TestDeutschalsFremdsprache(TestDaF) – a German language exam, which is taken by foreigners to confirm their knowledge of the German language.

To enter a German university, it is enough to achieve the “TDN 4” level in each of the four examination blocks (if all other requirements of the educational institution are met).

Some universities in Germany offer specialties for which “TDN 3” is sufficient for admission. A TDN 5 rating indicates excellent command of the German language!

Each German university has its own requirements for foreign applicants, so before choosing a specialty and submitting documents, we advise you to find out which TestDaF results are required. As a rule, this information is presented on the university website.

The certificate indicates that its holder is able to:

• identify detailed information in short texts of various contents
• understand the details and main provisions of newspaper and scientific texts that discuss scientific or socially popular problems
• identify detailed information in everyday situations
• follow the course of an interview or conversation, the topic of which is study or general scientific issues
• understand reports on scientific topics
• write your own, well-structured texts, clearly and convincingly expressing your thoughts
• describe, summarize and compare various data and information
• express your point of view during a discussion or conversation, offer alternatives or put forward hypotheses in a balanced and reasoned manner

Conditions for passing the exam

Anyone who:

• intends to test the depth of knowledge of the German language
• plans to enroll in a German higher education institution
• wants to continue studying or working in the scientific field abroad or in the territory of his native state and needs an international certificate

Where can I take the TestDaF?

The TestDaF exam can be taken at one of the 150 examination centers in Germany (Testzentrum) or at a similar licensed organization in your home country. Testing is carried out several times a year, the dates are posted in advance on the portal of the TestzentreninDeutschland institute.

What do you need to register for TestDaF?

In order to participate in the exam, you must submit a written application to a pre-selected examination center. The form will be offered to you at the center itself, or you can use the online sample on the official exam website. As a rule, applications are closed 6 weeks before the exam.

How does the exam work?

Each task and topic correspond to different areas of higher education knowledge, due to the fact that the test is designed for any applicant, regardless of specialty. The duration of the exam is 190 minutes (not counting breaks between blocks) and includes four parts.

1. Understanding written text, Leseverstehen.

Stage duration: 60 minutes. Its main goal is to confirm the ability to perceive material on various scientific topics. Examinees are offered 3 texts for review: a short message about the activities of the university, a scientific article and a journalistic note, and for them - 30 tasks about the meaning and content of what they read.

2. Listening, Horverstehen.

Stage duration: 40 minutes. The point is to demonstrate auditory speech perception skills. As a rule, these are 3 audio texts (a report by specialists or an interview with them, a radio interview and a dialogue from the everyday life of the university) and 25 tasks of varying difficulty levels.

3. Written presentation, SchriftlicherAusdruck.

Stage duration: 60 minutes. The student’s task is to write an essay on a given topic, and the text should be divided into two parts. The first contains statistical data, which can be presented in the form of a table or graph, and the second contains your personal opinion on this issue.

4. Oral speech, MündlicherAusdruck.

Stage duration: 30 minutes. The student must demonstrate his ability to conduct a conversation in German in a variety of situations that may arise while studying at the university. This stage involves performing 7 speech situations of several levels of complexity. All tasks are listened to via tape or disk, and the answers are also recorded on media for later checking.

Benefits of the DaF test

• The science test is designed to test the skills required to study at German universities.
• The certificate is valid at all universities in Germany. A TDN 4 rating gives you the right to choose any of them. The university decides on admission with the result “TDN 3”, which depends on the policy of the educational institution, as well as the chosen faculty and specialty.
• Each test block (reading, listening, writing and speaking) is assessed separately, which allows you to identify your weaknesses in the process of learning the language.
• TestDaF can be taken while in your home country. Information about the program is provided all over the world in foreign language centers, German language departments, as well as in institutes named after. Goethe or from DAAD lecturers, at the German consulate or embassy.
• Sample tasks are available on the TestDaF Institute website. Regardless of the time of delivery, the difficulty of the tasks in the test is the same.
• You can retake the exam as many times as necessary to obtain the desired result.
• The validity period of the TestDaF certificate is unlimited.

How the exam is scored

Scale for grading the results of the “DaF test”:

• TDN 5 – level “TestDaF 5”
• TDN 4 – level “TestDaF 4”
• TDN 3 – level “TestDaF 3”

The levels correspond to steps B 2.1 – C 1.2., according to the scale of the European Council (Gemeinsamer europäischer Referenzrahmen – GER).

