How to Introduce Yourself in German (Plus the Exam Version)
Introducing yourself in German comes up in two very different situations, and most guides only cover one. There’s the casual version — meeting someone, a first day somewhere new, saying a few sentences about yourself. And there’s the exam version — Teil 1 of the Goethe, telc, ÖSD or DTZ speaking exam, where “tell me about yourself” is a structured task an examiner is quietly scoring.
This covers both, because they’re built from the same material. Once you have the basic structure, the exam version is just that structure under slightly more formal conditions.
The core building blocks
Every self-introduction in German, at any level, draws from the same handful of categories. Learn these once, in this order, and you can stretch or compress them to fit any situation.
Name Ich heiße Anna. / Mein Name ist Anna.
Origin Ich komme aus Griechenland. / Ich bin aus der Türkei.
Where you live Ich wohne in Berlin. / Ich lebe seit zwei Jahren in München.
Age (optional, and skip it in formal/exam contexts unless asked) Ich bin 28 Jahre alt.
Job or studies Ich arbeite als Krankenpflegerin. / Ich studiere Informatik.
Family Ich bin verheiratet und habe zwei Kinder. / Ich bin Single.
Languages Ich spreche Englisch und ein bisschen Deutsch.
Hobbies / interests In meiner Freizeit lese ich gern. / Ich mag Sport und Musik.
Why you’re learning German (useful in almost every real situation) Ich lerne Deutsch, weil ich hier arbeiten möchte.
That’s nine building blocks. You will never use all nine at once — which category to use, and how many, depends entirely on length and formality.
Three lengths, three structures
Three sentences (quick, casual)
Ich heiße Anna. Ich komme aus Griechenland und wohne jetzt in Berlin. Ich arbeite als Krankenpflegerin.
Name, origin plus current location, one fact about your life. That’s the whole formula — it works at a party, in a shop, or as the first thing you say when someone asks „Und wer sind Sie?”
One minute (structured, the most commonly requested length)
This is the version worth actually memorising as a skeleton, not as fixed sentences — more on why below.
- Name
- Origin + where you live now
- Job or studies
- Family (if relevant)
- Why you’re in Germany / learning German
- One hobby or interest
- A closing line
Ich heiße Anna Petridis. Ich komme aus Griechenland, aber ich wohne jetzt seit einem Jahr in Berlin. Ich arbeite als Krankenpflegerin in einem Krankenhaus. Ich bin verheiratet und habe einen Sohn. Ich lerne Deutsch, weil ich hier länger bleiben möchte und mit meinen Kollegen besser sprechen will. In meiner Freizeit gehe ich gern schwimmen. Das ist so ungefähr alles über mich.
Seven sentences, close to a minute spoken at a natural pace. Notice the closing line — „Das ist so ungefähr alles über mich” (that’s roughly everything about me) — which is a small but genuinely useful phrase. Ending abruptly on your last fact makes an introduction feel unfinished; a closing line signals clearly that you’re done.
Five lines (for a written or very short spoken task)
Compress to one line per idea: name, origin, current situation, job, one personal detail. Same nine building blocks, just fewer of them.
What NOT to say
Don’t memorise it word for word and recite it at speed. This is the single biggest mistake, and it’s worth its own section because it applies just as much outside the exam room. A rehearsed paragraph delivered from memory sounds different from spoken language — flatter, faster, with none of the small pauses real speech has. People notice. Examiners notice more.
Don’t over-share personal details in formal contexts. Salary, health details, and strong opinions on politics or religion don’t belong in a first introduction, exam or otherwise. Stick to the neutral categories above.
Don’t apologise for your German before you’ve even started. „Entschuldigung, mein Deutsch ist nicht so gut” is one of the most common opening lines learners use, and it does you no favours — it primes the listener to expect mistakes before you’ve said anything. Just start.
How to end your introduction
Beyond „Das ist alles über mich,” a few other closing lines work well and sound natural:
- Mehr gibt es eigentlich nicht zu sagen. (There’s not really more to say.)
- So, jetzt wissen Sie ein bisschen über mich. (So now you know a bit about me.)
- Das war’s von mir. (That’s it from me — more casual.)
Pick one, and use it every time until it’s automatic. A confident close matters more than people expect — it’s often the last thing a listener hears before forming an impression.
A memorised skeleton beats a memorised script. SipLingo has you speak your introduction out loud in real conversations, correcting your grammar and word choice in your own language as you go — so what you build is a flexible structure you actually own, not a paragraph you’re praying you don’t forget. Try it free →
Practise your German out loud with SipLingo, free to try on iPhone and Android:
The exam version: Teil 1
Here’s what almost nobody explains clearly: “introduce yourself in German” and “Sprechen Teil 1” are, structurally, the same task.
