Any German A level teachers/tutors about?

[MsFogi]

So (for good reasons) DS2 wasn't able to go on the school trip to Berlin in year 12. He tells me that both his German A level teachers and his German tutor have said that he really should ensure he goes to Berlin in year 13 in order to do (very) well in his oral exam - apparently they tell him that students with first hand experience of the city (and the various sights the school went to) do better. For context, DS is aiming for an A* and hoping to go to Cambridge. He has also spent a month in Germany (not Berlin) this summer.
Are there any German teachers around who can tell me if this seems right? Does a few days in Berlin make a (big) difference?

He just needs to be around german speakers which he has been for a whole month so a one week trip to Berlin won't make much difference tbh

They are talking nonsense especially if your son has spent a month in Germany anyway and after the time he would have gone usually for the y12 trip. They merely want to bump up the trip numbers to make it viable.

Just read more german, study the new text book he'll be given and watch german TV shows and films

Sorry OP no idea but that sounds bonkers - what a way to put students whose families don’t have the financial wherewithal for such trips at a disadvantage! I’m sure his month away will have done his speaking skills a world of good. Surely he can pick up any essential Berlin stuff on YouTube or e.g. from German equivalent of Lonely Planet for Berlin?

Of course he doesn't need to go to Berlin! Maybe the teachers have found that the trip to Berlin motivates the kids to study more?

Get him to watch a few German TV shows, and maybe get an online tutor. My DS15 liked the show 'We Are The Wave', and the film 'Goodbye Lenin'. I like 'Easy German' on YouTube, and some of the shows are recorded in Berlin.

I agree that a trip to Berlkn, while doubtless beneficial, is not essential for A level German.

Is this AQA @MsFogi ? If so, one of the 12 topics is all about the Vereinigung, where Berlin was reunited. So that might well vlme ulp in the oral. Also chances are high that he is studying either Goodbye Lenin! or Leben des Anderen, which both look at that topic.

So yes, the trip might well be useful to put all that into context. But if he cannot go, then he can study the topic via many other sources. And a month speaking German in Germany will have been really valuable.

Sorry for typos! The Vereinigung topic might well come up in the oral! (One in six chance).

DD1 studied German and French at Cambridge, didn’t go to Berlin. DD2 doing Spanish and French at Cambridge, didn’t go to Madrid. Weirdly specific random comment by the school! No need imo.

I imagine the specifics are due to the topic on the city in the A level spec. There is no similar topic on Paris in the French spec fwiw. I don't know the Spanish spec. But I agree it's far from essential.