Review: telc Deutsch B2 exam

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zenmonkey
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Review: telc Deutsch B2 exam

Postby zenmonkey » Tue May 16, 2017 5:50 pm

So I took the first half of the test today and while it is fresh in my mind, I think I'll write a review, my impressions and what I plan to do from here.

Test Design
First off, the test is a typical reading, listening, writing, speaking exam. It is split into two days here as the oral part of the test takes some logistics.

Reading: 90 Min
Listening: 25 Min
Writing: 30 Min
(NO PAUSES - time for pauses is taken off the exam time.)

Except for the writing part it is all done on one of those bubble sheets that you fill in with an HB pencil.
Reading is a series of exercises where one chooses a possible headline based on the context of a short text. Or chooses from possible sentences that reference the read text. These require understanding the relationship between the sentence vocabulary and the sample text vocabulary which usually are vaguely related. Or small ads and then choosing which ad best addresses a specific need. This section also included two exercises with fill in the blanks - one on vocabulary words and two others on grammar.

Listening part was an interview, then a choice of statements to address as true or false (+/-). Or a list of news items and then a series of true or false statements. A third listening exercise is the best choice among possible conclusions based on the spoke text.

And the writing is similar to the B1 test - an advertiment or situation or job position for which you write an application, etc... you get two possibilities and choose one.

Studying for this?

Buy the Klett Testbuch do the exercises -- practice writing the letters, study the grammar points and connector words, do the listening parts.
And listen to lots and lots of radio. Lots.

My results?

I took the B1 about 7-8 weeks ago and got a 92% so I thought this was possible. In fact I didn't study much.
It kicked my ass.
I'm roadkill.

And probably, the most surprising was the listening part - I'm actually ok in this area but the fine points of the exercise were lost on me. I guessed a lot. There is no penalty and for the T/F questions guessing brings you possibly close to passing. Because you can only listen once, it requires a lot of concentration and is completely unforgiving. Didn't get that part? Too bad, guess!

My conclusion is that a) I still need to spend a lot of time listening - which is good, I'm at the point where native podcasts are enjoyable so I'm going to make that part of my schedule. Reading to help on grammar, vocabulary and idiomatic structures and writing. Ah, writing. My weakness. But it clearly needs to be part of my program to mastery.

So I'll know if I passed in about 4 weeks - but in the meantime - my monthly targets are going to be 1800/600/600 minutes of listening, reading and writing. I carry other activity (tv/study/lingvist/ANKI/work) but those don't have target. This test was motivating and gives me a baseline for improvement - I will finish the B2 books I have over the next months and then ... well, I bought a C1 manual. I think I need at least 4 months of hitting my targets before I sign up for that.

Oh, and tomorrow is the oral. :D
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DaveBee
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Re: Review: telc Deutsch B2 exam

Postby DaveBee » Tue May 16, 2017 6:29 pm

zenmonkey wrote:Oh, and tomorrow is the oral. :D
Best of luck for tomorrow.
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zenmonkey
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Re: Review: telc Deutsch B2 exam

Postby zenmonkey » Wed May 17, 2017 2:21 pm

DaveBee wrote:
zenmonkey wrote:Oh, and tomorrow is the oral. :D
Best of luck for tomorrow.


Just finished the oral part. You do this with another student in front of two evaluators.

This was divided into an introduction, a 2 minute talk about a book or vacations or a hobby, a discussion based on a subject you read in the exam book and the resolution of a situation (a friend needs help planning a move).

You get twenty minutes in a room to prepare the discussions - the introduction does not count. I unfortunately spent half my prep time on the intro. Whoops!!

I don't know how well I did. I talked about a Book Der Fremde (L'etranger) by Camus. And I was nervous and lost most of my vocabulary.

So it's done, and we will see if I passed.
But it was fun in that "I like languages so much let my show you by shoving this red hot skewer in my face."
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