Congratulations, as you have reached this far in German Language. B1 is considered as an intermediate level, which means you have now covered the basics of this language. In this exam as well, you will be judged on the same parameters, namely, Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening. The minimum passing percentage for each levelis 60%.
Let’s have a look at the exam pattern and discuss it in detail:
READING (LESEN)
Time given: 65 minutes (5 minutes for marking the answers in the answer sheet)
Total Points: 30
There are 5 parts in this module:
- Part 1 (Teil 1)- Blog Entry (10 minutes)
Questions – 6
There will be a text given and 6 statements. You have to read the text and then select ‘Richtig’ oder ‘Falsch’.
- Part 2 (Teil 2)- Press Reports (20 minutes)
Questions – 6
In this part, you will be given two press reports and each press report will have 3 questions, so in total 6 questions in this part. These will be multiple choice questions, so you have to select the correct option, ‘a’, ‘b’ or ‘c’ which indicates the correct information.
- Part 3 (Teil 3)- Advertisements (10 minutes)
Questions- 7
In this part, there will be 9 advertisements which appear in a newspaper. There were be 7 people listed with their needs. You have to match the advertisements with the corresponding people according to their requirement.Please note that 1 person will not have any corresponding advertisement, for that you will have to mark ‘null’.
- Part 4 (Teil 4)- Leserbriefe (10 minutes)
Questions- 7
In this part, there will 7 short ‘letters to the editor’ which are written by different individuals in response to a controversial topic. You have to select whether the person is in favour or againstof the topic after reading their response. If the person is in favour, you need to select ‘Ja’ and if against, then please select ‘Nein’.The text of the controversial topic would not be given, only the heading would be mentioned. Read the heading thoroughly, atleast 2 to 3 times.
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Part 5 (Teil 5) – Text (10 minutes)
Questions- 4
You will read an information table regarding the rules and regulations of an organization and 4 incomplete statements. After reading the table, you have to select the correct choice, ‘a’, ‘b’ or ‘c’.
LISTENING
Time given: 40 minutes
Total Points: 30
This module has 4 parts.
- Part 1 (Teil 1)– 15 minutes
Questions- 10
In this part, you will listen to 5 short monologues. For every monologue, there are two questions, one question with option, ‘Richtig’ oder ‘Falsch’ and another question with 3 options: a, b, and c. After listening to the text, you need to select the right option. Each monologue will be played twice. Make sure to read the question carefully and look for the keywords in the audio.
- Part 2 (Teil 2) – 5 minutes
This part will have one recording and based on this you will have 5 MCQ questions and you have to select the correct option: a, b or c. At the beginning of this teil, you will get 60 seconds to go through the questions, then you will hear the recording, which will be played only once.
The recording will be of a person guiding you to a tour or place and based on that you have to choose your answers.
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Part 3 (Teil 3) – 5 minutes
You will listen to 1 short conversation and there will be 7 questions based on this. These have 2 options, ‘Richtig’ oder ‘Falsch’. The conversation will be played only once.
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Part 4 (Teil 4) – 15 minutes
Here, you will be listening to discussion or a debate on a given topic. There will be 3 people in this discussion, one moderator and two guest speakers, one person will be in favour and the other will be against the topic. There will be 8 MCQ questions and you have to choose the correct option, a, b or c. The audio will be played twice.
WRITING (SCHREIBEN)
Time given: 60 minutes
Total Points: 100
There are 3 parts in this module:
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Part 1 (Teil 1) – Informal E-mail- 40 points
Time allocated – 20 minutes
You will need to write an informal E-mail to a friend or a known person. There will be 3 points/questions which will be given, and they must be incorporated in your E-mail. Please take care of the structure of the e-mail, salutation and sign-off are really important. The word limit for this will be around 80 words.
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Part 2 (Teil 2) – Expressing your view or opinion on a theme - 40 points
Time allocated- 25 minutes
In this part, you will be given a topic or a theme from a magazine or newspaper. There will be only two or three lines mentioned, you need to read the same and express your opinion on it. You can choose to be in favour or against of the same.The word limit for this is approximately80 words. You may go above or below the word limit by few words.
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Part 3 ( Teil 3)- Formal E-mail – 20 points
Time allocated – 15 minutes
You will be given the scenario and based on that you need to write a formal E-mail. You need to pay attention to the structure and presentation of the email: the salutation, introduction, structure and the end of the email/signing off. The word limit for this will be approximately 40 words.
SPEAKING (SPRECHEN)
Time given: 20 minutes
Total Points: 100 (16 points are for pronunciation)
There are 3 parts in this module. The speaking exam is conducted in groups of 2. You will get preparation time for around 15 minutes.
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Part 1 (Teil 1)- Gespräch- 28 points
Time allotted- 3 minutes
In this part, the two partners will have a short conversation for around 3 minutes. There will be 4 points mentioned and you have to cover all the points in your discussion. It will be most likely, planning an event together.
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Part 2 (Teil 2)- Presentation on a current topic- 40 points
Time allocated- 5 minutes
You will get 2 topics and you need to select 1 and give a presentation on it for around 5 minutes. In the preparation time, make sure to jot down key words, points that you will be covering in your presentation.
Another point to remember is that don’t write complete sentences in your rough work, only key words and points.
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Part 3 (Teil 3) – Questions on your presentation- 16 points
Time allocated- 4 minutes
The examiners and the fellow candidate, will ask questions about your presentation, you will need to answer the same accordingly. Similarly, you will also be asking your fellow candidate questions relating to their presentation.
Please ensure that you listen to your fellow candidate’s presentation also carefully and ask relevant questions pertaining to the same.
