Goethe-Zertifikat A1 to B2: How to Prepare

In short: the Goethe-Zertifikat tests reading, listening, writing and speaking. Learn the words on the official word list for your level (A1–B1), read texts on everyday topics, listen every day, and practise the speaking tasks out loud. Use the official model tests to learn the format.

What the exam tests

The Goethe-Institut offers exams at every level. Most learners take one of these: A1 (Start Deutsch 1), A2, B1 or B2. Each has four parts, called modules:

• Lesen (reading)
• Hören (listening)
• Schreiben (writing)
• Sprechen (speaking, usually with a partner and examiners)

At B1 and B2 you can usually take the modules separately, so you can repeat only the part you failed. At B1 and B2 each module is passed on its own, usually with 60 percent of the points. Formats and rules change, and there are versions for young learners, so always check the current details on the official Goethe-Institut site. It also has free practice materials and model tests. Use them.

How many words?

For A1, A2 and B1, the Goethe-Institut publishes official word lists. They are often quoted at roughly 650 words for A1, 1,300 for A2 and 2,400 for B1. Each level includes the one before. These lists are the best place to start, because the exam is built around them.

For B2 there is no short list like this. Expect to need clearly more words than at B1, and more topic words.

Estimate Your Vocabulary (Settings → Languages) gives you a word count, not a level. Use it as a rough check against these numbers; the result depends on where you stop scrolling. When it opens at first run, scroll to the point where the common words stop looking familiar, tap OK, and stop a little early rather than late: words marked as known get no translation.

A German tip: learn each noun with its article (der, die, das) and its plural. Write them down when you tick Memorize, and say them out loud in your reviews.

What to read at each level

• A1–A2: your course book texts, graded readers (easy books written for learners) for A1 and A2, for example found by searching for Lesehefte Deutsch als Fremdsprache (buy or borrow them as EPUB or PDF and open them with Open a file), short emails and notices. Exam texts at this level are short: adverts, messages, signs. Read many short texts. Just starting? See Start a New Language From Zero.
• B1: graded readers at B1, easy news for learners, simple blogs about daily life. Many news sites have news feeds (RSS): add them in Feeds → Add Feed → Add URL..., or share a web page to pimReader from your browser.
• B2: real news and magazine articles on exam topics: work, education, health, the environment, media, living together. Young-adult novels are good too.

How many coloured words you see depends on the book. A graded reader or a modern text may have a few per paragraph; classics often have many more. If almost every line is full of colour, choose something easier.

For old fairy tales, try ＋ → Free books in the library and look for German titles. The language is old, so read them for fun, not as exam models. For easy reading there, look for fairy tales and children's stories (for German, for example, the Grimm fairy tales); the catalogues differ by language, so the choice is bigger in some languages than others.

A weekly plan (30–45 minutes a day)

Only 15 minutes a day? Do the reviews and the reading every day, and speak once a week.

Every day

1. 5 minutes: daily reviews: tap the Exercise card on Home. Tap Again, Hard, Good or Easy. Spaced repetition brings each word back when you're likely to start forgetting it.
2. 15 minutes: read one text. Tap a coloured word, tap its translation in the dictionary panel, and tick Memorize on the word's card. Choose words from your level's list first.
3. 10 minutes: listen. Turn on read-aloud (in a book: ⋮ → Book ..., tick Play Audio:, choose Speech Synthesis). Listen once with the text, then once with your eyes closed.

Twice a week (AI): Sprechen. Open Ask AI → Speaking practice and ask for a role play like the exam: "We are planning a party together. Make suggestions and react to mine, at B1 level." At B2: "Give me a topic, then let us discuss the pros and cons." Or select a paragraph, tap ⋮ → Train speech, and read it out loud. Choose sentences with sounds you find hard, like ü, ö or ch.

Once a week (AI): Schreiben. Write one exam task: an email at A2 or B1, a forum post or opinion text at B1 or B2. Paste it into Ask AI with the official criteria from the model test, and ask: "What would an examiner take points off for? Show a corrected version." Write it again. The feedback is a study aid, not an official mark.

Every two or three weeks: do one official model test, timed, without the app. Look at the weakest module and give it more time next week.

Before the exam

In the last two weeks, keep your daily reviews, add few new words, and do timed model tests. Learn the instructions for each task, so you don't lose time on the day. For a longer structure, see A 90-Day Plan for a B2 Language Exam.

What it won't do

• It has no official Goethe papers or word lists. Download them from the official site.
• It won't give you points or a grade. AI feedback is a guide, not an exam result.
• It has no exam timer. Time yourself.
• It has no Hören audio. Read-aloud uses a computer voice, not real speakers.

Reading, translations, feeds, read-aloud with your phone's voice and daily reviews (the Exercise card on Home) are free; Speaking practice, Train speech and writing feedback use AI, which is part of pimReader Plus. When you open an AI feature, pimReader offers Try free for a month: no card, no account, nothing renews. Tap Not now to carry on without AI.