DTZ Oral Exam Topics: What Do You Have to Talk About?

The Three Topics of the Oral DTZ Exam

In the oral exam of the German Test for Immigrants (DTZ), you speak about three fixed topics. You take the exam as a pair, so together with another person. The entire oral exam lasts about 16 minutes. Here are the three parts:

1. Speaking about yourself (you introduce yourself)
2. Describing a picture and telling about your own experiences
3. Planning something together (together with your partner)

The good news is: the structure is always the same. Only the exact pictures and planning tasks change. If you know the three parts well and practice them, you know exactly what to expect.

Part 1: Speaking About Yourself

In the first part, you introduce yourself. You receive a sheet with bullet points. You speak about these points. Typical bullet points are:

• Name (What is your name?)
• Origin (Where do you come from?)
• Residence (Where do you live now?)
• Profession or work (What do you do professionally?)
• Family (Are you married? Do you have children?)
• Languages (Which languages do you speak?)
• Hobbies (What do you do in your free time?)

Say at least two sentences about each point. An example: “My name is Amir. I come from Syria, but I’ve been living in Heilbronn for three years now.” This way you show that you can speak freely and not just say individual words. After that, the examiner may ask a small follow-up question.

Part 2: Describing a Picture

In the second part, you receive a photo about an everyday topic. Your partner gets a different picture. You speak one after the other, each about your own picture. You do two things:

1. You describe what you see in the picture. (Who is there? What are the people doing? Where are they?)
2. You tell about your own experiences related to the topic. (Do you know that? How is that in your life?)

Topics are things from daily life, for example shopping, work, family, health, housing, leisure, or transportation. An example: In your picture you see a crowded supermarket. You say: “In the picture I see many people in a supermarket. They are shopping.” After that you tell: “I usually go shopping on Saturday. Then it’s also very crowded for us.”

Part 3: Planning Together

The third part is a conversation with your partner. You plan something together. You are, for example, colleagues or neighbors. Typical tasks are:

• organizing a party or a celebration (for example for a birthday)
• planning an outing or a trip
• buying a gift together
• helping someone with a move or with renovations
• preparing a meeting or a party

Here’s what’s important: you shouldn’t just talk, but also work together. Make your own suggestions (“We could bake a cake.”) and respond to your partner’s ideas (“Yes, good idea!” or “I don’t think that’s so good because…”). You should find a solution together at the end. This teamwork counts toward the assessment.

How Is the Oral Exam Graded?

In the Speaking section, you can earn up to 30 points out of 100 points on the entire DTZ exam. The examiners rate, for example:

• whether you fulfill the task (do you say the right things about the topic?)
• your pronunciation
• how fluently you speak
• your grammar and correctness
• your vocabulary

Important to know: The DTZ is an exam with two possible results. At the end, you receive either the A2 level or the B1 level. For many goals, for example naturalization, B1 is usually the standard. If you want to achieve B1, you should form complete sentences in all three speaking parts and not just say individual words.

Tips for Your Preparation

• Practice part 1 by heart. Your introduction is nearly the same every time. Learn your sentences, then you’ll start with confidence.
• Collect sentences for picture description. Sentences like “In the picture I see…” or “In the background there is…” you can always use.
• Learn discourse markers for planning. For example: “I suggest…”, “What do you think about…?”, “We could…”.
• Speak out loud and practice with another person, because the exam is taken as a pair.

If you want to learn systematically for B1, a course with clear structure and real speaking practice will help you. In the V-IZ B1 online course you practice with a real teacher and an AI trainer exactly the speaking, pronunciation, and free speaking you need for the oral DTZ exam. This way you go into the exam prepared and already know all the topics of the B1 course beforehand.

Conclusion

In the oral DTZ exam you speak about three fixed topics: yourself, a picture with your experiences, and joint planning with your partner. The structure never changes. Anyone who practices these three parts, forms complete sentences, and learns discourse markers can go into the exam calmly and confidently and achieve the B1 level.