DTZ Speaking: The Partner Exam Step by Step

You introduce yourself and answer follow-up questions about your origin, family, work, languages, and free time. Coherent sentences are expected, not just keywords.

A solid structure: two sentences about yourself, two about your current situation in Germany, two about your plans. If you only say “Ich heiße … und ich komme aus …” you are unnecessarily losing points here.

Both candidates each receive a photo and speak about it for about one and a half minutes. Afterwards, the other person asks a question about the picture.

Those who go beyond mere enumeration are well-evaluated: first describe, then guess what is happening, and finally relate it to their own experience.

You plan an everyday situation together – a farewell party, an excursion, a hospital visit. The interaction is evaluated: making suggestions, asking questions, agreeing, disagreeing, reaching a consensus.

The most common mistake is to push through your own plan. If you don't involve your partner, you lose points, even if your sentences are grammatically correct. Ask at least three genuine questions and react to the answer each time.

The examiners evaluate based on several criteria; the sheer number of errors is only one of them.

You are evaluated independently of your partner. If the other person remains silent, help them with open questions – this counts positively for you. If they talk non-stop, politely interrupt with a phrase like “Darf ich kurz etwas ergänzen?”; this also demonstrates interaction competence.

Practice with a time limit and recording. Take any photo, speak for 90 seconds straight, and listen to the recording exactly once – focusing on a single criterion, such as whether you really guessed and didn't just enumerate.