Escribí en mi diario el 26 de marzo de este año:
Today I also registered for DELE B1 and bought the preparation course. I have 1 month to prepare intensively and I hope and pray that God will approve and bless this goal. It’s outside of my comfort zone and I’m not expecting this level to be easy; I may not be ready, but I’ll still try anyway. Better to try and fail and try again, than not try at all and give up. ¡Qué nervios pero también qué ganas!
August 13 — I woke up to a notification of the DELE B1 results that I took last May. I had expected it to arrive in less than 3 months, like the A2 exam, but it took longer due to the high number of examinees. However, the wait was worth it because 🥁 I passed!
Passing certifications is a big feat for me, whether it’s for work or personal purposes, as it’s a great way to test how well I’m putting theory into practice. Below, I will share my experiences and challenges while preparing for this exam in case it will benefit other language exam takers.
CÓMO EMPEZÓ TODO
I started learning Spanish by myself through Duolingo during the pandemic (2021) out of boredom from being in a month-long quarantine and mainly because of the Netflix series Élite. Months after this, I was coincidentally deployed at work to a project based in South America where the tools and applications used were mainly in Spanish. It was nice to know some basic words, but it was practically useless when we had to discuss technical details with stakeholders who were more comfortable speaking in Spanish than English. I was never interested in learning Spanish seriously, but the situation made me eager to try so I enrolled in online classes with Instituto Cervantes (IC). I was placed in the A2.2 level— thanks to 2 months of Duolingo and SpanishDict— but unfortunately, the project I was working on was terminated because of difficulties.
I continued with my Spanish journey because I was enjoying it and completed A2.4 in February 2021. I then took my first DELE exam (A2) in July 2023.
LA DIFERENCIA ENTRE A2 Y B1
Personally, A2 was pan comido (easy) because I was consistent in attending classes, and although I had a 2 year gap from my last class until the time I took the DELE, I constantly exposed myself to the language so I was equipped with the grammar and vocabulary needed to surpass the test. I found the questions very straightforward and very easy to find in this level, and the texts and audio recordings are very short so I had plenty of time to double check my answers. Someone told me that I might be overqualified and should’ve taken B1 instead, but since it was my first time taking the exam, I thought I’d better be overqualified and pass than be overconfident and fail! I felt well-prepared during the exam and thankfully, I passed it with flying colors.
I found B1, on the other hand, challenging. This is where I had to work hard and mostly trust God to carry me through because I didn’t enroll in classes and mostly relied on Duolingo (which I don’t recommend for serious learners). I also hit a plateau because I was only spending less than 10 minutes on learning. To make matters worse, B1 is where my archenemies arrive: el subjuntivo y los tiempos verbales pasados de indicativo, which I barely learned to use properly through Duolingo alone. I was also expected to be able to differentiate the different verb tenses, commit less mistakes on the gender of nouns and accents/tildes, and use idioms and some colloquial Spanish at this level. The texts and audio recordings are significantly longer, less straightforward and more technical, although the time allotted for each section is the same as A2.
Why did I register for the B1 given this setback? Well, one morning I woke up feeling confident and thought that if I could pass A2, then I could probably pass B1 too. After all, the gap isn’t that much, right? Wrong! I thought I was ready. I should know better than to trust my feelings. 😬 I took a crazy risk, but the anxiety I had while preparing for the B1 exam was through the roof because I was cramming. I am happy and grateful that despite this, the preparations and prayers paid off because I passed. Thank You, Lord! 🙏
The plans of the diligent certainly lead to advantage,
Proverbs 21:5
But everyone who is in a hurry certainly comes to poverty.
PREPARATIVOS
Assuming that you have completed your studies/classes and you are now ready to take the DELE:
- Join a DELE preparation class: Joining a DELE class will help you become familiar with the exam’s contents and structure. It also serves as a review and practice to gauge your ability in handling the practicas/tareas, particularly if you are self-taught like me. Your speaking and writing abilities will be evaluated more effectively this way because the instructor will provide feedback and correct you. Additionally, you can learn from other students and they can learn from you. Another option is to purchase the online preparation course here if group classes are unavailable to you.
- Find a tutor or language partner: I tried a 1-hour session with an italki tutor to practice speaking and receive feedback. If you need to strengthen specific areas, working with a language tutor will be advantageous although it can be pricey. I didn’t go this route because of other commitments and my limited preparation time.
- Write and speak in español: Immediately use the new vocabulary and grammar you learned through journalling, blogging or social media. As for speaking, similar to the above point: having language buddies or chatting with native speakers through language exchange apps can be effective (you might need to filter through). Otherwise, you can record yourself talking about a topic in Spanish.
- Watch YouTube videos or listen to podcasts: This is a great way to improve your listening skills and gain an understanding of the nuances of colloquial terms and usage differences between Spanish-speaking countries. I recommend Easy Spanish and a por el DELE. The latter gives very useful tips for all DELE exam levels and tareas.
Reggaeton and movies might help but I don’t recommend them as they can be very distracting and the lyrics are usually vulgar. Interestingly though, I learned how to use subjuntivos and indicativos from some of Aitana and Manuel Turizo’s songs. 🙊 - Review your notes: Read your notes and redo all the activities that you can given your preparation timeline, putting more focus on your weakest areas. In my case, I bought a used Etapas B1.1 and B1.2 books since I didn’t have notes (cons of not joining a class), did the activities that I am weak at, and tried to memorize the Resumen lingüístico-grammatical sections by heart. 🥸 Please, don’t cram like me. Thoroughly study the levels and don’t depend on the DELE preparation materials alone.
- Pray before any preparations and before your exam, about everything really. Whenever I felt anxious about the test, I asked God for His guidance and help to do things calmly and confidently.
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
—Philippians 4:6-7
¿Cómo ha ido el examen?
I was pretty taken aback by the B1 exam because the content and topics were more difficult than what I had been expecting based on the DELE preparation course. I thought it was because I didn’t study the level thoroughly, but one of my fellow examinees—who finished all the B1 classes in IC recently— had the same sentiment.
Listening was a challenge because of the different dialects and the fast pace. I struggled articulating myself in the writing section and some parts of the speaking test because the topics weren’t my interests (e.g. superstitions, cooking), so I had to think on my feet and come up with creative answers para no me quedo en blanco (so I wouldn’t draw a blank). Overall, even though I was initially the most nervous about the speaking section, it was actually the most enjoyable because the examinadora was very friendly and gave prompts when needed, which helped me express my opinions more clearly and confidently.
I had moments when I wanted to cancel my exam registration or not show up, but I’m glad I pushed through and saw that I could overcome it! I think I would have gotten better scores had I prepared better, but I’m quite satisfied with the results.
Will I continue to the next levels? Absolutely! My goal is to be fluent in Spanish and more languages. But I won’t go the self-study route again for the advanced levels since I have seen how being in a group class and having someone correct you greatly benefited me.
Even though I don’t have a formal use for these certificates yet, the whole journey was a testimony of how God gave me peace, wisdom and strength despite my inadequacies and weaknesses. It is also a story of perseverance and faith: doing the best I can in the areas I can control, entrusting the rest to the Lord, and ultimately, not giving up even when the going gets tough!
No te rindas, si yo lo logré, ¡tú también puedes!
Sigamos adelante 🚀
Some of my journal entries when anxiety attacked during exam preps:
