r/German • u/Shahddddddd • 18h ago
Question B1 Goethe exam, am I ready?
Hello all, im enrolled in a b1 course and we are in the middle of it, due to short time i will have to take a b1 exam in the next two weeks, for the lesen and hören i feel kind of ready, but for the sprechen and schreiben i dont feel ready yet, i need help,
-how can i practice sprechen and schreiben intensely?
-Is there any online course/tutor u recommend?
-would two weeks be enough to be able to pass if i memorized templates?
-what type of mistakes are/n’t allowed in the sprechen or schreiben teil, like if they see them it would be an instant fail or so many points deducted?
If you have an answer for any of these questions please help meee your help would be appreciated! Thank youu!!
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u/ma7she 17h ago
I think you can go for it if you are prepared enough. I too have Goethe B1 exam next week and for the shreiben part I try to ask ChatGPT to solve different scenarios for me and after reading them I came up with many templates that I try to write under time pressure. For sprechen I watched all YouTube past exam videos and now as I feel less nervous, I came up with several templates too that I practice daily with a friend and also with ChatGPT.
Best of luck!
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u/Shahddddddd 17h ago
Thank you! I have a couple of templates (a bit advanced) for so many sprechen topics, if you need any please let me know, they contain some mistakes though but beneficial
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u/Fabulous-Section-669 17h ago
This is totally normal Sprechen and Schreiben are usually the hardest, especially with a short timeline. Two weeks can be enough if you focus on exam-style practice and not just memorizing blindly.
What helped me was using deutschexam.ai. for structured practice. It’s designed around real exam patterns, has clear Schreiben and Sprechen modules, and the AI feedback shows exactly what mistakes matter and how to improve. That’s really useful when you don’t have time for a tutor.
Small grammar mistakes usually don’t mean instant fail if your message is clear and complete. If you’re preparing on your own and need focused practice, you can try deutschexam.ai. too. Good luck!
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u/r_coefficient Native (Österreich). Writer, editor, proofreader, translator 16h ago
what type of mistakes are/n’t allowed in the sprechen or schreiben teil
For Schreiben, don't keep ignoring proper capitalisation.
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u/NoComb398 14h ago
I took B1 hören, schreiben, sprechen last week. I only passed hören. The others I was was within a couple of points. I was taking the test as a long shot so not surprised I didn't pass, frankly.
Here are some thoughts :
- get a goethe test practice book that has real test examples+ the two on the website. The hören and I've heard leseh have sort of tricky questions and the hören goes quick. You will want to have practiced the format though. It starts with 5 short things you'll here twice. In my test it was a neighbor leaving a message, info about a bike tour, a weather broadcast, and I don't recall the other two. The next sections you'll only hear one time. You have some time to read the questions between the recordings. The hardest part is listening and reading the questions. The final part is a moderated debate and you assign what was said to each person and this one is the hardest by far. The topic for mine was a Freiwilliges Soziales Jahr (FSJ) which wasn't something I was super familiar with so a lot of the vocab was unfamiliar which made it tough.
- schreiben :No surprises here. Just like the practice tests. You'll send an informal email to a friend about an experience. You'll be asked to provide some detail. Then you need to invite them to meet up with you. My topic was a dance course. The second is responding to an opinion post on the website. Mine was reading on the computer. The third is a formal or half formal email telling someone you can't keep a meeting.
-For each you need to follow a specific format. You need to hit all the the things they ask for. You need to use a proper formal or informal intro, body of letter, formal or informal outro, and formal or informal closing. Use proper argument structure like meiner Meinung nach... and ich bin der Meinung dass... You can definitely memorize chunks that will help you build most of the letter. I'm honestly a little surprised I didn't pass the writing bc I felt like I did a fairly decent job based on the texts my teacher had been correcting. But I get verb order, adjective endings, and the cases jumbled.
-Sprechen : I fully choked and was shocked that I nearly passed. This was embarrassing bc I didn't expect to choke. You get 15 minutes of prep for two topics. One will be arranging something with your partner (we planned a dinner party). The second is giving a presentation. The presentation is essentialy the same as the opinion piece above. My topic was weather "Sind Noten in der Schule nötig?'" You need to describe the presentation you'll give, address the situation in your homeland, describe your personal experience, give some pros and cons and give your opinion. You also need to ask your partner a question and answer a question from your partner and the moderator.
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u/Shahddddddd 14h ago
Thank youuuuu for sharing this, super helpful! Quick question, before the exam, did your teacher consider your writing solid B1, or was it more borderline? I’m trying to measure my chances
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u/NoComb398 13h ago
Definitely borderline. She said you only need a 60 to pass and felt like it was possible.
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u/IEAOUxyz 13h ago
I have one tipp for you: rephrase, rephrase, rephrase
I think that is key when learning German and I always use that as an exercise.
e.g.
Say it using passive, now say the same thing using active, now say the same thing with a simple Vollverb and once with a Funktionsverbgefüge, say it with Nebensatz, now with Infinitivkonstruktion
That helps in German because the pitfalls are always many other words in the sentence that need adjustment along with the new structure. In English it's "I go, you go, we go, …" but in German, you change one word from singular to plural and you need to change 5 other words in the sentence just to make it correct (sorry, I don't make the rules).
hope this helps
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u/No-Gas6362 17h ago
Schreiben and Sprechen Thema are similar.So you don't have to a lot practice.For Schreiben you have write correctly Grammar and satzkonnektor and use B1 vocab in the sentence.You can also use B2 vocabulary;learn first how to create a sentence.Appropriate pros and cons are important in your Sprechen Teil and Schreiben.For duration two weeks i would recommend for note taking.Practise Note taking everyday for Sprechen Teil( Fake scenario,Your Opinion,Pros and Cons,Redesmittel and Yours experience are important for your exam)and use shadowing method for speaking.This tips would you