The oral B1 exam: format, topics, examples

The oral B1 exam lasts about 15 minutes and is almost always a paired exam — you speak with a second candidate, not alone with the examiners. Beforehand you are given preparation time in a separate room: 15 minutes for the Goethe-Zertifikat B1 (the Goethe-Institut certificate), 20 minutes for the telc Deutsch B1. You may take the notes from that time into the exam with you.

Data checked: 3 September 2026. The details come from the Goethe-Institut implementation rules (as of 1 September 2023), the telc gGmbH practice test and the BAMF handbook on the Deutsch-Test für Zuwanderer. Check the current format before your exam with the provider and with your Prüfungszentrum (examination centre).

How long does the oral B1 exam take?

Exam	Preparation	Examination conversation
Goethe-Zertifikat B1	15 minutes	15 minutes as a pair (10 minutes alone)
telc Deutsch B1	20 minutes	approx. 15 minutes as a pair
Deutsch-Test für Zuwanderer	arranged locally	approx. 10 minutes per person

In the Goethe-Zertifikat B1 the format is laid down to the minute: the opening conversation with the introductions takes about one minute, part 1 about 2–3 minutes, part 2 about 3–4 minutes per person and part 3 about 1–2 minutes per person. An individual exam is held only in exceptional cases; it then lasts 10 minutes.

That sounds short — and it is. Which is exactly why the most common cause of lost points is not a grammar mistake but too little talking. Anyone who answers every question in two words gives the examiners nothing to assess.

The three parts — exam by exam

Goethe-Zertifikat B1

1. Planning something together. You and your partner plan something concrete together — an outing, a party, a visit, for example. What counts here is the interaction: making suggestions, responding to suggestions, reaching agreement.
2. Presenting a topic. One after the other, each person gives a short presentation. During the preparation time you choose it from two topics offered.
3. Giving feedback and answering questions. The other candidate and the second examiner have been listening, give feedback and ask questions. After your own presentation you answer those questions.

telc Deutsch B1

1. Getting to know one another — 15 points
2. Talking about a topic — 30 points
3. Planning something together — 30 points

In total 75 points are available in the oral part, and you need 45 of them, that is 60 per cent. The weight clearly lies on parts 2 and 3.

Deutsch-Test für Zuwanderer

The DTZ has five short sections: introduce yourself, answer follow-up questions, give information about a picture or a topic, compare and report, and finally negotiate something — find a solution together. In the DTZ speaking is particularly important: without B1 in the oral part there is no overall result of B1, as we explain in DTZ or B1?.

Which topics come up in the oral B1 exam?

The topics come from everyday life. You do not have to display specialist knowledge or defend a difficult position — you are meant to be able to talk about your own life and your own experiences. Typical topic areas:

• Housing — flat hunting, moving, life in the city or in the countryside, neighbours
• Work and training — job, working hours, job applications, further training
• Health — going to the doctor, healthy eating, sport, stress
• Leisure and travel — holidays, hobbies, festivals and public holidays
• Family and living together — bringing up children, sharing housework, friendships
• Media and technology — mobile phones, the internet, social networks, television
• Learning — learning languages, school, exams
• Environment and everyday life — shopping, separating rubbish, means of transport

For a presentation, the best topics are those you have a personal story and an opinion about. “Mobile phones in everyday life” is a better topic than “Digitalisation in Germany”, because you can immediately tell the first one from your own life.

Do not invent a list of topics in advance: what you get is decided by the exam set. It makes more sense to have three or four sentences ready for each of the topic areas above that you can say with confidence.

The structure of a B1 presentation

For the presentation part a fixed framework helps. It costs nothing and rescues you when you are nervous in the moment:

1. Introduction — “Ich möchte heute über … sprechen. Zuerst erzähle ich …, dann …”
2. Your own experience — “In meinem Heimatland war das so: … Bei mir persönlich ist es …”
3. The situation in Germany — “Hier in Deutschland habe ich beobachtet, dass …”
4. Advantages and disadvantages — “Ein Vorteil ist … Auf der anderen Seite …”
5. Your own opinion and conclusion — “Ich finde …, weil … Vielen Dank fürs Zuhören.”

These five steps fill the three to four minutes you have quite by themselves.

Phrases that work in every exam

Suggesting and planning: “Wie wäre es, wenn wir …?” · “Ich schlage vor, dass wir …” · “Was hältst du davon, …?” · “Sollen wir lieber … oder …?”

Agreeing and disagreeing: “Das finde ich gut, aber …” · “Da bin ich ganz deiner Meinung.” · “Das sehe ich anders, weil …” · “Einverstanden, machen wir das so.”

Giving your opinion: “Meiner Meinung nach …” · “Ich bin der Meinung, dass …” · “Für mich ist wichtig, dass …”

When you do not know a word: “Wie sagt man das auf Deutsch? Ich meine so ein Ding, mit dem man …” · “Ich weiß das Wort nicht, aber es ist so ähnlich wie …”

That last point matters more than it looks. Paraphrasing a word is an assessed skill at B1 — silence, by contrast, is not assessed at all. Anyone who bridges a gap elegantly loses no points but shows exactly what this level asks for.

How to really practise speaking

Speaking is the one part of the exam you cannot improve by reading. Three things help measurably:

1. Speak out loud, not in your head. Record yourself on your phone and listen back. You hear immediately where you falter.
2. Practise against the clock. Set a timer for three minutes and talk about a topic until the time is up.
3. Get feedback. Without correction, mistakes become entrenched.

On this site you can train both free of charge: monologue and presentation for the presentation part and the picture description for free narration and comparison. Your answer is assessed for task fulfilment, vocabulary, grammar and fluency, and you get a model text to compare with. You can practise the whole format with all its parts in a practice pack in the exam format — these are our own practice tasks in the exam format, not real exam papers.

On exam day

• Greet people warmly and introduce yourself briefly. The opening conversation is not marked strictly, but it sets your nerves for the next 15 minutes.
• Talk to your partner, not to the examiners. In the “planning” and “negotiating” parts that is exactly what is being assessed.
• Help the other person. If they falter, ask a question. It does not harm you — it shows conversational ability.
• Do not comment on your mistakes. Simply say the sentence again correctly and carry on. At B1 you are expected to make mistakes.

What is binding is always your provider’s exam regulations. Ask your Prüfungszentrum whether the oral exam takes place on the same day as the written part — that varies from place to place.