telc B1 and B2 listening: how many times do you hear each text?

In telc Deutsch B1, the German exam, you hear the five short texts of part 1 only once, and the conversation in part 2 and each text in part 3 twice. In telc Deutsch B2 every recording plays once: the news, the interview and the announcements. That is what the instructions in telc’s own Übungstests say.

How many times does each text play in telc Deutsch B1?

Part 1 once, parts 2 and 3 twice. The instructions in the B1 Übungstest say it in so many words: «Sie hören diese Texte nur einmal» (part 1, “you hear these texts only once”), «Sie hören das Gespräch zweimal» (part 2, “twice”), «Sie hören jeden Text zweimal» (part 3, “each text twice”).

All 20 items are statements that are true or false. The whole section takes about 30 minutes. Where listening sits in the exam day and how long the other parts take is on the telc Deutsch B1 exam page.

And in telc Deutsch B2?

In B2 there is no second hearing: each recording plays once. The B2 Übungstest says so for every part: the news broadcast, the interview and the announcements are each heard «nur einmal», only once.

That is why the section is shorter, about 20 minutes instead of 30, with the same number of items. Moving from B1 to B2, you lose exactly what B1 lets you lean on in parts 2 and 3: using the second hearing to check what you marked during the first. What else differs between the levels is on the telc Deutsch B2 exam page.

How many points is one item worth?

Each part is worth 25 points, however many items it has. That is the «Punkte und Gewichtung» table in both Übungstests: part 1 (41–45) 25, part 2 (46–55) 25, part 3 (56–60) 25, together 75 points, or 25 % of the total of 300.

Which leads to a sum few people do:

An item in part 1 or 3 is worth twice an item in part 2. In B1 that means the item you hear only once (part 1) counts as much as two items in the conversation you hear twice.

The Übungstest names no separate minimum for listening. You pass with 60 % of the written exam as a whole, 135 of 225 points, and 60 % of the oral. Under that rule a weak listening section can be made up by reading or writing.

How long do you get to read the items first?

30 seconds for five items before part 1 and one minute for ten before part 2, in B1 and in B2. The instruction is in the task booklet: «Lesen Sie jetzt die Aufgaben 41–45. Sie haben dazu 30 Sekunden Zeit.»

After that the rule is «Entscheiden Sie beim Hören», decide while listening. You mark plus for true and minus for false on the answer sheet while the text runs. The recording is not stopped during the section; that is in the notes for the invigilator. Get stuck on one statement and you miss the next.

How do you practise the way the exam runs?

With recordings that play as often as in the exam, and no pause button. telc offers one Übungstest per exam with its audio as a free download. It is the most exact measure of the format, but it is only one: once you have heard it, you know the answers.

Three things that follow from the rules above:

• B2: play each text once when you practise, even though at home you could play it twice. There is no second round in the exam.
• B1, part 2: use the first hearing for the statements you are sure of, the second for the open ones.
• Both levels: in the 30 seconds before part 1, read the five statements and mark the word that decides true or false: a time, a place, a number.

In the telc Deutsch B1 mock test listening runs as in the exam: the clock starts with the recording, nothing rewinds, and each text plays as often as in the original, once or twice in B1, once in B2.