The TestDaF certificate with grades arrives one and a half to two months after submission by mail.

Cost of passing TestDaF

In different countries, the fee for participation in TestDaF varies (about 170 – 180 €), so it is worth checking with the exam center.

If you cannot attend the exam on the appointed day, you have the right to refuse until the deadline for accepting documents. In this case, 80% of the cost of the service will be returned to you. However, if you report a cancellation within the last 6 weeks, the money will not be refunded.

TestDaF(Test Deutsch als Fremdsprache) is a German language exam for foreigners who want to study at German universities or receive a certificate recognized by all German universities confirming their knowledge of the German language. TestDaF is developed and tested at the TestDaF Institute in Hagen, and is carried out worldwide in almost 80 countries, in licensed, i.e. officially recognized examination centers.

The exam results are assessed on a three-level TestDaF scale:

• TestDaF level 5 (TDN 5)
• TestDaF level 4 (TDN 4)
• TestDaF level 3 (TDN 3)

These levels correspond to levels B1 to C2 on the European Council scale.

If you have achieved TDN level 4 in each of the four parts of the exam, you can freely begin your studies at universities in Germany (as long as you meet the remaining subject and legal requirements, of course). If you have reached TDN level 5, this means that you have very good knowledge of the German language, which is even higher than the level required to start university studies.

To study at some German universities in certain specialties, knowledge below the TDN 4 level in all parts of the exam is sufficient. Each university has its own admission procedure; when submitting an application, you need to find out what TestDaF results are required at the corresponding university for your chosen specialty. Some universities post information about this on their Internet portals.

You can take the TestDaF at one of the licensed test centers in the country in which you live or at one of the 170 test centers in Germany. The exam is held several times a year.

All exam topics and tasks are taken from various areas of higher education, because... The exam is designed for all applicants, regardless of the chosen specialty.

The TestDaF exam consists of four parts:

Parts of the exam	Tasks
Reading	Three reading texts with 30 tasks Time - 60 minutes
Listening	Three audio texts with 25 tasks Time - 40 minutes
Written speech	One written assignment Time - 60 minutes
Oral speech	Seven speaking tasks Time - 30 minutes
Duration of the exam as a whole (without breaks): 3 hours 10 minutes

Reading

In this part of the exam you must show that you are able to understand written texts from various areas of higher education. You must complete tasks that require understanding of general content and details, as well as implicit, that is, not directly expressed information. You will be offered three texts of varying complexity, with different tasks and relating to different genres of writing (short messages from university life, a newspaper and magazine publication and a scientific article).

Listening

In this part of the exam you need to show that you understand oral texts with topics and language typical for high school. In total, this part of the exam contains three oral texts: a dialogue from everyday life at the university, a radio interview with 3-4 participants, and a report or interview with specialists. These texts vary in degree of difficulty and type of tasks.

You are given tasks that require understanding of the general meaning and details, as well as implied, implicit information.

Written speech

In this part of the exam you need to show that you are able to write a coherent, structured text on a given topic. In the first part of the text you need to describe statistical data presented in the form of a graph or table. In the second part, you should state your point of view on the topic under discussion.

Oral speech

In this part of the exam you need to show that you can use spoken German in various situations of university life. This part of the test consists of seven tasks with different levels of difficulty. Here are a variety of situations from university life to which you must respond adequately, for example: take part in a conversation between two students, describe a graphic image, express an opinion or hypothesis on a certain topic.

To prepare for the exam, we recommend classes with online tutors at home! All the benefits are obvious! Trial lesson for free!

We wish you success in passing the exam!

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See also:

The most necessary from the theory:

We suggest taking tests online:

Many of the portals and advertisement sites are replete with offers of tutors, in which one of the main advantages of the candidates is the fact that the foreign language will be taught by a native German speaker. Let's figure out what this means for foreign language learners at different levels...

To begin with, of course, it would be nice to turn to these levels, analyze what they are and how this scale is interpreted within the framework, however, we will leave these points as “homework” and immediately move on to purely practical issues of teaching a foreign language.

