Talkfirst
Short answer. You can prepare for the DTZ B1 speaking exam on your own if you speak out loud every day. For Teil 1, prepare a talk about yourself from the six prompts; for Teil 2, a pattern for describing a photo and comparing with your home country. Practise Teil 3 by playing both roles, with an AI partner or with a classmate. Record yourself and check against the scoring sheet: every prompt covered, reactions to your partner, pauses.
The DTZ speaking exam is usually taken in pairs: two talks about yourselves, two photos and planning something together with the other candidate. Your course has classmates, but after class there is often nobody to practise with out loud. The good news: you can train for most of the points on your own. Format and points: DTZ B1 speaking: format and scoring.
The main rule: speak out loud, do not just read or repeat silently. You do not have to study grammar separately first; it comes as you speak a lot and see your mistakes.
What to practise in each part
| Part | Time in the exam | Points | What to practise alone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teil 1, about yourself | about 2 min each | 10 | a talk from the six prompts and answers to follow-up questions |
| Teil 2, photo and experience | about 3 min each | 20 | describing any photo and comparing with your home country |
| Teil 3, plan together | about 6 min for both | 20 | suggesting, disagreeing, summing up |
| Language across the talk | — | 50 | pronunciation, fluency, accuracy, vocabulary |
Teil 1: talking about yourself
The sheet has six prompts: Name, Geburtsort, Wohnort, Arbeit/Beruf, Familie, Sprachen. Prepare your talk in advance and say it until it flows without pauses. A sample to adapt with your own details:
Ich heiße Oksana Melnyk. Ich komme aus der Ukraine, ich bin in Poltawa geboren. Seit zwei Jahren wohne ich in Leipzig. In der Ukraine habe ich als Buchhalterin gearbeitet. Jetzt mache ich einen Integrationskurs, und später möchte ich wieder in einem Büro arbeiten. Ich bin verheiratet und habe einen Sohn. Er ist acht Jahre alt und geht in die zweite Klasse. Ich spreche Ukrainisch, Russisch und ein bisschen Englisch, und jetzt lerne ich Deutsch.
Then the examiner asks a follow-up question about what you said. Prepare full-sentence answers to a few like these:
- Seit wann lernen Sie Deutsch?
- Wo haben Sie Englisch gelernt?
- Was möchten Sie später beruflich machen?
- Was macht Ihr Sohn gern?
Do not learn the talk like a poem. If the examiner interrupts, you should be able to carry on calmly from any point.
Teil 2: describing a photo and your experience
You will not know the exam photo in advance, so practise the pattern on any photo: from the news, your phone or an advert. Set a timer for a minute and a half and talk.
A pattern for the description:
- Auf dem Foto sehe ich eine Frau, die im Supermarkt einkauft. Who it is and what they are doing.
- Im Vordergrund … / Im Hintergrund … What is in front and behind.
- Ich glaube, die Frau ist gestresst, weil die Schlange lang ist. Your guess, with a reason.
- Das ist eine typische Situation am Samstag. What kind of situation it is.
Next the examiner asks about your experience, and always about your home country. Useful phrases:
- Ich kaufe meistens im Supermarkt ein, weil es dort billiger ist.
- Ich habe damit gute Erfahrungen gemacht. / Einmal hatte ich ein Problem: …
- In der Ukraine ist das anders. Dort … / Bei uns in der Ukraine …
Pick everyday topics: shopping, work, health, housing, children and school, public offices, phones and the internet.
Teil 3: planning without a partner
This is the hardest part, because you need a second candidate who brings ideas and sometimes says no. Four ways, from the simplest:
- Both roles out loud. Write down a situation and five prompts, the last one open. Speak for yourself, then for a “partner” who objects, then for yourself again. Set a 6-minute timer. It feels odd, but it trains the key skill: reacting and offering something else.
- With a classmate. Agree on 10 minutes after class, or a voice call in a messenger. Take turns starting the conversation.
