Goethe-Institute German A1 exam format section by section
The Goethe A1 Exam is in four parts. All the four parts cover the four skills of
1-listening,
2-reading
3-writing
4-speaking.
We have referred the model question paper on Goethe Institute’s own website.
Let look in the format of the paper part by part.
1-Listening Section (Hören)
The Goethe A1 German listening exams last for total 20 minutes and is divided in three parts. The complete audio for the listening exam runs for over 17 to 18 minutes. The audio played is generally recorded voice and is clear and slower that everyday speech.
Listening Part One (Teils Eins):
In the Part one, you will hear six short audio clips, each audio clip is played twice. For every question you select the correct answer form the three given options (a,b or c). Each question comes with three pictures, which helps in the selecting the correct answer.
Listening Part Two (Teil Zwei):
There are four questions in this part (seven to ten).Each question has its own audio clip ,after listening to the audio clip ,you have to decide whether the statement given is true or false.Each audio clip is played twice as an announcement on the loudspeaker.
Listening Part Three (Teil Drei):
There are five questions in this part, you’ll hear five audio clips, each played twice. For every question, you must choose the correct answer from options a), b), or c). The recordings feature various telephone voicemail messages, and your task is to determine, based on what you hear, which of the three short options best answers the question.
2-Reading Section (Lesen)
The Goethe A1 German reading exams and the writing exam section last for total 45 minutes. It is recommended to spend about 25 minutes on reading and 20 minutes on writing.
The reading section is split in total three sections.
Reading Part (Teil Eins):
There are two short texts in the first part of the reading section. The first text is about 40 to 50 words and the second text is about 70 to 80 words long.
There are five questions in total two based on the first text and three based on the second text which one must answer with Richtig or Falsch.
Reading Part (Teil Zwei):
For questions six to nine, you will see two brief website descriptions (around 10–20 words each, with the web address shown). Each question presents a different simple situation.
Reading Part (Teil Drei):
In questions 11 to 15 of the model paper, you will be shown a picture of an information sign. You must interpret the sign to answer the question with “richtig” or “falsch.”
3-Writing Section (Schreiben)
The writing section is one of the parts of the reading section, because we get both the section at once. One should not spend more than 20 minutes on writing section. Both the sections in the writing sections should be written in small number of words and should follow clear structure. One of the key challenges in the writing section is to understand the information given in both the questions.
Writing Part (Teil Eins):
Part one of the writing section is a form filling exercise. In the question paper there is form with five blanks which needs to be filled after reading some basic small information, which is not more than 4 to 5 sentences.
Writing Part (Teil Zwei):
Part two is a short letter. One need to first read understand the question. Added to this there are three specific point given which need to be address in the letter in around 30 words
4-Speaking Section (Sprechen)
The speaking exam section of Goethe A1 lasts around fifteen minutes and has three main parts. There are up to four participants in a group with whom one must speak. There are also two examiners.one is the moderator and other is the assessor. The moderator guides the session and the assessor records the candidate’s performance.
Speaking Part (Teil Eins):
In Part one, one needs to introduce yourself with help of a prompt sheet. The sheet has all the information or pointers on which one need to answer in short sentences.
After the introduction, the moderator may ask one to spell any piece of information. One should be ready with the spellings of all the information shared in the introduction.
Speaking Part (Teil Zwei):
Part two will check one’s ability to ask and provide simple information about everyday topics such as(Essen,Trinken,Wohenende,Kleidung)
The first candidate asks the question and the second candidate responds to the question and this continues unless everyone has asked and answer the question.
For example, if you have the card: “Thema Essen uns Trinken. Beer” you could ask “Wo kann ich Beer trinken?” If you are asked this, you might answer: “In der Kneipe” Then the exercise repeats with a second everyday subject.
Speaking Part (Teil Drei):
Part Three checks one’s ability to ask and respond to questions in relation to common and everyday Objects.
For example, the prompt could display a photo or picture of an Apple without any accompanying text. You might ask a question,”Ein Kilo Apfel,bitte?” or respond,” Ja naturlich,bitte”. One needs to refer the model papers to understand the different photos and examples.