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Passing Goethe Institut B2 (German) | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Learning Techniques, Methods & Strategies |  | |
| soclydeza85 Senior Member United States Joined 3908 days ago 357 posts - 502 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 1 of 12 11 July 2014 at 2:46pm | IP Logged |
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According the dw.de I'm a B1, though I feel like maybe a high A2 or low B1. I'd like to eventually take the B2 exam and wanted to know the best way to take steps for preparing for it. Of my main programs, I'll be done with Assimil in about a month, Pimsleur (4th and last level) in about a week, I'll be done with Hugo probably in a months of so and move on to the Hugo Advanced book. I also watch a lot of media (shows/movies). I also have a few natives that I practice speaking with and the DW course (which I've currently taken a break from but will resume one I finish the other programs).
Would continuing these practices prepare me for taking the B2 exam? (which wouldn't be for maybe a year). Also, is planning on taking it next Spring/Summer being too ambitious? For an idea of my learning pace, I only knew basic stuff before I started serious study back in February. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| drygramul Tetraglot Senior Member Italy Joined 4469 days ago 165 posts - 269 votes Speaks: Persian, Italian*, EnglishC2, GermanB2 Studies: French, Polish | Message 2 of 12 11 July 2014 at 2:58pm | IP Logged |
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One classmate of mine took the TestDaf, which is C1 after 3 weeks of preparation course. His level may have been a solid B1 or a low B2 at most, and his German was less strong than mine (in all areas except for the speaking), which I consider to be to a low B2. He's still expecting the results, but he was confident having passed it.
In addition some people took and passed the B1 test with a solid A2 level of German, and many people pass the DSH C1 with a strong B2. What I'm trying to say is that those tests have lower expections than your current level. I'm gonna take TELC B2 next month, and I'm just gonna be practicing translating top-thema articles from DW and working a grammar book called Grammatik B, which I bought and yet have to start. The last two weeks I'll check some example tests to get accustomed to the format, and that's all. If you mastered 80% of Assimil I think you could take it in less than a couple of months of hard word. Edited by drygramul on 11 July 2014 at 3:04pm 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| soclydeza85 Senior Member United States Joined 3908 days ago 357 posts - 502 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 3 of 12 12 July 2014 at 4:21am | IP Logged |
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Thanks drygramul; you really think a couple more months? Also, how much do these exams typically cost?
Oh, after rereading my post I realized I left out an important piece of info: I mean the Geothe Institut B2 exam, not the dw.de one. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| drygramul Tetraglot Senior Member Italy Joined 4469 days ago 165 posts - 269 votes Speaks: Persian, Italian*, EnglishC2, GermanB2 Studies: French, Polish | Message 4 of 12 12 July 2014 at 10:46am | IP Logged |
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I'm not familiar precisely with both TELC or GOETHE formats, but if it's just to pass it (60%) it shouldn't be a problem with the grammar knowledge of assimil and some active work on different themas (DW top-thema are just fine). The active skills are the only hard ones, and you're at advantage because you can already speak German with other people, while I can't. I've recently checked Assimil and there's still a lot I could learn from it in terms of grammar and sentence structures, and still some grammar things you won't need for B2 (konjunktiv I, for instance).
I paid for mine around 110 - 130 euro, if I remember correctly. Most of them are around this price, but I'm taking it in Germany. I think it could cost a little more in your country. The DSH for C1 it's the only one that can cost as less as 60 euros or as much as 200 euros depending on were you take it, because it's not standardised. I've tried this test a couple of days ago for both English and German and I think it was realiable for judging your grammar level. That doesn't cover of course vocabulary and German expressions. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5010 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 5 of 12 12 July 2014 at 1:39pm | IP Logged |
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While I haven't tried any German exam yet, a good way to prepare yourself for a B2 or higher exam is to go
through the typical assignments. Being able to speak with other people is good but it may not suffice (depends on the situations you are speakin in usually),handling various usual situations tends to be the matter of A1-B1 exams. And the written tasks in an exam may have specifics as well. A lot depends on the format of the exam and the tasks, on things the examinators are looking for in particular (such as correct structure of a text, knowing the genre you are required to write in, proper forms and registers for the speaking part). So, while you seem to be working on great base, getting a preparatory coursebook with CDs may be very useful. It is very true that you can pass a higher exam than your "real" level probably is if you get prepared for exactly the typical tasks. On the other hand, it isn't that hard to fail if you totally underestimate the preparation, especially if you "really" are on the edge of B1/2 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| drygramul Tetraglot Senior Member Italy Joined 4469 days ago 165 posts - 269 votes Speaks: Persian, Italian*, EnglishC2, GermanB2 Studies: French, Polish | Message 6 of 12 23 July 2014 at 5:58pm | IP Logged |
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Just un update, the guy I told you about with a solid B1 and 3 weeks test training, passed the TestDaf (C1) with full score in all parts.
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| soclydeza85 Senior Member United States Joined 3908 days ago 357 posts - 502 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, French | Message 7 of 12 23 July 2014 at 6:19pm | IP Logged |
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You mean it took him 3 weeks to get from B1 to C1 (did I read that right?)
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| drygramul Tetraglot Senior Member Italy Joined 4469 days ago 165 posts - 269 votes Speaks: Persian, Italian*, EnglishC2, GermanB2 Studies: French, Polish | Message 8 of 12 23 July 2014 at 7:08pm | IP Logged |
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I mean you can pass the C1 test with 3 weeks of training, and maybe a bit of luck. German tests seem to overestimate greatly your skills.
Just watch this B1 example from Goethe. No way that's even a B1, in fact people from my class with A2 passed it without effort, as I said. At the end of the same month in which my classmate took the aforementioned TestDaf, we had die Abschlussprüfung for the B2. I scored 83%, he 64% or less. And I'd still classify myself as a low B2 at most. I took the academic Ielts last summer with a 8/9 score, and the FCE a decade ago, so I do know what a C1 level looks like, and we're both years far from that. Edited by drygramul on 23 July 2014 at 7:09pm 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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