In this post we will know about Dele A1 and A2 exams of the Cervantes Institute.
We are going to see its structure, where you can download the test models of the Cervantes Institute and I will also leave you the links to join to Deleando por el Mundo (podcast for Dele students) on networks.
If you are going to do one of these exams this is the article you need!
How are the DELE exams?
In this articule I am not going to talk again about what DELEs are, how to register, and so on.
So, if you are interested in knowing in details about what the Cervantes Institute is, who can apply, inscriptions, prices and dates of the DELE calls, you can click on the link below and in the DELE Exam articule you will find anything you need.
DELE A1 and A2 exams
The DELE A1 and A2 exams have recently changed their structure. What never changes is its objective: to evaluate your ability to communicate orally and in writing and your ability to understand written and auditory texts.
These two exams are belong to the “basic” level of the Spanish certification.
Level A1 is equivalent to Access, where you learn elementary notions of the language, give and receive personal information, talk about your home, about people you know, and you can dialogue in an elementary way as long as your interlocutor speaks slowly, clearly and is willing to cooperate.
Level A2 is called Platform, people who are here have a basic knowledge of the language enough to communicate at a personal level. This means that they have minimal capacities to interact with natives in situations related to their personal relationships, talk about their family, go shopping, carry out simple and everyday tasks and describe aspects of their past.
Let’s see them in more detail!
DELE A1 exam
As I have told you, this is the most elementary level, but even so, in the DELE A1 evaluates your skills, reading comprehension, listening, written and oral expressions and interaction will be evaluated.
Now, let’s see, in a general way, how are the tests and their tasks.
Exam A1: Reading Comprehension
One of the changes in this exam is the inclusion of pictures to make it easier to understand the information that is presented or asked. Here we are at a basic level and the information that is requested is related to advertisements, emails and simple material from which you must extract information. This test lasts 45 minutes.
This test consists of 4 tasks, all of them with the same difficulty and level.
- Task 1: You must read a text and answer five questions. You will have to choose between three possible answers.
- Task 2: It consists of 9 short texts (notes, signs …) and you must connect them to six sentences.
- Task 3: You have 9 short ads with pictures you must relate them to 6 other texts
- Task 4: You must read a text and answer 8 questions with three possible answers each.
Exam A1: Listening Comprehension
This test lasts 25 minutes and it is similar to the previous one, but this time the texts are audios played automatically. In every task, you will listen to the audios twice and you will have time to answer the questions on the answer sheet.
¡Important! It is critical to complete the answer sheet. Any note out of this sheet will not be evaluated.
- Task 1: Listen to 5 short dialogues and answer five questions with three options.
- Task 2: Listen to five short messages and match everyone with the right image. You will have eight options.
- Task 3: Listen to eight sentences and you must relate each one with the right text. You will have eleven options.
- Task 4: Listen to a conversation and you must complete seven short sentences choosing between eight possibilities
All the audios are created and adapted to this level, at low speed and with a clear articulation.
Exam A1: Written Expression and Interaction
Don’t be afraid of this test, even if you are in an initial level. The tasks you have to do are simple and common, surely you have done this more than once! This test lasts 25 minutes
- Task 1: You must complete a form. You will have blank spaces where you can fill the information requested.
- Task 2: You have to write a text of about 40 words like a email or a message.
In these tasks it is very very important to read carefully the information they give you and what you should do.
Exam A1: Oral Expression and Interaction
This test has two phases: in the first one, you will prepare your talking in a separated room full of material you will need. In the second one, you will be evaluated in the examination room, where will be two people waiting for you. One of them is the examiner; is the one will speak with you. The second one is the qualifier, he will evaluate your expressions in a more specific way.
In the preparation room you have all the material you need to prepare tasks 1 and 2, and you must choose a topic. You have 10 minutes, so a good advice is to make a mental map or a draft of what you want to say.
After that, you will go to the examination room. In this room you will have the same material you have chosen in the previous room and you will have another 10 minutes to complete the three following tasks:
- Task 1: You must talk about yourself, your name, profession, how you are… you must offer personal information. It is a monologue, only you speak.
- Task 2: It’s another monologue, but this time you are going to talk about your chosen topic in the prep room. The examiner will give you the same material and you can take your notes, but you cannot read them! It is only reference material in case you get lost.
- Task 3: It is a conversation with the examiner. You are going to talk about the previous topic. Remember you also can ask questions. In this test you will not have support material because, although is the previous topic, it is a free conversation.
DELE A2 exam
This exam is one of the most demanded in Spain, since its certificate is the one necessary to obtain Spanish nationality. So many foreign people do it throughout the year.
