Taking the German Language Test
in Germany
Shanaz Well, December 2009, Germany

What was my feeling before taking the test?
Honestly, I was worried. I was worried of failing. It will be a waste of time and effort and money if I will fail it. I thought about reviewing very well and do all the possibilities to pass the examination but the feeling of "ooppps" is there.

How did I prepare for the DTZ Examination?
I was going to school everyday. In the school, I tried to speak with classmates, schoolmates, and teachers during breaktime to train my "tongue" in the german language. At first I was a little bit shy but their smiles and greetings made me feel comfortable. I did my best to do all the requirements, homeworks (Hausaufgaben), and related readings at home. I focused more on the Grammatik (grammar) because for me, this is the difficult part in learning the language. I downloaded all model tests available in the internet and tried answering them all. I should have a proper time management between the model tests, homework from school, and grammar-learning. It needs a lot of time to focus quietly at home. I tried to cut simple and complicated pictures from the newspaper. I let my husband listen to me while speaking about these pictures to train myself in the speaking part of the examination. I conversed with my husband in the german language, which really helped in the examination. It does not matter if you have limited german words in your head. What matters is you can make yourself understood and manipulate available words in your mind. If you forgot the word schwer/kompliziert (difficult) but you know the word einfach (easy), just put nicht (not) before the word einfach to negate the adjective, which will give you the words nicht einfach (not easy) which will also mean schwer/kompliziert (difficult), on the other way around. Manipulating the words, for me, are the keys to many conversational approaches.

What transpired during the DTZ actual examination?
Few weeks before the examination, the integration course provider gives the final instruction (i.e. what to bring, room assignment, examiners for the speaking examination, rules inside the examination room, time, date, etc.). I was scheduled for hearing, reading, and writing in the morning. When the watcher says "we start", we start the examination. We started with hearing then came the reading part. After these two examinations, we were given a 20-minute breaktime.

During the breaktime, everybody is noisy. Everybody is talking here and there about the examination. Even in the toilet, it was funny to hear that they are discussing things about the examination. Of course, it's normal. You can feel their styles, their stress, their tensions, and their laughters. Again, those are normal.

After the breaktime, we proceeded to continue the examination for the "writing" part. Here is my warning. You will be given a scratch paper where you will write your sample writing activity before you transfer to the examination paper. You are not obliged to use the scratch paper. You can write direct on the examination paper. It is your choice. Just be sure that before the time ends, you must have all your writings on the examination paper. The scratch paper is never honored.

When I went out from the room for a lunch break, I saw two persons crying - a girl from Angola and a girl from Turkey. Why? They were not able to transfer their written composition on the examination paper. Moral lesson, always check the time.

For the Mündliche Prüfung (Speaking Test), each person was given a pair. This pair could be your classmate, a person from other classes, or a person who are retaking the examination. In short, either you know this person or not, you will speak together during the speaking test. In my case, I really don't know my pair. I don't have any idea who he is until the examination day, somebody pointed to me that he was my designated pair for the speaking test. We just smiled to each other but never talked to each other. It would be better if you speak to each other for at least few minutes before the examination for you to hear how each pronounces the words and how your pair actually speaks the german language. I don't advise generally though. It is always your own choice. In one situation, I know one Chinese who took the examination and he had problems with pronouncing the words because of his chinese accent. If the Chinese was your classmate, you know exactly how he speaks. What if he is a total stranger to you? How would you converse? It might affect you, too. This is just one example.

In my speaking examination, I was scheduled in the afternoon. Me and my pair went inside the examination room. One person converses with us while the other makes the score. The examination that I went through provides the following:

1. Introduce yourself. (But you do not just talk plain and simple introduction. You should speak a little elaboration of your person. Your goal is to get B1 Level of Language Certificate and not A2 which is lower level certificate than B1, of course. Talking about sensible things about yourself will open a door for conversation between you and the interviewer. Don't be scared because their questions are based on what you told them. Speak naturally, as if you are already an expert German language speaker.)

2. Describe a picture. (Sometimes, the picture is so simple that you run out of adjectives to describe the picture already. Bear in mind that the more you speak, the better points you get. My technique was, I spoke something which was not in the picture but in relation to the picture. It is a matter of creativity and producing more phrases into sentences until the interviewer tells you to stop.)

3. Converse with your partner. (The examiners will give you a theme, a goal to speak about, and a time limit to converse about and reach that goal. You speak to your pair as if he is your friend even if you are annoyed at him. Your goal is to earn points for the examination and one good style is throwing a question to your pair and get his idea. This will open more conversation. Some techniques are also being taught by your language teachers few weeks before taking the examination.)