Find out what German A1 covers, and test yourself as you read, free
A1 is the first rung of the CEFR ladder, and every A1 exam splits into the same four parts. Listening, reading, writing and speaking. Below is what each one asks of you, with practice questions in the two parts that work in a browser.
OpenThinkr is not affiliated with the Goethe-Institut, telc or the ÖSD. This is free self-assessment written against the public CEFR descriptors. It is not an official exam and it does not produce a certificate.
Where A1 sits
The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, published by the Council of Europe, splits language ability into six levels. Every serious German exam is built on it, which is why the same two letters show up on job adverts, university pages and visa checklists.
A1BreakthroughFamiliar everyday phrases. Introduce yourself, ask and answer simple personal questions, if the other person speaks slowly.You are here
A2WaystageRoutine tasks. Shopping, local geography, your job and background in simple terms.
B1ThresholdHandle most situations while travelling. Describe experiences and give short reasons.
B2VantageComplex text, fluent enough that conversation with a native speaker is comfortable for both sides.
C1AdvancedDemanding longer texts, implicit meaning, flexible and effective use for work and study.
C2MasteryUnderstands virtually everything heard or read, and expresses precisely in complex situations.
The A1 exams these levels feed into
If you need proof of A1 rather than a private answer, these are the certificates that carry weight for German. All of them test the same CEFR A1 descriptors across the same four parts, so preparation transfers between them.
Goethe-Zertifikat A1: Start Deutsch 1, from the Goethe-Institut. The one most commonly asked for.
Goethe-Zertifikat A1: Fit in Deutsch 1, the same level for ages 10 to 16.
telc Deutsch A1, widely accepted and often cheaper or easier to book locally.
ÖSD Zertifikat A1, the Austrian equivalent.
Two names that are not this.TEFL is a qualification for people who want to teach English, so it has nothing to do with your German level. TestDaF is a German exam, but it only assesses B2 to C1 for university admission, far above A1. If someone has pointed you at either one for A1, they have sent you to the wrong place.
The 4 parts of an A1 exam
Every A1 certificate is scored on the same four skills, each carrying its own colour across the site. Two of them work in a browser and have practice questions below. The other two need audio and a live examiner, and are marked as such rather than faked.
Short everyday recordings, played twice at A1. Station and shop announcements, a voicemail, a short exchange between two people. You are not expected to catch every word. You are expected to pull out one concrete fact, usually a time, a price, a platform number or a name.
audio · short announcement, played twice
Practice questions for this part need real recordings, so they are not here yet. Putting a written transcript where a recording belongs would just be a second reading test.
ListeningAbout 20 min
In build
02
Reading Lesen
Short practical texts rather than literature. Opening hours, small ads, notices, a text message, a confirmation email. The question is never what the text means in full, only whether you can find the one detail being asked for. This is the part that transfers most directly to actually living somewhere German-speaking.
Öffnungszeiten
Mo–Fr 8–18 Uhr Sa 9–13 Uhr So geschlossen
Can you go on Sunday?
geschlossen means closed, and So is the short form of Sonntag.
Nachricht von Lena
Hallo Tom, ich komme heute später. Der Zug hat 20 Minuten Verspätung. Bis gleich!
What is Lena telling Tom?
Verspätung is a delay and später is later. Bis gleich means see you shortly, so she is still on her way.
Anzeige
Zimmer zu vermieten. 18 m², 350 Euro warm. Nur Nichtraucher. Ab 1. September frei.
What does Nur Nichtraucher tell you?
Raucher is a smoker and Nichtraucher a non-smoker. As a bonus, warm in a rent listing means the bills are included.
E-Mail
Sehr geehrte Frau Klein, Ihr Termin am Dienstag um 10 Uhr wurde auf Donnerstag um 14 Uhr verschoben.
When is the appointment now?
verschoben auf means moved to. The time after auf is the new one, the time after am is what it replaced.
Schild
Bitte die Schuhe ausziehen.
What are you being asked to do?
ausziehen is to take off and anziehen to put on. The aus and an prefixes flip the meaning of the same verb.
Kursplan
Der Kurs findet jeden Montag und Mittwoch von 18:00 bis 19:30 statt.
How often does the course run?
Two days are named, Montag and Mittwoch, and jeden means every, so it repeats weekly.
ReadingAbout 25 min
03
Writing Schreiben
Two tasks at A1, and neither is an essay. First you fill in a form, which is mostly about knowing what each German field label is asking for. Then you write a short message of roughly thirty words, where getting the register right matters as much as the grammar. The questions below test the pieces those two tasks are made of.
Formular
Familienname: _______________
What belongs in this field?
Familienname is the surname. First name is Vorname and date of birth is Geburtsdatum. Recognising form labels is half of the A1 writing task.
You are writing a short message to a friend. Which ending fits?
