Zertifikat Deutsch, awarded by the Goethe Institut

The Zertifikat Deutsch - anyone here taken this Certificate?

I just took it today and it was "average". i haven't a clue how I did but I have sat thru two hard months of Deutsch at the Goethe in Dachauerstr. and it was hard work but I had a good time on the whole. Learning this language is one of the hardest things I ever did. Those adjectival endings...

i've often asked myself if i should take some test to prove i can speak german, but my german bf says after 4 years of living and 3 of working in germany, that i don't need to prove anything with a certificate, but it's the german's i'm worried about. i mean the GSD or KSD test are about €120 each. no one asked me about german proficiency when i went to job interviews. but maybe i just got lucky.

KSD and GSD are the Kleines Deutches Sprachdiplom and the Grosses Deutsches Sprachdiplom - and they are very difficult to pass - if you pass the GDS you are on a par with almost any German native speaker. Maybe you should set your sights a bit lower!

I have a KDS... I needed it to be able to go to uni here. Since I could already speak pretty fluent German (I was an au-pair here for a while) and knew enough grammar from A-level , I decied not to bother wit the course, and bought myself the books... I read them about 3 times and that was enough for the exam. It's true that the exam alone cost me just over 100 pounds. But the KDS was definitely passable... GDS is a whole different matter though - it shows that you're good enough to teach German to other people!!

Hey! Guess! I passed part I! I am not as crap at German as I thought!!! Part II tomoroow. The Woman reckons I'll do okay!

i went through the old posts but couldnt find any substantial answers. has anyone actually done this exam from the goethe institute? if yes did u guys also do the 'vorbereitungs kurs' or such before? and where can i get the model question papers?

The tests from the Goethe Institute are the worst, in the case that they are most expensive. In fact you will never need a Sprachkdiplom unless you plan to study at a university.

In this case you can take the DSL which is free to take from the university, or the TestDAF which costs around €100 to take.

I took the TestDAF, and never had a german course in my life. Everything I learned was from the street or im Büro. THe test wasnt easy, but if you can speak, read, and write german decently you will pass it. I got 18 out of a possible 20 points on it, so I can study at any german university, with the exception of maybe 2 or 3.

As said there is really no reason why you would need the diploma, unless someone specifically requires it.

Sorry to stick 2 posts in a row, but I think the Goethe tests are a lot more involved. I mean more to do with grammer and kleinigkeiten rather than how do you speak or understand german.

As said, i did well on the TestDAF, which rates more on understanding, writing and communicating rather than if you use the proper form of the article.

My german is perfect in the sense that I can read, write, speak and understand everything no matter how difficult the subject matter. In over 30 interviews with German firms, almost every interviewer has told me that my german is near perfect (they thought I had german parents and so learned it at home). However, if you were to pick out grammer mistakes, it wouldnt be so perfect and so even though I can hold a conversation about politics, stress reduction in steel, or side effects of a medicine and how it effects the patients as good as a german, I probably wouldnt do that well on a test that tested grammer.

For this reason, I would choose the test that best fits your needs. Meaning the test that you would do best on. As said before, there are the Goethe Tests, but I was under the impression that you had to study there in order to take the tests (?), which is way too expensive. These tests also test grammer and are very picky, as someone before said.

I dont know about München, but in Bielefeld there is a school called BiBiS and they give language courses for a fraction of the cost of Goethe (a few hundred rather than a few thousand), and they also administer the TestDAF and can help you with applying to schools, and signing up for the DSL test.

For info on either of these 2 tests, do a search on Google on the internet and you can find out more about where and when they take place.

Helloooo,

I did the Zertifikat Deutsch after just 11 weeks of learning German. It's basic, and (to be honest) it's not really what prospective employers are looking for (if you intend using it in your resume!) Hmmm ... although a little German is better than none, granted!

Aim for the ZMP or the ZOP. All Goethe Institut exams are very expensive, but the upside is that they are worldwide recognised. I did the ZOP (Zentrale Oberstufenpruefung) a few months ago and it was a hard little bugger ... I passed with "gut", though! (How, don't ask me!)

I didn't learn through the Goethe Institut, though. To begin with I attended a private German school and later I learnt via the University. The Goethe Institut is OVERPRICED and the classes are often too big!

Now I'll get off my soapbox ...

I have to say that I studied for three months at the Goethe Institute here in Munich. I was impressed in the organisation and the throughness and the teaching. I believe that I can assess this accurately as I have also attended my local VHS for the following years, and look fondly at what the Goethe Institute had as its standards. I must admit that I did not pay for this course, my stipend avh.de paid it for me, however I do not believe that overpriced is an accurate description. Expensive yes, quality yes, overpriced no. Now the truth of the matter is that if you want to speak a foreign language, it will not be the school which determines your ability, it must come from within and how much effort or how naturally gifted you are. That said, I believe the Goethe Institute is an incredible organisation. One other bit of information. While I studied there, it was an intensive course, they had almost daily tours around Munich (of course all in Deutsch). Each tour that you signed up for allowed free entrance to the Gallery or Museum, this alone was almost an extra four hours of instruction per day free of charge in an educational setting. Highly recommended!

I had a quick butchers at doing the ZD, but the school told me I would be bored, even though I had some serious grammar problems (oops), because I could natter on in German with people without any problem. If you really feel the need for a ZD thingy, it is subsidised to only 1€ an hour in shitloads of schools.

Just in reply to the posting from maddigliana:

You said that you dont need it unless you intend to include it in your resume.

