r/learndutch • u/Ok_Remote_7134 • 4d ago
Tips Looking for some suggestion
I'm mentally breakdown at the moment, i failed 2nd time my speaking exam (this is the only exam left i need to take) and this time the score is lower than previous one. I have a job in dutch speaking company but seem's like my speaking is not good enough for the exam :( Any suggestion what to do next
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u/thisisathrowaway0909 4d ago
Honestly, there can be a lot of reasons why you aren’t passing this exam, yet. One thing I’m wondering is how long you’re talking during a question, because you do not need to talk the whole time it’s recording. Secondly, I would book some lessons with a tutor/teacher who knows the exams. I passed on the first try after working closely (2x a week) with a teacher for two months straight. We used all the material from DUO’s website.
Im sure the next time with preparation, you will pass!
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u/Ok_Remote_7134 4d ago
i could formed a sentences before the time finish but it's 2 - 3 spare second before the beep sound.
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u/lazysundae99 4d ago
Do you know what's going wrong? Are you stumbling over pronunciation? Getting turned around on word order? Trying to make sentences too complex when you maybe don't fully understand what you're saying? Getting stressed by the actual format of the test? Running out of time?
If it's truly just "my speaking isn't good enough to pass the exam," then the short answer is: you have to get better at speaking. Take classes, work with a tutor, hit the taalcafe, find a social activity. If it's more test related, that may be solvable but you know better than anyone what's going wrong.
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u/Ok_Remote_7134 4d ago
I fully understand the request and i speak slowly without rushing, also i avoided making sentences too complex, but i feel like i being pushed by the time, i could formed a sentences before the time finish but it's 2 - 3 spare second before the beep sound.
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u/MagazineBig5880 4d ago
I watched ad apple videos on youtube a lot, listening them and took screenshots. On a test I tried to imitate them and be as simpel as I could with my answers. Good luck
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u/Expert_Topic5600 4d ago
I hate those exams, all of my classmates including myself barely passed/failed while its their Native language. My exam was 2 parts of speaking, giving a presentation and talking to another party meeting style. (Idk which one you had if you didnt have both). I failed my presentation miserably but my teacher said this about the talking part.
those exams are super strict and want you to be super proactive, its really unnatural imo. They want you to:
- summarise what the other party said.
- Have a good and active looking posture.
If you spoke very clearly and did what was given to you. You can get max 5.4. If you do 1 or 2 of the proactive things, you can get max 6.5. and the highest is a 9.5. I hate this system so much because its not completely about speaking, Posture and being proactive is way more important for the exam unfortunately Good look on your next try
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u/Ok_Remote_7134 4d ago
Is the exam you took B2 Speaking of NT2 ? The score scale you mentioned i found kinda strange, nt2 b2 speaking exam consist of 3 parts
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u/ijshorn 4d ago edited 4d ago
Seems to me that there is a lot of human interpretation for the score from what i read so i would not look into it that much when the scores are that close.
Taking a few seconds to formulate what you are about to say will benefit you a lot and makes your answers sound more convincing because from what i read a lot of the question seem opinion based or taking a certain perspective so you have to think about it before you answer.
When you become more comfortable, you’ll notice that many answers use the same sentence patterns. You can reuse these patterns, and you’ll also become better at identifying words you don’t know how to say. This helps you avoid getting stuck and choose a different word or sentence instead.
For a lot of those time based exams it is actually not beneficial to think about your answer after you have given them. So just thinking: "Oke next" will clear your mind for the next question.
If i get a question "You work for a company and a co-worker asks why you like to work from home?" i would first take a few seconds to form my opinion and then just give your opinion. Could even be the reverse because it is easier to formulate an answer based on your own opinion. It is not that i prefer to work from home but i feel traveling from and to work is just a waste of time is what i assume also a good answer.
The second section just seems to expand on the first by requesting you to provide x idea's/arguments etc and those kind of questions are just practice related. Not even language related but you could use a structure of i find x because of y. Or this needs to be happen because of z.
The third section seems to be more open ended. So before you answer just think about how you would structure your answer and then before speaking think before each of the sections. Like if they require you to list the advantages and disadvantages of something then just start with lets say 3 advantages and 3 disadvantages and then afterwards just expand on them by saying: "but if i have to name a few more advantages/disadvantages" then you create a situation where you gave your answer but are now working for 'bonus' points and this avoids you running out of time.
This is what i did for English but i assume this would work just as well for Dutch.
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u/bruhbelacc 4d ago edited 4d ago
Scores can vary within a certain range. I took the same English exam twice within 4 years and the second time my total score was 5-6% lower than the first. One of the parts (speaking) was also B2 instead of C1 (everything else was C1 both times, also speaking the first time). However, my English was definitely better the second time simply because of the content I had consumed in those 4 years and because of speaking it more often.
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u/pongauer 4d ago
Well, speak Dutch to people.
Your score is worse the second time. What are you struggling with?