My thoughts on the DELE C1 exam: Integrated skills. Listening comprehension and written expression and interaction

The third prueba tests on proficiency in written Spanish. This was actually my worst section (possibly due to lack of practice). I got a 15/25, or 60%, which is the minimum passing score for the DELE C1 exam. Overall, I believe this was most likely due to my lack of practice. I didn't practice writing any formal essays in the months preceding my exam (thinking that my writing was my strongest skill in Spanish), but I was definitely wrong. The DELE knows that people generally read and write better than they can speak and listen. As a result, they make the writing test more complex than the other sections. Don't get me wrong, the task and the writing prompts themselves are fairly simple. However, the grading rubric is pretty harsh. It's not enough to just write an essay that's coherent and correct. At the C1 level, you need to demonstrate sophistication in your writing style, using adequately complex vocabulary and sentence structures where they fit. I would say that the writing section in Spanish is probably similar to taking the SAT Writing section in the United States.

After the jump, I'll detail the couple of sections that I was given in this prueba.

The first tarea in this section is to listen to an 8-10 minute monologue/lecture/speech about some relatively formal topic. I think mine was on the causes and effects of the most recent economic recession (my work involved this sort of thing, so it was kind of interesting to listen to it in Spanish). You then have to summarize the main points and assess the author's opinion. Just like in the listening comprehension section, you get to listen to the recording twice. In the first recording, I would suggest taking notes on his main arguments and pieces of evidence. This will help you answer the first part of this task. In the second playback, work on taking notes on the parts you didn't catch the first time, as well as any major opinions that the author makes. This will help you answer the second part of this task. Take 5 minutes or so to write down your main points in an essay format. As you write, try to use at least the level of vocabulary that they used in the speech. To make your essay cohesive, use connectors and transition phrases, just like you would in your native language. I didn't think this section was that bad. What I think killed me was the next one.

In the second tarea, you get to choose from one of two questions. These questions are interaction based, where you are supposed to write an article, e-mail, complaint letter, etc. I only remember the option that I chose, which was a scenario. In this task, I work for a magazine. My co-worker went to a conference the week before discussing some recent trend in society, and gave me his meeting notes. I was to take the notes and write an article based on them. It seemed like a relatively simple task, right? The idea was simple, but my problem when doing this task was that his notes looked perfectly fine. I could have just put them in word for word, added connecting phrases, and that would have basically been it. I started to do that, but it felt really wrong, as if I weren't doing what was asked of me. So instead I tried to create an argument/storyline based on his notes, and wrote my article on that.

This was my worst section by far (15.0/25). However, even if I had gotten this score on all four sections I still would have passed the DELE, but barely. I think my biggest pitfall here was not practicing essays prior to taking the exam. So to prepare, definitely ask a friend or teacher who is well-educated and bilingual in Spanish to help you with your essays. Remember that a simple essay won't get you many points - they need to be of a certain sophistication to pass. Frankly I'm a little surprised I passed it.

In the next section, I'll go over my best (and perhaps most fun) section, spoken expression and interaction.

Stay tuned.