Liebe Grüße is the normal friendly sign-off. The rest are formal, and one of them is an opening rather than an ending. Register is marked at A1, not just grammar.
Which sentence is written correctly?
The conjugated verb holds second position. Start the sentence with heute and the subject has to move behind the verb. This one rule causes most A1 writing mistakes.
Complete it: Ich habe ___ Bruder.
der Bruder is masculine, and as the object of the sentence it becomes einen Bruder. Masculine is the only gender that visibly changes here.
Complete it: Ich ___ Studentin.
sein is irregular the whole way through and has to be memorised. Note also that German uses no article before a job or a role.
Complete it: Das ist ___ mein Auto.
There is already a mein in front of the noun, so kein has nowhere to go and you negate with nicht instead.
WritingAbout 20 min
04
Speaking Sprechen
Done in a small group with an examiner, in three parts. You introduce yourself, then you draw keyword cards and ask and answer questions with another candidate, then you make and respond to a simple request. It is the part most people underestimate, because unlike the other three you cannot go back and correct yourself.
recording · introduce yourself in 30 seconds
Practising this properly needs a microphone and something to judge the answer against. Multiple choice cannot tell you whether you can speak, so nothing is offered here rather than something misleading.
SpeakingAbout 15 min
In build
How you did
Reading and writing only, since those are the two parts practised here. This fills in as you answer, stays in this browser tab and goes nowhere else. Reload the page and it is gone.
0of12answered correctly
Answer a few questions and a read will appear here.
This is a self check against the public CEFR A1 descriptors, covering two of the four exam parts. It tells you where to put your attention next. It does not certify anything, it says nothing about your listening or speaking, and no exam board has seen it.
What comes after A1
A1 is the entry rung. Each level roughly doubles what you can do with the language, and the same four parts come back wider and harder every time.
A2
German A2 test
Past tense, separable verbs, dative, and enough vocabulary to describe your background and your job.
In buildB1
German B1 test
The level most often asked for by employers and by the citizenship process. Opinions, reasons, longer conversations.
In buildB2
German B2 test
Complex texts and comfortable conversation with native speakers. The usual bar for university study.
In buildC1
German C1 test
Implicit meaning, long demanding texts, and flexible use for professional and academic work.
In build
The same four-part format will carry other languages once it is settled here. Spanish, French and Italian all sit on the same CEFR ladder and split their exams the same way, so the structure transfers without being rebuilt.
Questions
The ones worth answering before you start.
The official CEFR wording is that you can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases, introduce yourself and others, ask and answer questions about personal details, and interact simply provided the other person speaks slowly and clearly and is willing to help. In practice that means ordering, shopping, filling in a form and handling a first introduction. It does not mean following a normal conversation between two German speakers.
Reading and writing work in a browser with nothing more than a page. Listening needs real recordings and speaking needs a microphone plus something to judge the answer against. Both are being built. Putting a written transcript where a recording belongs would only be a second reading test, and multiple choice cannot tell you whether you can speak, so neither is faked here in the meantime.
For German the recognised A1 exams are the Goethe-Zertifikat A1 Start Deutsch 1, the Goethe-Zertifikat A1 Fit in Deutsch 1 for ages 10 to 16, telc Deutsch A1, and the Austrian ÖSD Zertifikat A1. They all test the same CEFR descriptors across the same four parts. Which one to pick usually comes down to what the organisation asking for it will accept, and what you can book near you. Check with whoever is requesting the certificate before you pay for one.
No, and the two get confused often enough to be worth separating. TEFL stands for Teaching English as a Foreign Language. It is a qualification for people who want to teach English, so it says nothing about your German. TestDaF is a German exam, but it assesses roughly B2 to C1 and exists for university admission, several levels above A1. If you have been told to look at either one to prove A1 German, the advice was wrong.
Language schools commonly quote somewhere in the region of 80 to 200 guided teaching hours for A1, and the Goethe-Institut publishes its own figures per course format. The spread is that wide because it depends heavily on how close your first language is to German, how much contact you get outside class, and whether you are starting from absolute zero. Treat any single number you see as a marketing estimate rather than a measurement.
Not on its own, because this covers half the exam. Doing well on the reading and writing questions here is a reasonable sign that those two parts are in range. It says nothing about listening or speaking, and speaking in particular is where most people lose marks. Treat a good result as permission to book the exam and then practise the other two parts properly, not as a prediction.
No account, no email step and no paywall. Your answers stay in the page while you have it open and are gone the moment you reload or close the tab. Nothing is stored and nothing is sent anywhere.
Goethe-Institut, telc, ÖSD, TestDaF and TEFL are the property of their respective owners and are not affiliated with OpenThinkr. The CEFR is published by the Council of Europe. Results on this page are for self-reflection and orientation, not assessment or certification.
