Tips to prepare the DELE exam listening comprehension

Are you going to do the DELE exam and you want to prepare well for the listening comprehension?

Then read this article because we tell you some tips and tricks to overcome it successfully.

Furthermore, at the end we propose some sites with exercises to practice.

If you read our article on tips for the DELE oral exam, I'm sure this new article will interest you.

Let's go there! 💪

Tips to improve listening comprehension in general

When we learn a language, listen to other people and understand what they say It can be one of the most difficult parts.

However, there is no need to be afraid.

If you pay attention to the following advice, I am sure that you will improve a lot in this aspect and do great in the exam. 😉

Be patient, there are no shortcuts

You have no choice, you have to be patient.

Our hearing needs time to adapt to this new language.

Go easy.

There are no shortcuts in this.

Be constant

Dedicate some time to it every day.

Mark it as a new routine in your life and you will see results.

Consistency and discipline are necessary to master the listening comprehension of a language.

As we say in Spain: “No hurry, but no pause.”

Find listening material that corresponds to your level

Make it easy and search audios of your same level.

Have you ever auditioned for higher levels to yours and have you become frustrated?

You have to avoid this.

Yes you listen to audios of your level, you will extract most of the information andYou will feel that you are progressing. 

This will encourage you to practice more and continue improving. 😊

Reinforce listening with written text

In all tasks of the listening comprehension of the DELE exam there is written statements.

Read them carefully, underline the key words.

Doing this will help you understand the context or the topic of the audio you are going to listen to.

Focus on understanding the general idea of the audio, not the details 

understand each audio details is very difficult and unnecessary.

The most important thing is understand the general idea of the audio, know what it is about and give importance to the exam questions.

Listen to the audios at different speeds

In real life, there are people who speak slowly and with very clear pronunciation.

And others, unfortunately, who speak very quickly and without almost moving their mouth. 😑

You have to prepare for it, and a good exercise is listen to the audios at different speeds.

Have you taken a comprehension test and found it easy? 

Increase the speed and see how you change your mind. 😁

Take advantage of any moment to practice

try practice listening every day.

It can be 30 minutes, one hour, two hours... it depends on your time and your needs.

It is not necessary to practice only with exam models.

There are many ways to work on listening comprehension: podcasts, movies, songs, series...

Listening comprehension in the DELE exam

Now, I'm going to give you some important data of the DELE exam from the Cervantes Institute, focusing on the listening comprehension test.

How much does listening comprehension count in the exam? 

• In the levels A1, A2, B1 AND B2 The listening comprehension score is 25 points out of 100.
• In the level C1, listening comprehension is mixed with other skills in two tests that add up 50 points out of 100.
• In the C2 The evidence is also mixed. The parts in which there is hearing add up 66.66 points out of 100.

What other part of the exam does it average? 

• The part of the listening comprehension from the A1 to B2 does half with the part of oral expression and interaction.
• In the C1, the listening comprehension averages with the other two tests.
• In the C2, there are 3 large blocks and no middles are made. The listening comprehension It is integrated with other tests in 2 of those 3 blocks.

What minimum objectives must be met? 

To approve the DELE exam, we need be fit in all tests.

What is the minimum grade to be eligible?

From the level A1 to B2, the clistening comprehension It mediates oral expression and interaction and between the two we will need get a minimum of 30 points.

 That is, to pass the exam you have to get a 30 out of 50 in this couple, since each part is equivalent to 25 points.

In the level C1, the exam is divided into two big blocks with mixed tests and the hearing is in both. You have to take out a minimum of 30 in each.

C2 is divided into 3 large blocksand you have to get a minimum of 20 in each.

If you have done the calculations, you will see that the minimum score to pass the DELE at all levels it is 60 out of 100.

Tricks to prepare for the listening comprehension tasks of the DELE exam 

Do you want to know some tricks to prepare listening comprehension test of DELE?

Of course you want... and I'm going to give them to you! 😉

Be clear about what each task consists of according to the level you opt for 

It is essential that you know perfectly the exam tasks What are you going to do?

Don't you know what your level is?

