telc B2 Speaking Part 3 (DTB B2): finding a solution together

What does Part 3 of the DTB B2 oral exam require?

Part 3 is the last part of the oral exam. You speak with your partner, not with the examiners, and without preparation time. According to the official Übungstest (practice test), the two of you are to:

• discuss solutions for the given situation,
• discuss possible long-term improvements,
• bring in your own ideas and suggestions and respond to your partner’s suggestions,
• clarify what needs to be done and who takes on which task.

In the description of Part 3 (p. 26) and on the Aufgabenblatt (p. 29), the phrase „Einigen Sie sich“ ("reach an agreement") does not appear. What is required is a joint plan: what will be done, and who does what? The wording „Einigen Sie sich …“ comes from a different exam (telc Deutsch B1·B2 Beruf).

What does the Aufgabenblatt look like?

The Aufgabenblatt has three parts. At the top is the situation, for example a problem with a product that affects customers. Below it is the task: think together about how to react appropriately in this situation. Then come Stichpunkte with questions. In the official example (hair salon, p. 29) they are, in essence: What to do with the shampoo? How to contact the customers, what to offer them? How to contact the supplier, what to demand? Which shampoo, which supplier in the long run? The last Stichpunkt is open („…?“) – we read it as room for an idea of your own.

As examples of topics, the Übungstest names customer complaints, wrong deliveries and the induction of new colleagues. According to the Aufgabenblatt, the Stichpunkte are an aid. The official example is in Übungstest 1 DTB B2 on p. 29, the description of the procedure on pp. 26 and 45.

Our tip: first read only the situation and ask yourself: What is urgent today, and what is a problem for the coming months? The task names solutions for the situation and long-term improvements (p. 26); the levels "today" and "later" give the conversation an order. You do not have to work through the Stichpunkte in a fixed sequence.

How do you proceed in four minutes?

Four minutes are short. A simple sequence helps you not to forget anything. The times are our guide values, not an official procedure; in the exam the conversation decides.

What matters is taking turns. Make a suggestion and hand the floor straight back: „Was meinst du?“ ("What do you think?") or „Wie sehen Sie das?“ ("How do you see it?"). If you speak for two minutes in a row, you turn Part 3 into a second talk. The Übungstest expects a conversation that is as natural as possible; the seating is meant to make sure the candidates can see each other well and do not talk to the examiners (p. 45).

The Übungstest does not specify the form of address in Part 3 (in Part 2 the candidates may use „Sie“ with each other, p. 26). Our tip: in Part 3, stay with the form of address you chose in Part 2, and do not switch in the middle of the conversation.

Which phrases do you need for suggestions, objections and compromise?

Our tip: learn two or three expressions per function that you can pronounce confidently. For four minutes, that is usually enough.

Our tip: the function "voicing concerns" is often forgotten. A well-founded objection shows that you listen and weigh things up – and it moves the conversation forward if a counter-suggestion follows.

Model dialogue: a problem with the shift-plan app

Situation (invented by LexDeutsch, not from the exam): you work in a parcel distribution centre. Since a new app for the shift plan was introduced, colleagues have turned up for the wrong shift twice last week; on Wednesday, parcels were left lying because of it. Stichpunkte: today – what to do? Team – how to inform? App provider – what to demand? Long term – how to plan? …? The dialogue is shortened; in the exam, a four-minute conversation is much longer.