When starting to learn German from scratch (level A1), it is important for a person to master as soon as possible the rules for reading individual letters and combinations, to learn the most important features of German pronunciation, etc. It would seem that the medium should be an ideal source for reproducing sounds, words and sentences, but in reality, in addition to ideal pronunciation, just as significant is the teacher’s ability to give concise and clear instructions and recommendations and his ability to create support, including those, associations with which will allow the learner can quickly master the pronunciation of a new language.

Another obstacle to mastering correct pronunciation can be the regional peculiarities of the pronunciation of the native German speaker himself. There are over 40 dialects in German-speaking countries, which can be a problem even for the Germans themselves:

Adapting to them will subsequently take 1.5-2 weeks, but mastering a dialect (or even its notes) as the basis for the functioning of a language can jeopardize all subsequent work on a foreign language and the possibility of realizing a person’s planned plans. The cases presented above are, of course, somewhat far-fetched, but very clear.

Moving further (levels A1, A2), people will certainly have to deal with vocabulary, the precise identification, first of all, of the main meaning of which will become the basis for the correct use of units in speech. Fixing and assimilating an incorrect (non-basic) meaning at this stage of learning leads to difficulties in working with the language, the cause of which the native speaker may not be able to establish. It will be even more difficult for him to draw parallels with his native language when explaining the peculiarities of the use of lexical units like:

zu+hören Dat. “to listen to someone (someone’s words)” or an+rufen Akk. decomposition "to recruit someone";

Heute mache ich das lieber/besser . "I'll do it better today." (with b O more pleasure / better quality);

• Sie hatte nicht...freie Zeit . () « She didn't have much free time.»

The same applies to grammatical phenomena, where simple knowledge of the accepted norms of one education system allows you to easily explain their subtleties (levels A1, A2), for example, word order in (Germans emphasize parts of speech in a completely different way), and in the future (levels B1, B2) clearly distinguish between structures and analyze the nuances, for example: , . After all, there are cases when students, presenting in class material learned with a non-native tutor, with their precise explanations and examples delighted native-speaking teachers, who often do not think about such things, limiting themselves to statements like “ Das ist halt so.» (« Well, that’s how it is (historically)."). But lack of understanding of the fundamentals of the functioning of phenomena in the learner’s language is a serious obstacle to their rapid and high-quality mastery of a foreign language.

As for listening, hearing speakers today, even being thousands of kilometers from Germany, Austria or Switzerland, is not a problem: one alone presents so many materials that you can work with them 24 hours a day, smoothly moving from level to level (levels A1- C1). But without reaching a decent level of speaking (dialogue and monologue speech) and writing (at least level B2), communicating with a native speaker will be difficult, and due to differences in culture, mentality and individual characteristics, sometimes even painful.

In addition, one should take into account the fact that the speaker, as a rule, coming from a country with a higher income level, evaluates his usual activities an order of magnitude higher (from 25 EUR per lesson) than a non-native teacher does, even if the latter offers a wider range of services: free first lesson, placement of educational materials on, use of, extended support via Skype, etc. Therefore, a student of a foreign language should always take a closer look at what components the so-called Unterrichtseinheit (UE - educational unit of time) offered by his future teacher has.

Summarizing all of the above, it can be argued that only students who want to reach levels C2, C1, and sometimes B2 will have the real (greatest) benefit from working with a native German speaker. At all levels below, it is preferable (and even highly recommended!) to work with a teacher who speaks the student’s native language at a level not lower than C1...

Natalya Glukhova

DAF test in German - how to prepare?

04/06 2018

Good afternoon friends!

Are you planning to study at a German university? To do this, you will definitely need to pass the daf test in German. Then you need to start preparing in advance, because you need a good level of language proficiency. That's what we'll talk about now.

From this article you will learn:

DAF test - what is it and why is it needed?

It will be useful for those students who are planning. Not for beginners, but for those who already know German. It will prove that your knowledge is enough to study on par with German students.

Let me say right away that DAF is not a German exam. DAF determines a person’s readiness to study at a German university!

Judge for yourself, because DAF is suitable for confirming levels from B1.2 to C1.2 - this already means that a person is fluent in a foreign language or knows it very well.

Usually, it is passed after 700-1000 hours of listening to German.