 Next, I will talk to you about them, using as reference the DELE exam guide Instituto Cervantes.

DELE A1 tasks 

The listening comprehension in the DELE A1 has 4 tasks formed by 25 items. The duration is 25 minutes.

In these tasks, dialogues, messages over the public address system or statements are heard.

The way to respond it usually is through questions with 3 options to choose one or relate sentences with images or texts.

DELE A2 tasks

In the DELE A2, listening comprehension has 4 tasks formed by 25 items. The duration is 40 minutes.

We also have many dialogues or monologues with multiple response questions.

They are a little longer than in the previous level and there is more of them.

DELE B1 tasks

In the DELE B1, listening comprehension consists of 5 tasks and 30 items. Hard 40 minutes.

The main tasksThis level consists of listening to texts and answering multiple choice questions or relating the texts to different statements.

DELE B2 tasks

In the DELE B2, the hearing test also has 5 tasks, 30 items and hard 40 minutes.

here there is tasks with conversations and others with audio texts. The audios can be quite long and there may be accents of different nationalities.

DELE C1 Tasks

In DELE C1, listening comprehension is divided into two types of tests:

• Test 1: has 4 tasks, 30 items and hard 50 minutes. 

The examinee listens conversations, texts, statements, etc. You have to answer multiple choice questions or complete sentences with words.

• Test 2: contains 2 tasks and 80 minutes long.

From some audios, you must write an essay of some 180-250 words.

DELE C2 tasks

In DELE C2, listening comprehension is also in two tests.

• Test 1: we listen to texts and conversations with multiple choice questions or relating to statements or the correct person.
• Test 2: you have to write a text of between 400 and 450 words from different oral and written sources.

Start preparing this part of the exam in advance

Shall we continue with the tricks to overcome DELE and the listening comprehension test?

Here is a basic one, but also very important:

Prepare for the exam well in advance.

Dedicate monthsand do all the tests you can, only then you can master the hearing test. 👂💪

Control the topics they usually talk about in DELE

What are the main themes in the listening comprehensions of DELE?

There are some recurring themes:

• Science and technology.
• Health.
• Studies.
• Work world.
• Trips.

And many others.

At each level they are adapted and can be seen through conversations, monologues, radio messages, advertisements, interviews, etc.

active listening

When you practicehearing proof, make a active listening.

What does this mean?

I'll tell you right now. 

Take notes while you listen 

It basically means that you must take notes while listening.

Do you find it difficult to do two things at the same time?

When you prepare for the test listening comprehension you will be able to do it very well. 😀

Identify the topic of the audio

The first thing you have to do when taking notes is identify the topic of the audio.

Once you understand it, everything else will be easier.

The sooner identify the topic, before you can write notes about other things.

Write how many people speak 

In many of the tasks, there are conversations with different people.

Differentiate the voices and mark the number of people what's there

What does each one say? 

Once you know how many people are talking, you will make a mental drawing of what each one says and you will not get lost.

Write down the most important ideas that each person says.

This is very important because some of the tasks ask you to match several statements with the correct person.

If there are words that are constantly repeated, write them down and look them up later.

Maybe you are wondering: “How can I know which words are the most important?”

A good trick to identify them is by the repetition: yes a word is repeated many times, so generally means that it is important.

Pay attention to these words and write them down.

If you know a word and are practicing, you can look it up in the dictionary.

But don't get used to this because you won't be able to use it in the exam..

Write down the sentences that you find interesting or useful and then try to use them. 

Do you detect interesting sentences or are they repeated?

Then do the same as in the previous tip: write them down and try to use them later if it happens that you have to write a text about that audio.

This will show that your listening comprehension is very good and that you pay attention to details. 👌

Before starting the practice: carefully read the questions or written information they offer you

Another trick to get a super grade in the exam it is… read the statements. 😁

I know it seems very obvious, but many people overlook it.

Read very carefully every question and all the information they give you. 

Underline important words and take notes of everything necessary.

By doing this you can get a lot of informationand know what the audio is going to be about even before listening to it.

Don't settle for just one listen

In the exam you will hear the same audition twice. 

Take advantage of this opportunity and listen to both audios with the same attention.