If you have lived in Spain for a long time, don’t trust yourself! In the exam you will be evaluated for all skills, as in the rest of the DELE exams. It is not worth talking a lot, you also have to know how to do written, reading and listening tasks.
“As an examiner, I advise you to prepare for this exam, many people go to the exam without knowing it and do not perform the tasks well. It is very important to fulfill all the tasks correctly “
Once warned, I will continue with the description of each test and tasks.
Exam A2: Reading Comprehension
This test has 4 tasks like the previous one, but the length of the texts you are going to read is greater and the supporting images disappear. It is important that you pay attention to the main ideas and specific information. This test lasts 60 minutes. Let’s see the tasks!
- Task 1: You will read a text and answer five questions related to the text with three options to choose one.
- Task 2: You will have eight texts and you will have to answer eight questions with three options each
- Task 3: You will have to relate three texts and six sentences
- Task 4: You will read a text and answer six questions with three options.
Exam A2: Listening Comprehension
This test also has four tasks and they are “similar” to reading comprehension, except that the texts are audio. Remember! The audios are heard automatically, they cannot be stopped or reversed, so pay attention. You can hear them twice and you have time to answer the questions and turn them over to the answer sheet.
Yes, all examiners are a bit heavy on this! But you would not be the first that with the nerves and the rush, he forgets to pass the answers to the sheet. If you do not pass your answers to this sheet, you will not be able to evaluate this test! So you will fail the DELE exam. And we don’t want that !!
In this test you have support images again and it lasts 40 minutes.
- Task 1: You will listen to six conversations and you will have to answer six questions with three images each. You must choose one.
- Task 2: You will listen to six short messages and answer six questions with three options each
- Task 3: You will listen to a conversation between a man and a woman and you will have six sentences that can correspond to the man, the woman or neither of them. You must check one of the options.
- Task 4: You must match seven messages with seven other sentences out of a total of 10 possible.
Exam A2: Written Expression and Interaction
In this test you must write two texts, a letter or message and another composition where descriptions are made, tastes are exposed … Here we incorporate the past, you must use the imperfect to make descriptions in the past and the perfect and indefinite past to talk about the past. But we will talk about these issues in other articles.
It is very important to carry out this task that you carefully read what they ask for and the information they offer you. It is not valid if you answer anything, even if it is correct, it will count as that you have not developed the test well, the reviser may understand that you have the text prepared and / or that you do not understand the instructions well. This test lasts 45 minutes
Let’s get task!
Task 1: You will write a letter, email or message according to the given indications. This text will have an extension between 60-70 words.
Task 2: You will write a brief composition, you have two options to choose one. This text has an extension between 70-80 words.
A2 exam: expression and oral interaction
This test has three tasks as at the previous but clear level, your difficulty is greater. The dynamics of the test is equal for all the dele exams, you have two rooms one of preparation where you will have all the material, you will choose a topic where you can prepare the first two tasks and then you will go to a room where you will perform the oral test.
In this room the examiner will be and the qualifier. The preparation time is 12 minutes and the one of completion of the 12-minute test as well. I remind you that to the exam room you only have to take your notes since the examiner will give you the material with which you have worked in the preparation room.
All this material is consultation, in case you block, you can not read it !!
We already go to tasks:
- Task 1: You must perform a monologue on the subject you have chosen in the preparation room
- Task 2: You will describe a photograph, in addition to the photograph, you have a series of questions that will help you perform the test, prepare it and to resume the conversation if you block. The interviewer will ask you a question related to photography.
- Task 3: This test is not prepared. You will talk with the examiner on some topic related to task 2. In this task you can also make you any questions.
Exams Models A1 and A2
On the Cervantes Institute page you have the exam models with your corresponding audios and response sheets.
Do not forget to download the response sheet model too. Try to rehearse the examination with the material you will have on the exam and controlling time.
For the moment it is everything. In the following items we will continue talking about the descriptors, tips, and other topics.
You can also follow Deleando por el mundo, a podcast for Spanish students who are preparing some DELE exam and with which I collaborate.
Go on Instagram and follow us !!
In the bio os Instagram, you have all the links of the platforms where you can find us and indications on how to download the transcripts of the episodes.
You can listen to the podcast also on my Youtube channel and subscribe to receive notifications of the following publications.
If you have doubts about how you could study Spanish online, I leave this article where I offer you a small tutorial of the programs that I usually use in the classes
Do you still have doubts about these exams? Leave me your questions and comments and I solve them. ; )