor too and like you I understand that being made aware of your errors no matter how nice can be very annoying. Out of interest what are the words and language the tutor is misspelling?

Also I wonder if you could get the pupil to ask? Ask the pupil to spell the word or words correctly a few times then when their teacher corrects it, get the pupil to say to the teacher that he or she checked in dictionary so thought it was right.

OK well it is practice for a speaking exam and the words are in the tutor's questions - hence the student is never going to need them - the imperative form of the verb and the 'du' form of werden. Neither is something you would write in a GCSE exam, and I suppose at a push you might use werden in your question to the examiner. If they do that I guess I could correct.

@Quadrilingual it is German and she has written the imperative with an e - Beschreibe when it should be Beschreib for example - and du wirdst (several times) when it should be du wirst obvs. Du wirdst is pretty hard to say!

hahaha hope she is not on here now

My languages are French and Spanish and I don't know German but similarly I have seen the imperative used incorrectly before and myself and colleague had discussions on it when I have been unsure on correct version! Since it is the questions for speaking I wouldn't correct as such but I would teach the imperative again and then get the pupil to understand the questions he needs to recognise with the correct imperative verbs. If the pupil questions you about why different verb to what the teacher has written you could say that it's important that he or she recognises the question and how to manipulate the verb in the 'I' form to answer rather than using it themselves in the imperative.

thanks @Quadrilingual good thoughts. I think the way forward is for me to model the correct language (obvs I would anyway) and correct the student if they use the wrong word, or explain if they query what I say.

I've just tried to say "du wirdst" and have made myself laugh. Very difficult to say! I wouldn't point it out personally.

@clary I am a German native speaker and I think "beschreibe" ist correct, unless there has been some weird language reform (I have been living here for over 15 years so who knows. Definitely doesn't sound wrong. Wirdst is another matter of course :-).

Ah I see Collins (for example) mentions the -e - but says it is usually dropped apart from a few stems.

Fair enough. I have never heard it said with an -e tbh (and am not about to start) and the grammar book I checked just gives it as "du form minus the (e)st" - so spielst - Spiel! or sprichst - Sprich! so it sounds as if it usually taught in the simpler form.

humph tried nad failed to link

grammar.collinsdictionary.com/german-easy-learning/how-do-you-form-the-imperative-in-german

I’ve certainly heard “beschreibe” especially in Austria and Bavaria.

I agree with you that “wirdst” is wrong and indeed weird!

Approach it by focussing on improving the student’s language, as you are planning to do. Then see how it goes when you’ve had more chance to see the student’s work and responses and the notes and materials they are using

I’m slightly surprised that wirst du / du wirst is cropping up so often. I know that future tense wins marks but students often don’t recognise it well because they need to say ich werde … / … werde ich …. Which doesn’t sound the same. So we used to use moechtest du …/ ich moechte … instead !

I'm no German expert, but "wirdst du" sounds familiar to me, and googling it brings up quite a few hits. Maybe it's something erroneous which has crept in (one hit was Oak Academy), or maybe it's a regional thing, or largely outdated (hits include Luther, Schiller).

This is interesting actually – I would automatically say Warte mal! – so I would retain the -e as is needed in a stem ending in -t (or a few other letters) but deffo would say Beschreib!

I note that the AQA GCSE paper (where some of the questions are in German) uses no -e in its instructions (unless it is needed, as in Warte!), but the Edexcel IGCSE paper (where all questions in German) always adds the -e. Cambridge IGCSE uses the formal Sie form so that’s no help haha.

Searching on the internet reveals a variety of grammatical responses, but most don’t mention the -e, and those that do mention it, say drop it. Student is doing AQA so I think I will still model the way without the -e. Love German 😀

Maybe it is a regional/archaic type thing. Tutor may be native speaker (only emailed so no idea)

actually if you check German grammar website, both are given as correct. -e sounds more correct to me, maybe not "archaic" but old school imperative.
www.duden.de/konjugation/schreiben

OK thanks all for the great German knowledge and helpful comments. I am deffo not going to mention it.

I have checked some of my German textbooks (AQA GCSE, AQA A level, Cambridge IGCSE) and all give it without the -e, tho AQA A level mentions it occasionally has an -e to aid pronunciation. I have found some reference to -e on the web but equally many German grammar websites which don't mention it. All those that do, say it is often left off, especially in spoken German.

I would use it in stems ending with d or t - Warte mal! Rede mal Deutsch! - but not otherwise. Anyway the key thing is that the student is taking AQA which does not use the version with an -e (so the writing paper asks students to "Schreib 140 Worter") so that's what I will go with (as should their tutor but that's not really my issue here).

Another MFL teacher here. The 'wirdst' one can only mean that this tutor doesn't have a decent standard of German and shouldn't be tutoring in it!

Du wirdst definitely used to be correct.
I have no idea whether it still is, but I assume it was one of the ones simplified in the Spelling Reform.

I did GCSE and A-Level German in the 90s and "du wirdst" was correct then. And it wasn't hard to pronounce. Du ver-d-st.

I've just checked my grammar book from then, and it looks like I'm also wrong.
I can't find wirdst but can find wirst.

Definitely tell the ttutor, and back it up with a text book explaining it.

@nickelbabe yes I was going to say I did my German exams and degree in the 1980s and it was definitely du wirst then 😀