· 19 lists · 694 words

Politics, society and history

What the news argues about, and what came before it.

What holds these lists together

These lists are read long before they are spoken: a learner meets them in a newspaper, a broadcast or a history book, and the difficulty is less the nouns than the verbs around them. unterstellen, einräumen and vorwerfen decide who is saying what about whom, and in a report that is usually the actual news. They stand apart from the office and the law because nobody needs them to fill in a form; they are needed to follow an argument somebody else is having.

The 19 lists

B2State, politics and historyHow a German-speaking country is organised, and the words a news report about it uses.40 words C1Society and migrationThe administrative and everyday vocabulary of arriving, settling and belonging.40 words C1Civil protection and disaster reliefThe organisations that turn out when something large goes wrong, and the words they use.40 words C2Demography: births, migration and age structureBirths, deaths, moves and the shape of the age structure — figures whose effects arrive decades later.44 words C1Politics and diplomacyBallot papers, parliament, the constitution and the language of foreign policy.53 words C1Religion and ritualCongregation, rite and scripture — described, not judged.45 words C1Social workCases, mandates and limits — the language of a profession that works on situations rather than on people.40 words C2DiplomacyThe words states use to talk to each other without quite saying anything.38 words C2Development cooperationMoney, conditions and the question of who decides.30 words C2Ethnology and fieldworkUnderstanding an unfamiliar order without passing judgement on it.31 words C2Civil protection and disaster managementThe words of the authority, the command post and the dyke — before, during and after an emergency.30 words C2The colonial pastThe words in which the colonial past is researched, remembered and argued over.34 words C2Criminology: counting crimeHow German statistics count crime, and what the counting leaves out.29 words C2Lobbying and the legislative processHow a position finds its way from an association’s paper into the wording of a bill.30 words C2Parliament and procedureHow a bill becomes law in Germany, and the points at which it fails.39 words C2Spatial planningWho decides what may happen on a piece of land, from the regional plan down to the gap in the street.29 words C2Religious studiesDescribing religion from the outside, in the words German scholarship uses to stay neutral.32 words C2Arms controlTreaties that can be checked, treaties that cannot, and the words that tell them apart.32 words C2Security policyDeterrence, escalation and the mandate, in the words German debates actually use — described, not judged.38 words

Spread across the levels

The category runs across the levels — it is an area, not a difficulty. If you practise it, you can also choose a level at the top of the practice page and then get only the part that sits there.

Level	Words	Share
A2	2	0 %
B1	13	2 %
B2	37	5 %
C1	295	43 %
C2	347	50 %

Practise this category

Multiple choice and gaps, across all 19 lists and all 694 words. Whatever you get wrong comes back tomorrow.