• A: Das war ein schlechter Mittwoch: Pakete blieben liegen, weil zwei Leute zur falschen Schicht kamen. Ich glaube, das liegt an der neuen App. Was meinst du, was machen wir zuerst? (That was a bad Wednesday: parcels were left lying because two people came to the wrong shift. I think it is because of the new app. What do you think, what do we do first?)
• B: Ich würde vorschlagen, dass wir für diese Woche den Plan zusätzlich ausdrucken und an die Tür im Pausenraum hängen. Dann hat jeder eine zweite Quelle. (I would suggest that for this week we also print out the plan and hang it on the door in the break room. Then everyone has a second source.)
• A: Das finde ich sinnvoll. Ich bin mir nur nicht sicher, ob das reicht. Nicht alle gehen in den Pausenraum, bevor die Schicht anfängt. (I think that makes sense. I am just not sure it is enough. Not everyone goes to the break room before the shift starts.)
• B: Stimmt. Wie wäre es, wenn wir am Vortag eine kurze Nachricht an alle schicken, die am nächsten Tag arbeiten? (True. How about sending a short message the day before to everyone who works the next day?)
• A: Gute Idee. Die Nachricht ist bei mir, ich habe sowieso die Telefonliste. Kannst du den Ausdruck übernehmen? (Good idea. The message is with me, I have the phone list anyway. Can you take care of the printout?)
• B: Ja, mache ich. Und was ist mit dem Anbieter der App? Wir sollten ihm genau schreiben, was passiert ist. (Yes, I will. And what about the app provider? We should write to them exactly what happened.)
• A: Da sehe ich das etwas anders. Eine E-Mail allein dauert zu lange. Ich würde lieber anrufen und den Fehler gleich erklären. (I see that a bit differently. An email alone takes too long. I would rather call and explain the error straight away.)
• B: Wir könnten es so machen: Du rufst an, und ich schicke danach eine E-Mail mit Screenshots. Dann haben wir es auch schriftlich. (We could do it like this: you call, and afterwards I send an email with screenshots. Then we have it in writing too.)
• A: Einverstanden. Und langfristig? Damit das nicht noch einmal passiert, sollten wir mit der Chefin über eine kurze Schulung zur App sprechen. (Agreed. And long term? So that this does not happen again, we should talk to the boss about a short training on the app.)
• B: Das halte ich für wichtig. Außerdem sollte es eine feste Person geben, die Änderungen im Plan bestätigt. (I think that is important. Also, there should be a fixed person who confirms changes to the plan.)
• A: Dann halten wir fest: Ich rufe heute den Anbieter an und schicke morgen die Nachricht an die Schicht. Du hängst den Plan aus und schreibst die E-Mail. Und am Montag sprechen wir zusammen mit der Chefin. (Then let us note: I call the provider today and send the message to the shift tomorrow. You put up the plan and write the email. And on Monday we talk to the boss together.)
• B: Genau so. (Exactly.)

What the dialogue shows: both make suggestions, both react to the other (agreement, concern, objection, compromise), it is clear at the end who takes on what, and the long-term level appears. The two have filled the open Stichpunkt („…?“) with an idea of their own: a fixed person for plan changes.

How is Part 3 marked?

Criterion I (Kommunikative Aufgabenbewältigung, communicative task completion) is marked separately for Part 3, with 10, 7.5, 4 or 0 points. What is assessed is whether you carry out the task in a way that suits the workplace situation and the B2 level, whether you address your partner appropriately and how fluently you speak. Criteria II (Aussprache und Intonation, pronunciation and intonation), III (Formale Richtigkeit, formal accuracy) and IV (Spektrum sprachlicher Mittel, range of language) refer to the whole oral exam.

With 10 points, Part 3 is the exam part with the highest value in criterion I. Speaking counts for 60 of the 240 points in total. The points are in the Übungstest on pp. 47–49, the descriptions of the criteria on pp. 42–43.

Where are points lost in Part 3? Self-check questions

Record a practice conversation with a partner and check it with these questions (our tip, not an official list):

If your partner hardly speaks, ask open questions („Was würdest du als Erstes machen?“ – "What would you do first?") and leave time to answer. If someone speaks a great deal, sum up briefly and bring in your point: „Du meinst also … Ich würde noch ergänzen, dass …“ ("So you mean … I would add that …"). If the conversation stalls completely, according to the Übungstest the Interlokutor (the examiner who leads the conversation) steps in carefully, for example with open questions.

How do you practise Part 3 on LexDeutsch?

In the section Speaking Part 3 you find 37 situations from different industries with Stichpunkte for the discussion, a model dialogue from LexDeutsch with translation and a timer for four minutes. All situations are accessible without signing up.

1. Read a situation and first think alone: what is urgent today, what is long term?
2. Read the model dialogue with split roles and mark the sentences from the phrase table above.
3. Play the same situation without the text, with a timer, with a partner. If you practise alone, first record the sentences of a conversation partner yourself and answer the recording.
4. After three or four situations, change the industry so that you do not only practise the vocabulary of one field.

How Part 1 works is explained in Speaking Part 1: procedure, topics, marking, the break-time conversation in Speaking Part 2. What it means if you narrowly miss the pass mark is explained in Failed the DTB B2.