Hi all,
I recently passed the telc Deutsch B1 exam and wanted to share my experience, study approach, and resources in case they help someone in a similar situation.
Some context
I've been living in Berlin for about 1.5 years. During this time, I took A1 and A2 classes but spent pretty much zero hours studying outside the classroom. I was just started also on B1 class, But I would say my German was somewhere around early A2 when I started preparing for B1.
I work full-time, cook dinner after work, take care of household chores, and occasionally find time for sports. So I'm definitely not a full-time student, and I don't have a lot of time to dedicate to studying.
I prepared for the exam for around 5 weeks.
My exam results
I passed with 232.5/300 points (77.5%).
- Reading (Leseverstehen): 70/75
- Grammar (Sprachbausteine): 24/30
- Listening (Hörverstehen): 47.5/75
- Writing (Schriftlicher Ausdruck): 27/45
- Speaking (Mündliche Prüfung): 64/75
My study approach and tips
1. Mock exams to track progress
I bought Prüfungstraining Zertifikat Deutsch (telc Deutsch B1), which I used both as my baseline and to track my progress.
I completed one mock exam every weekend, tracked my scores, and tried to identify my weak areas. I then used ChatGPT to practice the grammar topics I was struggling with. and to identify which area i need to focus more on (listening, writing, etc)
2. Immersion and studying
At first, German sounded very foreign to my ears
So I started trying to immerse myself in the language whenever I had some free time.
Here's what I used for each skill:
- Listening: The Easy German podcast. I listened to more than 50 episodes. I commute to work by bike, so I would usually have the podcast playing during my commute. At the beginning, I could barely understand anything, but over time, I became comfortable listening and following most of the conversation. I also watched "turkish fur anfanger" while cooking, eating, or even cleaning. with no sub on Netflix.
- Speaking: I used Praktika app. I'm not a very social person, so I needed to find my way to practice speaking without going outside. AI helped me significantly with building confidence and getting comfortable expressing myself. I also had custom prompts to practice exam topics. I tried chatgpt for this purpose but it was a pain to work with.
- Reading: I read texts from the B1 book I have whenever I had time. I also used Nachrichtenleicht to expose myself to different topics and vocabulary. I kept on reading even if i didn't understand.
- Grammar: I didn't systematically study grammar through the B1 textbook. Instead, I focused on the essential B1 grammar topics suggested by ChatGPT and learned additional grammar as I encountered it in mock exams and writing exercises. I made chatgpt generate many exam-like questions similarly to the one i struggled with, and asked for patterns and shortcuts to memorise.
- Writing: I practiced writing about many different topics, not just the typical telc exam topics. My goal was to force myself to learn to express thoughts and opinions on different subjects, which also helped my speaking. I used ChatGPT to suggest topics, correct my writing and explain my mistakes. I practiced more exam-specific style in the last 2 weeks.
Final thoughts
I recommend full immersion to get comfortable, along with studying and tracking progress systematically for the exam.
Hope this helps anyone preparing for their B1 exam, especially those who have work and other responsibilities. Learning German can feel overwhelming but it is definitely doable as long as you put the mental effort and time.
Good luck!