Adapted specifically for students, you will immediately notice this. The topics of all sections of the test, we also talk about them, are related to learning, here:

• student life;
• education;
• classes at a German university;
• professions;
• solving everyday student problems;
• the science…

As you can see, all the topics are necessary and vital for the student.

You can take the DAF not only in Germany. There are centers all over the world that accept DAFs and issue certificates. Of course, these must be legalized centers whose certificates are accepted at German universities.

Receive confirmation of payment and reservation of a place in the exam. Take this document with you, and also your passport!

Registration begins approximately 8 weeks before the exam and ends approximately one month before. I don’t recommend waiting until the last minute, because every year there are more and more people interested. And the number of places is limited.

Exam dates for the year are known in advance. If you didn’t make it to one exam, take into account the mistakes and sign up for the next one in advance.

A month after the exam you will know the results! It's very simple, right?

What's included in DAF

The test includes the following sections:

• Leseverstehen - test your reading skill;
• Hörverstehen - how you perceive information by ear;
• Schriftlicher Ausdruck - written part of the exam;
• Mündlicher Ausdruck - colloquial speech.

Nothing superfluous; naturally, all this will come in handy during training. Now in more detail about all the parts.

Leseverstehen

You will have 3 texts. Each next one is more difficult than the previous one. And then there are comprehension questions for all texts.
This part lasts 60 minutes - 50 minutes to read and understand, and another 10 minutes to answer questions. Answers are entered on a separate form. There will be 30 questions in total.

Hörverstehen

There are also 3 texts that you are invited to listen to. There are 25 questions to them. Only 40 minutes are given for this part.

Schriftlicher Ausdruck

You will be given a topic on which to write, let’s say, an “essay.” Again, everything is on the topic of student life. In addition, there will be a graph or table, you need to describe them. Available for the entire 60 minutes. I don’t advise you to waste time here on being too literary; check your grammar.

Mündlicher Ausdruck

Your answers to 7 questions will be recorded on disk. No live communication with the examiner! You have 35 minutes. A certain situation will be described, and the student will respond to it verbally.

Total time: 3 hours and 10 minutes. It may be a little longer or a little faster - it depends on the center.

results

They won't be right away. Usually - in a month or a little more. Get the answer in 4 digits:

4545, 4444, 5555, 4345…

When assessing, values ​​from 3 to 5 are used - TDN3 - TDN5.

TDN3 - approximately B2;
TDN4 - something between B2 - C1;
TDN5 - C1 and higher.

In order to enter without any problems, you need a TDN 4 level in all parts of the exam.

If you get 5, it means that the level is even higher than necessary, that's great. With all the “A” grades, you don’t have to worry when choosing a specialty—you can apply to any one. But it rarely happens that a person gets all “A’s.” More often there is a mixed situation - 4455, 4544...

If you get one or two C's, don't be discouraged either. On the website of each educational institution there is a list of requirements - some even accept "C". Not with everyone, of course, but with one or less often with two they can.

Training awaits you! It's worth trying!

Using test results

Will be needed when entering a university. Note! Some specialties require very high results. For example, medical faculties, German studies.

Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss anything and receive a phrase book in English, German and French as a gift. It has Russian transcription, so even without knowing the language, you can easily master colloquial phrases.

It’s clear that you can’t prepare for DAF from scratch in a week or even a month. If you are planning to enter a German university, it is better to start learning German in 2-3 years, or better yet in 5 years. Of course, some people learn a foreign language faster, while others need a lot of time.

Be sure to sign up for a test preparation course! They can take a trial DAF, they have special textbooks. This is also important in order not to get confused during the main test. The delivery methods are unusual, so a child, or even an adult, may not immediately understand what and how to do. And if you go through the trial version 1-2 times, then later you will know exactly what and how to do.