Surely in the second listen you get more information than in the first.

When practicing, we We recommend that you listen three times and do the following:

On the first listen try to identify the general theme

Dedicate the first audition for identify the general theme.

Also take the opportunity to do the active listening which I have told you about before: write down the number of people, write important words and phrases, etc.

In the second listening try to answer the proposed questions or perform the indicated task 

In the second listen you should already answer questions proposals or do homework prompted, without having to listen to the audio again.

On the third listen, confirm the information or complete any doubts you had.

In this extra listen, you can confirm that you have answered correctly and resolve doubts that you had 

Correcting yourself and seeing your mistakes is one of the best exercises there are for learning a language… and anything in life, right? 😊

But remember, this third listening will not be in the exam.

You will have to be able to pass the test with two listens.

Read the transcripts of the audition texts

And what happens if, despite listening for the third time, there are still words that I don't understand or questions that I don't know how to answer?

nothing happens, when we practice with exam models we have the audio transcriptions.

With the transcripts you will solve all your doubts and you will see all the words written.

It keeps me awake when I leave something incomplete or there is something that I haven't resolved one hundred percent.

Are you like me?

Thank goodness there are transcripts.

Thanks to them we can sleep like a baby! 😴

Listen to podcasts on the suggested topics 

What gives us the most confidence when taking an exam?

Come on, I'm sure you know.

We say it together, in 3:

One…

Two…

Three!

¡The knowledge!

But I'm not just referring to knowledge of the Spanish language and of the DELE exam questions.

Of course that is essential.

I was referring to have knowledge about the recurring topics in the exam.

We have already seen some topics that usually appear in listening comprehension tests.

Listen to podcasts on these topics. There are some super interesting programs.

Expand your knowledge on these topics, this will help you a lot in the questions, even when you don't know the answers well.

Wisdom is power. 🙌

Also practice with movies, series and music 

Don't you really like podcasts?

It's okay, there are other means.

I'm sure you like it the music. There are very interesting groups and songs in Spanish. Listen to them several times and try to understand what they say.

You can then view the transcripts online.

Do you prefer the cinema?

Watch movies or Spanish series in original version with or without subtitles is also a great idea to practice listening comprehension.

If you enjoy while you practice, the result will be much more effective.

Search for audios or friends with different accents 

Many times in DELE audios people appear with different accents.

You already know that he Spanish is spoken in many countries and that has its peculiarities in each of them.

For get familiar with them, look for audios in which there are different accents.

If you have Spanish-speaking friends or acquaintances from different regions or countries, talk to them as much as you can, so your ear will get used to other types of accents.

show your DELE examiner that you are able to understand all the Spanish accents that exist. 😃

Apply the advice we have given before on how to improve hearing

Apply the advice we have given you to improve overall listening comprehension:

Don't you remember them?

I remind you: 😉

• Be patient and constant.
• Use material that corresponds to your level.
• Reinforce listening with the written text.
• Focus on the main idea, not the details.
• Listen to the audios at different speeds.
• Take advantage of any moment to practice.

Trust yourself and be calm in the exam

The last tip is one of the most important.

Trust yourself. 

Try not to get nervous.

The way to achieve this is to know that your ability is above the exam.

And how is that achieved?

There is only one way: spend a lot of time and practice a lot.

Platforms and links to practice

We have already finished with the tips to prepare for listening comprehension.

I hope they are of help to you.

Do you want practice real exercises?

You can do them through Instituto Cervantes and the DELE exam models that they offer. You will find all levels.

Next, we give you a example of listening comprehension exercise in three links as proposed by the Cervantes Institute in the DELE exam:

DELE A2 audio exam model:

• Task 1:question and answer sheet.
• Audio task 1: audio that you must listen to to answer.
• Transcription task 1: Audio transcription.

This is a online hearing test that you can find among many other DELE examples.

If you want to attend in-person or distance classes DELE exam preparation, in Hispania, Spanish school, we have a variety of courses at your disposal so that you can pass the DELE exam and successful listening comprehension.

See you soon!

Article written by Carlos Martinez for Hispania, Spanish school 

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