No German employer would ever ask you to prove that you can speak german though a certificate. You are expected to attach proof of all your degrees, proof of the places you worked at before, and any awards you recieved and tests you passed. You can attach language certificates, but only if they were for foreign languages (Cambridge English certificate, Russian language certificate, etc.)

The fact that you write the cover letter and Lebenslauf in German and have the interview in german is enough. If you applied to a company in the UK or other non-german speaking country, you could attach the german certificate. This is up to you though. I dont know if that was what the original question was though, just wanted to comment on it.

As I said before, German certificates are really only asked for in germany by the universities if you intend to study there. I have never heard of them having any worth in germany for anything else.

No, that's not what I said. I basically said the opposite. Try reading back over my post again.

But I didn't, I wrote them in English (and had the interview mostly in English), and I suspect many other people here are in the same boat.


No, you don't send certificates in the UK - and they hardly ever care whether or not you can speak another language (except for specific jobs).

You may be right about the certificates, but i just got a job in the UK, and the only reason I got it was because I spoke german, russian and dutch. The fact is, german or other languages werent required for the job, but in the end they told me they hired me and went through the hell of getting the work permit only because of these language skills. The Employment Office also wanted proof that I could speak these languages before they would issue me a work permit. I found that strange, but they refused to issue it to me until I could prove beyond a doubt that I was telling the truth...strange.

I would just like to make a correction to one of the posts here.

There are OTHER important reasons for a resident having to work for a German language certificate, not just for the purpose of teaching German (someone stated that it is not needed for a job application anyway, only copies of diiplomas need to be attached to job application and therefore, a language certificate is not that necessary generally)------ > application for German citizenship requires a language certificate. I know of many residents who for the future of their kids (job employment in lucrative European organizations requiring a European citizenship - United Nations, European Commission, etc. which pay salaries of nearly €100,000 for translators, policy analysts, etc. - check out websites) opt for dual citizenship. Hence, the need to have a German language certificate which speeds up the process.

You only need Deutsch als Fremdsprache for the German citizenship. KDS is the required level to be attained if you plan on studying here. I have the ZMP although I got it while I was still at home and my German is way better now so I would assume I could pass the KDS without any problems. Point is, I tend to agree with jip888. I don't think German employers really look at your language certificates wrt German skills since they can test your German skills in the interview. Obviously, they can't test your other languages unless they have mother tongue speakers working for them who can.

Having done the ZD three years ago, how much harder is the ZMP?

Not that much harder. Requires more as far as vocabulary is concerned. If you can "get by@ in German, you should pass. The jump I would say is bigger between ZMP and KDS. Suffice to say, I did the ZMP 2 years after the ZD without any additional courses, only a lot more reading.

That's my problem. I am bloody lazy when it comes to German and learning new words. My wife says its amazing that I can drag it out of my brain considering I never speak it much!

All I can say, is that I believe vocabulary is the cornerstone of any language. You can know all the grammar in the world, but without the words it's useless whereas if you know the words, people will still be able to understand you even if your vocabulary is up to shit. The way I learnt, was to read books like Asterix, look up the words I didn't know and write them down on a piece of paper with the meaning on the right-hand side. I then learnt the words when ever I had time for instance, in the S-Bahn to work and back, etc. Obviously, speaking German and not being afraid to make mistakes and to ask, helped a lot since when speaking you learn the words you use the most.

After reading the descriptions of both ZMP and ZOP, they look pretty much the same... Both correspond to the level C1 of EU framework - actually it's stated that ZMP corresponds to B2-C1, and ZOP to C1 advanced... Can any of you tell what exactly the difference between those two exams is?

Do they have some sections devoted to testing your grammar? E.g. sentence transformation, fill in the gaps, multiple choice questions for tricky stuff, etc

I've finished C1 Level at Klartext, and now I'm looking for a challenge in form of the test in order to make myself to spend some more time learning & practicing german grammar - especially things such as:
- pronouns, articles, adverbial endings, n-declination, reviewing the tenses, learning the normally used 'Nomen-Verb-Verbindungen', phrases, and practicing the writing (a little bit).

Please post your recommendations a.s.a.p

Is GI the only certified institution for those exams like ZMP/ZOP?
Is there any other institution e.. VHS offering those exams at some lower price?

„Test Deutsch als Fremdsprache“ (TestDaF) bei den Carl Duisberg Centren


Unter den vier besten Sprachschulen
08-08-06 Deutschkurse


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thanks Susan I'll check them

Where can I find example papers for Zertifikat Deutsch?
I have done well so far in the courses but only have 1 example paper for ZD itself and dont really know how to study for my exam next week?

Any advice will do and study material too :-)

Thanx

There are some books for it. If you register for the test, they should give you a sample test as well.

Some sample books. They normally have a few sample tests.

https://www.eurobooks.co.uk/languagebooks/s...R/m2/c37/6/FITF
https://www.eurobooks.co.uk/languagebooks/s...R/m2/c37/6/ZDSW

Does someone know how long it takes to get the results back from the Goethe Institute for the ZD exams?

You can find the TELC version of ZD here (and indeed all exam levels):

http://www.telc.net/Modelltest-PDF-Downloa...cache=1&L=0

And here's whereyou find the Goethe practice one:

http://www.goethe.de/lrn/prj/pba/zdt/mat/deindex.htm

Did my Zertifikat Deutsch als Fremdsprache at the Goethe-Institut in Manchester in 1978*. Can't remember much about it now, but there were excellent teaching staff and a fun atmosphere.

I have vague memories of making them laugh during the oral exam by using some colloquialisms I'd picked up while working in the country 1970-71* on the dining-cars of the German railways.

*Self-confessed Old Fart