DELE exams

DELE is the abbreviation of Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjera (Certificate of Spanish as a foreign language). It’s the best official accreditation for the use and the knowledge of Spanish by someone who doesn’t have it as its mother tongue. This certificate is awarded by the Instituto Cervantes after having accomplished  the official exam. If people talk about DELE, they refer more often to the exam than to the certificate.

In this blog post I’ll give you a summary of the different levels for which an exam can be made. The exam you take depends on the level you have, which is acknowledged by the Cervantes Institute.

- Level A1: the language skills are considered to be satisfactory enough to understand the language and to be able to use common expressions in Hispanic countries. This level can help you to satisfy your instantaneous needs.

- Level A2: the person is able to understand common used sentences and expressions that are connected to relevant themes (information about himself/herself, family, purchases, interests…).

- Level B1: the language skills are considered to be good enough to understand and react adequately to common circumstances. Having this level means it mustn’t be a problem to express your wishes and your needs through simple sentences.

- Level B2: a person with this knowledge level of Spanish can easily communicate in common situations in his/her daily life. This means that he/she can say what he/she has in mind in circumstances where specialised vocabulary is not required.

- Level C1: someone with a C1-level is capable of understanding a large variation of texts of a higher level. He/she also understands ambiguities. This person will use the language in a flexible and effective way for social, academic and professional purposes. He/she can also compose clear and well-structured texts about complex subjects.

- Level C2: the language skills of someone with this level are excellent. He/she can perfectly communicate in situations that require the use of a more complex vocabulary.

Before it was only possible to do an exam for the B1-, B2- and the C2-level. In 2009, an A1-exam was added. In May of 2010, an A2-exam was included to this list and in the end they also added an exam for the C1-level in November 2010.

In Tia Tula it became a tradition and a specialty for the students to prepare themselves to pass the DELE-exam, which is confirmed by their pass rates. If you are interested, you can take a look at our official website, which provides you with more information about the DELE Exam Preparation Courses that we offer. If you have questions about our courses or about the DELE exams in general, please do not hesitate to contact us via info@tiatula.com.