Goethe B1 Speaking Exam: All 3 Parts, With Real Examples
The Goethe-Zertifikat B1 speaking exam runs about 15 minutes, taken in pairs, after 15 minutes of preparation time. It has exactly three tasks — planning something together, giving a short presentation, and discussing both candidates’ presentations — and each is scored separately as part of the overall Sprechen module. Here’s exactly what happens in the room, task by task, with what examiners are actually listening for.
The exam at a glance
| Detail | |
|---|---|
| Format | Paired exam (two candidates), or individual if needed |
| Preparation time | 15 minutes, alone, notes allowed |
| Total speaking time | About 15 minutes for the pair (about 10 for an individual exam) |
| Materials allowed | None — no dictionaries, no phones |
| Structure | 3 tasks: plan together → present a topic → discuss both topics |
| Passing score | 60 out of 100 points (60%) |
| Module independence | Sprechen is graded separately from Lesen, Hören and Schreiben — you can retake just this one if needed |
That last point matters more than people expect. The Goethe-Zertifikat B1 is modular — pass all four within the same testing cycle and you get a combined certificate, but if you only fail speaking, you don’t have to redo the other three.
Preparation: what actually happens in those 15 minutes
You go into a room alone with the task materials for all three parts and 15 minutes to prepare. You’re allowed to make notes — full sentences aren’t useful here, since you won’t have time to write a script and reading from one would work against you anyway. What works better is jotting down: a few key words for your presentation’s structure, one or two ideas for the planning task, and a couple of questions you might ask your partner about their topic.
A reasonable split of that time: roughly 7–8 minutes on your presentation topic (this is the part with the most content to organise), 4–5 minutes on the planning task, and the rest reviewing both.
Aufgabe 1: Planning something together (~3 minutes)
You and your partner get a scenario that requires you to plan something jointly — a classic example from the official practice materials: a classmate had an accident and is in hospital; you want to visit, bring a gift from the group, and help them once they’re discharged since they live alone. You’re given a few bullet points to guide the conversation and asked to make suggestions, react to your partner’s suggestions, and reach a joint decision.
What examiners are scoring here: not just whether you can describe the situation, but whether you can actually interact — proposing something, responding to a counter-suggestion, agreeing or politely disagreeing, and moving the conversation toward a decision. A candidate who just answers “ja, gut” to everything their partner suggests, without adding anything, scores lower here than one who actively negotiates, even with more grammar mistakes.
Useful phrases for this task:
- Wir könnten vielleicht… (We could maybe…)
- Was hältst du von…? (What do you think of…?)
- Das ist eine gute Idee, aber… (That’s a good idea, but…)
- Wie wäre es, wenn wir…? (How about if we…?)
- Einverstanden, machen wir das so. (Agreed, let’s do it that way.)
Aufgabe 2: Presenting a topic (~3 minutes)
You choose between two topic options (Thema A or Thema B) given in your materials and prepare a short presentation on it during your 15 minutes. Your partner listens and then asks questions.
Typical topics ask you to describe several forms of something (say, several ways of doing something in modern life), then focus on one in more detail, and evaluate advantages and disadvantages.
Structure matters here more than almost anywhere else in the exam. The official materials explicitly instruct candidates to structure the presentation with an introduction, main part, and conclusion (Einleitung, Hauptteil, Schluss). A presentation with clear structure and a few small grammar mistakes consistently scores better than a grammatically cleaner one that rambles without a shape.
A workable structure to memorise as a skeleton, not a script:
- Introduction — state your topic and what you’ll cover: Ich möchte über… sprechen. Zuerst…, dann…, und am Ende…
- Main part — describe the general situation, then narrow to specifics, then give your evaluation: Es gibt verschiedene Möglichkeiten… Ich möchte mich auf… konzentrieren… Ein Vorteil ist…, aber ein Nachteil ist…
- Conclusion — a short wrap-up with your own opinion: Zusammenfassend finde ich… Meiner Meinung nach…
Three minutes is not long. Candidates who try to cover too much tend to run out of time mid-thought, which reads worse to an examiner than a shorter, complete presentation.
Building a presentation skeleton you can adapt to any topic — rather than memorising one fixed script — is exactly what repeated speaking practice trains. SipLingo runs voice conversations where you practise structuring your own thoughts out loud, with corrections in your own language on grammar, word order and vocabulary as you go. Try it free →
Aufgabe 3: Discussing both topics (~2 minutes)
After both candidates have presented, you talk about the topics together — your partner asks you questions about your presentation, and you ask them about theirs.
This is the part memorised presentations struggle with most. If Aufgabe 2 was recited from a fully scripted paragraph, Aufgabe 3 exposes it immediately: a genuine follow-up question breaks a memorised script in a way it doesn’t break a flexible one. This is also, not coincidentally, the shortest of the three tasks — examiners don’t need long to tell whether a candidate can actually engage with unscripted follow-up.