- With an AI chat. ChatGPT’s voice mode or another chat will play your partner for free if you set the task well. A sample prompt: “Play the second candidate in DTZ B1, Teil 3. Situation: … Prompts: … Speak German at B1, one or two sentences at a time. Suggest your own ideas, disagree twice, and do not sum up for me.” The downsides: the chat does not know the format or the scoring sheet, agrees too easily and cannot tell you whether you would pass.
- With the AI partner on Talkfirst. The DTZ format is already set up: the AI plays the second candidate, argues, does not lead for you, and after each attempt you get a forecast on the DTZ scoring sheet without pronunciation: 90 points, B1 from 75 %.
Phrases for suggesting, agreeing, disagreeing and summing up, plus two sample dialogues, are in Teil 3 gemeinsam etwas planen.
Record yourself and check against the sheet
Without a partner, nobody tells you where you got stuck. So record yourself on your phone and listen the next day. Check the same things the scoring sheet does:
- Task. Did you cover every prompt? In Teil 3, did you make suggestions, react and sum up?
- Fluency. Where are the long pauses? Which words were you searching for?
- Accuracy. Verb in second position, and at the end in clauses with weil and dass.
- Vocabulary. Do you keep saying “gut”, or do you have alternatives?
- Pronunciation. Are words with umlauts clear: schön, müde, Kühlschrank? The Talkfirst mock exam does not score pronunciation, and pronunciation practice only shows which words were recognised, so judge the sounds yourself or ask a native speaker.
Write down the words you were missing and say them out loud the next day.
A routine: 15–20 minutes a day
| Day | What to do |
|---|---|
| Monday | Teil 1: your talk and three follow-up questions |
| Tuesday | Teil 2: two photos, description and experience |
| Wednesday | Teil 3: one situation, 6 minutes |
| Thursday | Teil 2: two new photos, now with a home-country comparison |
| Friday | Teil 3: a new situation, recorded and self-checked |
| Saturday | The whole speaking part in one go, about 16 minutes, no preparation breaks |
| Sunday | Review the words you were missing during the week |
A few weeks before the exam, work through the free g.a.s.t. model tests (Übungssatz 1 and 2, with audio) to see the real task sheets and the examiner’s pace. Teil 3 walkthroughs on YouTube are useful as samples, but they do not replace your own speaking.
If you end up without a partner in the exam
With an odd number of candidates, someone takes the speaking part alone, and it is shorter. g.a.s.t. does not say who plays the partner in Teil 3 of the DTZ in that case. The Austrian DTÖ model test says that in a single exam you respond to the examiner’s contributions. So be ready to plan with the examiner too: the phrases are the same, just with “Sie”.
Questions and answers
Can I prepare for the DTZ speaking exam on my own?
Yes. Teil 1 and Teil 2 are talks you can practise alone out loud. Teil 3 you practise by playing both roles, with an AI or with a classmate. Record yourself and check against the criteria on the scoring sheet.
How much should I speak each day?
We suggest 15–20 minutes out loud every day and one full run of the speaking part each week. Regularity matters more than length.
Will ChatGPT help me prepare for Teil 3?
Yes, as a free partner, if you set the task well. But it does not know the DTZ format or the scoring sheet, agrees too easily and does not tell you whether you would pass B1.
What if I have no partner in the exam?
Then the exam is a single one and shorter. Who plays the partner in Teil 3 of the DTZ is not officially stated, so be ready to plan with the examiner using “Sie”.
Speak out loud and see whether you are on track for B1 by your date on Talkfirst: DTZ B1 speaking with an AI partner.
Sources: g.a.s.t., Der DTZ auf einen Blick; g.a.s.t., DTZ Übungssatz 1 and Übungssatz 2; ÖIF, B1 DTÖ Modelltest (p. 21). Tips and samples are our own. Checked on 23 October 2026.