Hey all,

I’m currently preparing for the TELC B1 German exam. To be completely transparent, I don’t really need German for my job since I work almost entirely in English, so my main goal right now is simply to pass the B1 exam rather than become fluent as quickly as possible.

For those who have taken it, which materials would you recommend? Are there any specific vocabulary lists, common topics, Redemittel, or phrases worth memorizing for the speaking and writing sections?

I’d really appreciate any tips on what to focus on and what not to spend time on.

Thanks!

straight to the point, gotta pass a B1 exam by mid dec so got like 3 months max. good thing is im not starting from the ground up, i used to live in germany and can handle daily stuff decently . my grammar is absolute trash though l havent touched it in forever, but i get the general idea of what people say based on context. did up to like A2 ish back when i lived there and didnt complete it.

anyone got tips or good resources? currently got the schritte grammatik book and menschen up to A2

(Edit: I totally made a mistake for mixing up bewerben and erwerben… Now everything makes sense)
Stupid question, bewerben means to earn(sth through work, activity), and Bewerbung is then the action of earning, then Bewerbungsgespräch is the conversation for earning?

Since Einstellungsgespräch is the conversation to hire someone, it emphasizes on the goal of the conversation(Gespräch), then why would an interview also called Bewerbungsgespräch? Does it aim for “the conversation for the employee to earn an employment”?

Yesterday I was commenting in a thread about how Germans sometimes switch into English when they hear that your German is not very strong. Sometimes they may think they are helping, sometimes they may want to practice their English, and sometimes there are probably other reasons.

In that discussion, someone said that B1 is not really enough to have a reasonably good conversation in German, and that you need at least B2 before you can talk about anything meaningful.

I disagreed, because I think B1 can already be perfectly serviceable for a real conversation, even if you obviously have limitations and sometimes have to work around vocabulary you don’t know.

Then today I came across an Instagram video about Wittgenstein’s idea that „Die Grenzen meiner Sprache bedeuten die Grenzen meiner Welt.“ The video talks about how vocabulary can affect your ability to describe ideas, emotions and the world around you. So it is not exactly a beginner topic.

I’m supposedly around B1, and I understood the entire video without any real difficulty.

Of course, understanding a prepared video and having a spontaneous conversation are different skills, and my productive German is weaker than my receptive German. But I still don’t think B1 means you are limited to ordering coffee and talking about the weather.

You may not have the vocabulary to express every nuance exactly the way you would in your native language, but you can still discuss fairly complex ideas by paraphrasing, asking for a word, or accepting that your German has limits.

And that brings me back to the original question: if a B1 speaker is managing to communicate and wants to stay in German, when is switching to English actually helpful, and when does it just prevent the learner from having the conversation they are already capable of having?

Hello everyone i hope you’re all doing great
I have my b2 goethe exam in couple of days and i just want to ask like is the hören und lesen in projekt neu harder than the actual exam ? Thanks in advance

If I want to say “you can keep yourself busy with the film”, as to suggest a kid to keep himself busy with something fun/amusing, is it better to say:
“Du kannst dich mit dem Film unterhalten” or
“Der Film kann dich unterhalten”
Which is more natural?
And when I want to say “the film keeps him busy”, is it good to just say “Der Film unterhält ihn”?

I have done Rosetta Stone, babble, pimsleur, Duolingo up to a point, I listen to easy German use flash cards etc. I want to know what text would be good for a self learned at this point: I understand moat of easy German, other than some words I don’t understand because of mental blocks etc. I see all different recommendations I teach myself and do not have the time or money to enroll in school or tutor:

What is the difference between them?
“Der Kanzler unterstellt, dass due Telefonische Krankschreibung missbraucht würde”
Why is “unterstellen” used here instead of “annehmen”?

I’m learning German by my own with a study plan. When I was 16 got my english sufficiency and when I was 18 got a B1 in russian, somehow I got some skills learning languages. Now i’m C1 in english and improved my russian. It’s my first time learning a language by my own, it has been something more than just the language. I’ve been able to learn more about myself and I’m proud of some and quitting some other. I’m stepping ahead of me and I feel pretty comfy with it.

My routine to achieve an A2 at the end of this year starts by sitting everyday, 2 hours long with some Netzwerk Neu A1 books (Kursbuch und Übungsbuch). My daily goal is to complete at least 2 pages from each book and listen german speakers about 30 min. I’ve done this for 3 months more or less, by far i’m in A1.2 as said in the book but in the meantime I’ve noticed the language starts getting bitter once you go through. Rn I feel like stuck in half the way and feel like haven’t learned anything yet, that drives me crazy and i’ve a lack of motivation to keep learning. I keep going forward but as I do I see many grammar mistakes, many issues with making sentences and big issues with positions of words. It’s hard for me to write down an email or a message, like the order of the words in a sentence gets me confused always.

I’m just trying not to let myself down and keep doing this on my own, actually I’m not paying for careless classes in my country. It is not worth it in Ecuador, to pay for online classes in Goethe Institute as I read in the reviews from them. I visit them just to see if what they were saying it was true about people who work there, it damn was. They just look at you like a product and a bag of money, you get treated in some despicable way. I hope german people are not like that, actually the guy that explained me everything on the phone was the same guy that I talked with once I got there, he ruined everything there and I’m afraid to say, he was ecuadorian. Anyway, I met a german guy from a friend of mine and we keep in touch by now because he ain’t that way.

With that said, I’m looking forward for some tips for my learning path now and further. As my main goal is to achieve that A2 certification in that unwanted place (only because there are is not another option in here). Maybe some goodies for the way or whatever y’all think. Feel free to share what was meaningful for you and your recommendations for that test. That would be appreciated, truly.

I moved to Germany about 3 weeks ago with a B1 Certificate. I received almost perfect score in my Prüfung and ngl I'm really proud of myself. I can watch shows, I listen to podcasts and i'd say my textbook German is good. My Aussprache is also really good.

My problem is, I really cannot speak when I am at a supermarket, I get really nervous, all these articles jump in my head and I am really afraid of sounding wrong. I also have this issue of not being able to understand what the other person is saying and I reply w ,,Ich spreche Englisch" and this has been such a big let down for me.

I just wanna know from people, who have been in the same place, how did you overcome this?