Useful phrases for this task:
- Asking a question: Was denkst du über…? / Warum hast du dieses Thema gewählt?
- Buying a second to think: Das ist eine gute Frage. Ich denke, dass…
- Extending an answer naturally: Außerdem finde ich… / Ein weiterer Punkt ist…
Practise your German out loud with SipLingo, free to try on iPhone and Android:
How it’s actually scored
The Sprechen module is graded out of 100 points, and you need 60 to pass — the same threshold as the other three modules, but scored entirely independently. Broadly, examiners assess: task fulfilment (did you do what the task asked), coherence and range of language, grammatical accuracy, and pronunciation — though the exact weighting isn’t published in detail in the public materials.
What’s clear from the task design itself is that interaction is scored, not just monologue. Aufgabe 1 specifically requires back-and-forth negotiation. Aufgabe 3 specifically requires responding to an unscripted question. A candidate who can deliver a beautiful three-minute presentation but goes silent the moment a follow-up question arrives is being tested on exactly the gap that reveals.
What actually trips people up
Treating Aufgabe 1 as a Q&A instead of a negotiation. Answering your partner’s suggestions with a flat yes or no, rather than proposing, countering, and reaching a decision together.
Overloading the presentation. Trying to cover every possible angle of the topic in three minutes instead of picking a clear structure and executing it. A focused, complete presentation beats a rushed, sprawling one.
Memorising word for word. A fully scripted presentation sounds different from spoken language — flatter, faster, without natural pauses — and it collapses the moment Aufgabe 3 asks something the script didn’t anticipate.
Running out of things to say in Aufgabe 3. This is where genuine spoken practice — not reading practice — makes the most visible difference, because it’s the one part of the exam that’s fundamentally unpredictable.
Going silent when unsure. Fluency and the ability to recover from a stumble are weighted more heavily than most candidates assume. Rephrasing, using a simpler word, or asking your partner to repeat a question all score better than freezing.
A realistic way to prepare
Work through practice topics from the official Goethe Modellsatz materials, but practise them the way the exam actually runs: 15 minutes of prep, then speak the presentation out loud under a timer, then have someone (a partner, a tutor, or a conversation partner app) ask you follow-up questions you haven’t prepared for. The planning task specifically needs a partner to practise against — negotiating with yourself doesn’t train the interactive skill the task is designed to test.
Related guides: what happens if you fail the B1 exam · the Goethe B1 passing score per module · telc B1 vs DTZ vs Goethe B1
Official sources
For the official details and the latest updates, see:
- Goethe-Institut: Goethe-Zertifikat B1 – official exam page – Modules, durations, fees, 350–650 lessons to B1, results in 2 days–2 weeks
- Goethe-Institut: Goethe B1 practice materials (model tests, audio, speaking video) – Free B1 model and practice sets for adults and teens, audio and a speaking video
Frequently asked questions
What are the 3 parts of the Goethe B1 speaking exam? Aufgabe 1: planning something together with your exam partner (about 3 minutes). Aufgabe 2: presenting a chosen topic (about 3 minutes). Aufgabe 3: discussing both candidates’ presentations through follow-up questions (about 2 minutes). Total speaking time is about 15 minutes for the pair, after 15 minutes of individual preparation.
How long is the Goethe B1 speaking exam? About 15 minutes of speaking for a paired exam, or about 10 minutes for an individual exam, preceded by 15 minutes of preparation time where you can make notes.
Is the Goethe B1 speaking exam scored separately from the rest? Yes. The Goethe-Zertifikat B1 is modular — Sprechen, Hören, Lesen and Schreiben are each scored independently out of 100 points, with 60 needed to pass each. You can retake just the speaking module if that’s the only one you don’t pass.
Do I have to introduce myself in the Goethe B1 speaking exam? Not as a formally scored task. There’s typically a brief, informal warm-up conversation before the timed exam starts, but the three graded tasks are planning, presenting and discussing — not a self-introduction section. (This differs from the DTZ and some other B1-level exams, which do include a scored self-introduction as their first part.)
What happens if I fail just the speaking part? You retake only the Sprechen module, not the whole exam. Since the four modules are graded and certified independently, a single weak module doesn’t require redoing the parts you already passed.
The unpredictable part of this exam — Aufgabe 3’s follow-up questions — is exactly what real conversation practice trains for. SipLingo runs voice conversations across 200+ situations, corrects your German in your own language, and scores you on word accuracy, grammar, fluency and intonation. A1 to B2.
Want the exact question types examiners use? Get “Goethe B1 Speaking: 50 Questions” free. Get it →
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