Who sits DELE B1
B1 shows that you can deal with most everyday situations: travel, work conversations, appointments, opinions on familiar topics. Many candidates take it as a step on the way to B2, and some sit it because an employer or programme asks for an intermediate certificate.
How to prepare
Reading. Seventy minutes for 30 questions across five tasks, so about two minutes per question with time left to fill in the answer sheet. In task 4 you put six of eight fragments back into a text: check pronouns and connectors (sin embargo, por eso, además) on both sides of each gap. Task 5 tests grammar in context: prepositions, pronouns and the first uses of the subjunctive.
Listening. Five tasks of six questions. Read each task’s questions during the pause before the recording; knowing what to listen for matters more than catching every word. Task 5 asks who says each statement, the man, the woman or neither.
Writing. Task 1 is a letter, email or forum reply of 100 to 120 words to something you have read. Keep one register: tú for a friend, usted for an institution. Task 2 is 130 to 150 words about a personal experience or an opinion, chosen from two options.
Speaking. Fifteen minutes to prepare tasks 1 and 2: a two to three minute presentation and a conversation about it. Then, without preparation, a photo description and a role play. Practise giving reasons (porque, ya que) and reacting to a question you did not expect.
Common mistakes
- Switching between tú and usted in the same letter.
- Spending too long on reading tasks 1 and 2 and rushing task 5.
- Reciting a memorised presentation that does not follow the prompt’s points.