Every major German speaking exam — Goethe A1, A2 and B1, telc, ÖSD, the DTZ — opens its speaking section with some version of “über sich selbst sprechen”: talking about yourself. It’s specifically designed to be the easiest, most predictable part of the exam, because examiners want to see you settle in before the harder tasks (Teil 2 and Teil 3, which usually involve planning something together or asking/answering questions on a topic).
What actually happens in the room:
- At A1/A2 level, you’re often given a card with categories — Name, Land, Wohnort, Sprachen, Beruf, Hobby — and asked to speak briefly about each.
- At B1, it’s less scripted: the examiner may simply say “Erzählen Sie ein bisschen über sich“ and expect a coherent 30–60 seconds unprompted, then ask one or two natural follow-up questions.
- For the DTZ specifically, Teil 1 covers origin, daily life, and interests, and is conducted as a paired exam with another candidate.
This is exactly the one-minute structure above. Nothing about the exam version requires different content — it requires the same content, delivered without a script, under time pressure, to a stranger.
A realistic exam exchange looks like this:
Prüfer: Erzählen Sie mir ein bisschen über sich. Sie: Gern. Ich heiße Anna Petridis und komme aus Griechenland. Ich wohne seit einem Jahr in Berlin und arbeite als Krankenpflegerin. Ich lerne Deutsch, weil ich mit meinen Kollegen und Patienten besser sprechen möchte. Prüfer: Und was machen Sie gern in Ihrer Freizeit? Sie: Ich gehe gern schwimmen und treffe mich mit Freunden.
Notice the follow-up question. Examiners almost always ask one — which is exactly why memorising a fixed script is risky. A rehearsed paragraph has no room for an unexpected question at the end of it. A flexible structure does.
Why examiners can tell when it’s memorised: intonation flattens, speed increases, and there’s no natural hesitation where a real speaker would pause to choose a word. None of that costs you points directly — most rubrics grade content, fluency and range, not “authenticity” — but a purely memorised answer tends to fall apart the moment a follow-up question breaks the script, and that does cost points.
What to actually practise instead: the skeleton — name, origin, situation, reason for learning German, one personal detail, closing line — with different vocabulary slotted in each time you say it. By the tenth time you’ve said your own introduction out loud, in slightly different words each time, you’re not reciting anymore. You’re speaking.
Related guides: Goethe B1 speaking exam with real examples
Official sources
For the official details and the latest updates, see:
- Goethe-Institut: Goethe A1 practice materials (model test, audio, speaking video) – Free A1 model set, 2 practice sets, listening audio and a speaking-module video
- Goethe-Institut: Goethe-Zertifikat A1: Start Deutsch 1 – official exam page – 4 modules, durations (80 min total), group speaking test, booking
Frequently asked questions
How do I introduce myself in German in 10 sentences? Use all nine building blocks — name, origin, current home, age (optional), job or studies, family, languages, hobbies, and why you’re learning German — plus a closing line. That naturally lands around ten sentences without padding.
How do I introduce myself in German in one minute? Seven sentences at a natural speaking pace: name, origin plus current location, job or studies, family if relevant, why you’re learning German, one hobby, and a closing line. This is also the structure examiners expect in Teil 1 of the speaking exam.
What should I not say when introducing myself in German? Don’t recite a memorised paragraph at speed — it sounds unnatural and can’t handle a follow-up question. Avoid salary, health, and political opinions in formal or exam contexts. And don’t open by apologising for your German; it sets the wrong tone before you’ve said anything.
How do I end a self-introduction in German? A short closing line works best: “Das ist so ungefähr alles über mich” (that’s roughly everything about me) or “Mehr gibt es eigentlich nicht zu sagen.” Ending on a clear signal, rather than trailing off after your last fact, makes the introduction feel complete.
Is introducing yourself part of the German speaking exam? Yes — it’s specifically Teil 1 of the Goethe, telc, ÖSD and DTZ speaking exams, usually the first and easiest section. It’s designed to let you settle in before the harder parts of the exam, and it draws on exactly the same structure used in a casual self-introduction.
Practise your introduction until it’s automatic, not memorised. SipLingo runs real voice conversations, corrects your grammar and word choice in your own language, and scores you on word accuracy, grammar, fluency and intonation — the same things an examiner listens for. A1 to B2.
Preparing for the exam specifically? Get “Goethe B1 Speaking: 50 Questions” — the exact question types examiners actually ask, free. Get it →
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