A couple more tips from those who successfully passed the DAF and were admitted:

1. German should become a part of your life. He will be when you enter university. Listen to songs, watch films in German, search for information on websites.de, chat with friends...
2. Be sure to practice reading! Every day at least 1 German text, but read! During active preparation you will need to read much more. Choose texts that are more difficult than your current level. You must learn to cope with unfamiliar words and know exactly the rules of reading. So even a complex and long word, and in German there are more than enough of them, will not be difficult.
3. It is important to write essays. Small ones. Here's an interesting tip for you - start keeping a diary in German. Write notes, texts every day... Choosing words shouldn’t create problems either, expand your vocabulary. Practice, check your spelling. The journey will be short, but it will be regular. You can also make pen pals with your native German. It's not difficult on social networks.
4. You don’t even need to buy books for preparation - they are freely available on the Internet online. They contain lists of topics - you will need to work through them all.
5. Record your speech on a voice recorder - it will be easier to find mistakes later.
6. You will need preparation materials: Fit für den TestDaF; TestDaF Training 20.15; Mit Erfolg zum TestDaF; testdaf.de
7. Start active preparation 5-3 months before the exam itself.
8. Practice! The official trial version takes only 10 minutes http://www.testdaf.de/teilnehmer/tn-vorbereitung_test.php?id=1

Of course - no need to worry! Concentrate, you have studied everything and know everything. I wish good luck to everyone who will be taking the DAF in the near future, and I wish everyone else success in their preparation. If you have questions about the test or need advice, write in the comments.

Those who want to work or study in a German-speaking country will most likely have to take a language exam. One option is an exam. We have already talked about it on the pages of Lifehacker and gave some useful advice to those who are about to undergo it. However, DSH has a significant disadvantage - it can only be taken in a German-speaking country. What to do if you do not have such an opportunity? There is an excellent alternative - TestDaF. Our reader will tell you about the exam itself and preparation for it. Annie Lenny.

What is TestDaF

TestDaF is an exam that is used to assess the level of knowledge required for admission to a German university. It can be taken at certified centers around the world, that is, without leaving your own country. This is perhaps the main and very significant advantage of TestDaF.

The exam is held six times a year. Works are checked within 6-8 weeks in Hagen, Germany. This point is worth considering when choosing an exam date: make sure that you have time to receive a certificate before the deadline for submitting documents to the university expires.

Please note that you cannot use any aids during the exam. A passport and a black or blue pen are all you can have with you.

Tasks

1. Reading.

Three texts of varying difficulty with 30 tasks. Running time: 60 min.

2. Listening.

Three audio recordings with 25 tasks. Completion time: 40 min.

3. Written speech.

One written assignment. Running time: 60 min.

4. Oral speech.

Seven speaking tasks. Execution time: 30 min.

results

Examiners' work is graded on a three-level scale (corresponding to levels B2.1 to C1.2 on the European Council scale).

If you have a 5 (TDN 5) on all points, as I did, then your level of knowledge is even higher than required. This gives you the right to apply for any specialty, including language.

TestDaF level 4 (TDN 4) allows you to study at universities in Germany. However, some language majors will not be available because they require TDN 5 in at least two points.

You can do the same with TestDaF level 3 (TDN 3), but your choice will be significantly limited. Most likely, these will be technical specialties or those in which training is conducted in English. More detailed information about this is usually posted on university websites.

How to prepare

TestDaF tasks are very similar to Modeltest and require the examinee to have a good language base. Everyone knows how to develop it: read, listen, speak and write in German, choosing current topics.

Personally, I practically did not prepare for the exam: having the education of a translator, I simply “ran through” Modeltest tasks from a book. But I can say that it is very important to understand the logic of the test itself. During its implementation, you will probably need the ability to gather yourself in a stressful situation and correctly calculate the time. You should not rely on memorized topics - the ability to think logically comes first. If you know how to understand information and convey it to your interlocutor, separate the important from the unimportant, compare different points of view and build an argument, this will greatly facilitate your task.

Among other things, the skill of describing pictures and graphs may be useful to you. For example, I had a task to describe the operating principle of a hydroelectric power station and the paper recycling process :)

In some cases, it doesn’t hurt to use your imagination and ingenuity. I was convinced of this while completing one of the oral assignments: I had to call the professor and ask to reschedule the exam date. Without being taken aback, I blabbed something about my sister’s wedding (which, by the way, I don’t have). Speak, speak and speak again, without forgetting about grammar.

Recording your progress on oral assignments can be an additional stressor. The situation is complicated by the fact that the examinees speak in parallel. I was lucky: I took the exam alone. Despite this, all TestDaF took me about five hours. It is difficult to maintain concentration for such a long time, so during breaks it is good to treat yourself to chocolate, nuts or fruit. And most importantly, believe in yourself, then everything will definitely work out!