Structure and Main Parts of the Goethe A1 Exam

In the article parts we will cover structure and parts of the exam Goethe A1 German Start Deutsch.

Also you will be provided with some useful advice regarding each section of the exam and the whole exam.

Usually all parts of the exam are taken within one day.

It is not possible to book taking only one part of the exam separately.

Advice: don’t plan any other urgent tasks for the day, when you take the exam, as you will find out time of taking some exam parts only on the day of the exam!

Advice: register for taking the exam beforehand, as the exam if very popular. To understand the A1 level better, check out the CEFR requirements for A1 Basic German knowledge.

Let’s see the description of the exam’s sections.

This “Goethe A1 Start Deutsch” exam consists of 4 parts, which assess different language skills:

• Listening (Hören)
• Reading (Lesen)
• Writing (Schreiben)
• Speaking (Sprechen)

The first three parts (listening, reading and writing) belong to the written part of the exam, while the last part (speaking) belongs to the oral part of the exam.

Part 1: Listening (Hören)

This part includes 3 main tasks, each of them is related to hearing audios with speech in German and fulfilling corresponding tasks.

Usually this part is considered to be the most complicated part of the whole exam.

The total time is approximately 20 minutes.

Listening Task 1: listening to short audios with monologues or dialogues, then choosing one correct option among the other options. You will hear the audio 2 times.

Listening Task 2: listening to audios with announcements, for example in a supermarket, and then marking the statements in the task as true or false. You will hear the audio 1 time.

Listening Task 3: listening to short audios, then choosing one correct option among the other options. You will hear the audio 2 times.

Advice: you can make some notes on the paper with a task description and mark an option, which you think is correct.

Advice: be attentive and read carefully the sentence or question in the task. Pay attention to such words as “no”, “didn’t”, “almost”, etc.

Advice: learn digits in German, months’ names, days of weeks and practise their recognition in speech.

Advice: if possible, sit closer to speakers in the exam’s room in order to hear the audios better.

Advice: don’t worry, if you didn’t catch the exact answer after hearing the audio. Think about the most suitable answer (based on what you’ve heard) among possible options and mark it.

Example:

Mary needs some fruit. She bought bananas and kiwis. She didn’t find apples in the supermarket.

Question:

1. Mary bought apples in the supermarket.

Options: true or false

Correct answer is false.

Part 2: Reading (Lesen)

This part includes 3 main tasks, each of them is related to reading short texts such as letters, advertisements, etc. and fulfilling corresponding tasks.

The total time is approximately 25 minutes.

Reading Task 1: Reading short texts and then marking the statements in the tasks as true or false.

Reading Task 2: Reading short texts as advertisements, notes or websites with German texts and then choosing one correct option among the other options.

Reading Task 3: Reading short texts and then marking the statements in the tasks as true or false.

Advice: be attentive and read the texts and answer options carefully. Pay attention to such words as “no”, “didn’t”, “almost”, etc.

Advice: mark the key words in the text's sentences, this will help you to get the main idea of the text and choose the correct answer.

Advice: if you finish this task quickly, then start a writing part.

Example:

You see 2 pictures with websites.

One website “rarefruits.com” is related to selling rare fruits from Indonesia.

The second site “yourfarmervegetables.com” relates to the sale of farm vegetables in the country.

Question:

1. You need to buy potatoes and carrots. Which website is more preferable to choose?

Options:

A. website “rarefruits.com”
B. website “yourfarmervegetables.com”

Correct answer is B.

Part 3: Writing (Schreiben)

This part includes 2 main tasks. The total time is approximately 20 minutes.

Writing Task 1: you will read a text with some information. Then you should fill in a form with questions and provide answers based on the information from the text.

Example:

Mary has a son and a daughter.

Question:

Number of Mary’s children: _____

Correct answer is: 2 (or zwei).

Writing Task 2: This is the main task of the writing part. You will be given a description of some situation and then you should write a response letter, in which you should provide information/answers to all the points required in the response mail. Usually 3 points should be answered/covered.

Size of the letter is approximately 30 words or more.

Advice: you should understand and cover all the questions, which are required to be covered in the exam

Advice: first write a draft of the letter and after rechecking it write a final letter in the exam paper

Advice: you should understand how to write an informal/formal letter and use corresponding greetings and ending the letter

Example:

Your friend Mary invited you to her party. Write an answer to her and cover the following options in your response letter:

• inform Mary that you will come to the party
• ask her if you need to bring something to the party, for example guitar or some food
• ask her when and where the party begins

Part 4: Speaking (Sprechen)

This part contains 3 oral tasks. The total time is approximately 15 minutes.

During the exam you will communicate with other exam’s participants and within some tasks examiners will also ask some questions.

Speaking Task 1: You should introduce yourself and speak on the following points, such as:

• your name
• your age
• country of origin
• city where you live
• languages you know
• your occupation
• your hobbies

After introducing yourself you will be asked by examiners:

• to spell some word out, for example city or country of origin
• to say digits of something, for example: your mobile phone or index.

Advice: you should definitely prepare this speech beforehand and practise it.

Advice: you should learn German alphabet and digits

Advice: be positive and relaxed during the speaking exam, smile, be polite, communicate both with the exam’s participants and examiners

Speaking Task 2: This part is related to composing a question and answering it.

Example order:

Each exam’s participant takes a card related to some topic and with some word written on it.

Then the first exam’s participant composes a question related to the described topic using the written word and asks a question to the second exam’s participant.

The second exam’s participant answers the question.

After answering the question the second exam’s participant composes his question based on the topic and word from his card and asks his question to the third exam’s participant and so on.

Advice:

• If something is not clear, you should not hesitate to ask your partner to repeat the question.
• Be careful and keep in mind that you should compose a question using the written word for a specified topic from the card
• Don’t construct very complicated questions, use prepared question structures and answers

Example:

You take a card with the word “Apple” and the topic is “Shopping”.

Example question is: Could you please buy some apples?

Example answer is: Sure, I'll buy apples at the supermarket.

Speaking Task 3: This part is related to composing a request and reacting to it.

Example order:

Each exam’s participant takes a card with some picture on it.

Then the first exam’s participant composes a request related to the picture and requests/asks for something from the second exam’s participant.

The second exam’s participant reacts to the request and suggests something.

After reacting to the request the second exam’s participant composes his request based on the picture from his card and says his request to the third exam’s participant and so on.

Advice: When responding to a request, the participant should, if possible, gesture to show what they are doing. For example: showing that you are giving something to a participant or opening a bottle, etc.

Example:

You took a card with the picture “Apple”

Example request is: Could you please give me this apple?

Example answer is: Sure, here it is (and you gesture to give the invisible apple to your partner 🙂)

Exam scores and results

After some time you will receive the results of the exam.

The maximum number of points for all parts of the exam is 100:

• 75 points are related to the written part and
• 25 points are related to the speaking part.

If you gain 60 or more points out of 100 and pass all exam parts, then you pass the exam. The description of A1 German Certificate benefits can be found here, some of them might be not obvious, but it definitely worth to check out.

So in order to pass the exam you need to:

• score at least 45 points (out of 75) in the written part of the examination and
• at least 15 points (out of 25) in the oral part of the examination.

Congratulations!