DELE....Huh?

For the past 18+ months I have been mentioning the need to pass the DELE.  Some of you are still saying "DELE...huh?"  So thought that since, I am now only 2 days away from the exam, I might tell you a little about what is ahead of us.

DELE stands for Diploma de Español como Lengua Extranjero (in other words - Diploma of Spanish as a Foreign Language).  There are 3 major levels - Beginner (A), Intermediate (B), and Advanced (C).  Each of those levels has 2 subcategories - 1 and 2.  We are taking the exam for B2 - Intermediate 2 - advanced intermediate.

What does it evaluate?  Everything, including writing, reading, listening, speaking, and grammar.

When it comes to scoring we will get 3 scores.  Each score must be at least 70%.  No averaging - 70% in each category or no pass.

Category 1:  Reading (4 passages with 3 comprehension questions for each) and Writing (choose 2 prompts from a group of 4 - one will be a letter and one will be telling a story).  We will have 2 hours for this part.

Category 2:  Grammar/Vocabulary - First part is a passage with 20 blanks - requiring knowledge of grammar, colloquialisms, and vocabulary. Second part is 40 questions specifically related to higher grammar concepts.  1 hour.

Category 3:  Listening comprehension (4 short audio passages - radio interviews, lectures on a factual topic, conversation between two people, announcement) that you hear twice followed by four questions for each one) and Oral Expression.  There are three parts to the Oral Expression - describe 4 vignettes and then create a dialogue from the point of view of one the people in the pictures.  Afterwards will be given a topic and asked to elaborate on my opinion of the topic.  1 hour for both parts.