How the A2 speaking exam works
The A2 Spreken exam is on a computer at a DUO exam location. It takes 35 minutes and has 16 questions in 4 parts. You watch a short video or look at pictures, then you speak your answer into a microphone. You get about one minute per answer. Nobody talks back to you: trained assessors listen to the recording later.
They score each answer on six criteria, 12 points in total: adequaatheid (did you answer this question), vocabulary, grammar, fluency, coherence and pronunciation. Adequaatheid weighs the most. That is why a template only works if you fill it with the real answer to the question in front of you.
Part 1: answer the question in your first sentence
In questions 1 to 4, a person in a short video asks you something about your daily life. Your first sentence must answer that exact question. Use u when the speaker uses u; it is the safe choice in this exam.
Ik [werkwoord] meestal ___.
I usually [verb] ___.
Ik koop meestal brood bij de bakker in mijn buurt.
I usually buy bread at the bakery in my neighbourhood.
Meestal ga ik na ___ naar ___.
I usually go to ___ after ___.
Meestal ga ik na mijn werk naar de apotheek.
I usually go to the pharmacy after work.
Dat doe ik liever ___.
I prefer to do that ___.
Dat doe ik liever thuis.
I prefer to do that at home.
Keep this first sentence short. Then add a detail and a reason.
Frames for the Vertel ook follow-up
Most questions have a second job that starts with Vertel ook: tell why, when, how or what you do together. If you skip it, your answer is incomplete, and that costs adequaatheid points.
Dat doe ik omdat ___.
I do that because ___.
Dat doe ik omdat de bakker dicht bij mijn huis is.
I do that because the bakery is close to my home.
Meestal doe ik dat als ___.
I usually do that when ___.
Meestal doe ik dat als mijn kind op school is.
I usually do that when my child is at school.
Samen ___ we ___.
Together we ___.
Samen koken we en praten we over de dag.
Together we cook and talk about the day.
Eerst ___, daarna ___.
First ___, then ___.
Eerst scheid ik het afval, daarna breng ik het naar de container.
First I separate the waste, then I take it to the container.
Small linking words such as en, maar, want and omdat earn the coherence point without making your grammar harder.
Part 2: describe one picture
In questions 5 to 8 you see one picture and get a two-part question, such as Wat doet de man? Vertel ook wat u van zelfscannen vindt. First say what you see, then answer the second part.
Ik zie ___.
I see ___.
Ik zie een vrouw in de wachtkamer van de huisarts.
I see a woman in the doctor's waiting room.
Op de foto zit/staat ___ [waar].
In the picture, ___ is sitting/standing [where].
Op de foto staat Lisa in de keuken.
In the picture, Lisa is standing in the kitchen.
Misschien is ___ daar omdat ___.
Maybe ___ is there because ___.
Misschien is Nora daar omdat ze een afspraak heeft met de huisarts.
Maybe Nora is there because she has an appointment with the doctor.
Take the nouns from the picture. If it shows a waiting room, do not talk about a train station.
Part 3: choose one of two pictures and say why
In questions 9 to 12 you see two pictures, for example two jackets or two places to eat. The question asks what you prefer, such as Welke jas koopt u liever? Vertel ook wanneer u die draagt. Name one choice in your first sentence, then give the reason.
Ik kies voor ___, omdat ___.
I choose ___ because ___.
Ik kies voor de zwarte jas, omdat die warm is.
I choose the black jacket because it is warm.
Ik vind ___ prettiger, want ___.
I like ___ better, because ___.
Ik vind thuis eten prettiger, want het is goedkoper.
I like eating at home better, because it is cheaper.
Die draag ik als ___.
I wear it when ___.
Die draag ik als het koud is en het regent.
I wear it when it is cold and raining.
Do not start with Beide foto's zijn mooi. It sounds safe, but it delays the choice the assessor is waiting for.
Part 4: tell what happens in three pictures
In questions 13 to 16 you see three pictures of one person, and you hear Vertel wat [naam] doet. Vertel iets over alle plaatjes. Say one or two sentences about each picture. Many candidates say they run out of time here, so do not spend the whole minute on the first picture.
Eerst ___. Daarna ___. Tot slot ___.
First ___. Then ___. Finally ___.
Eerst doet Sam boodschappen. Daarna kookt hij. Tot slot eet hij met zijn vrienden.
First Sam does the shopping. Then he cooks. Finally he eats with his friends.
Op het eerste/tweede/laatste plaatje ___.
In the first/second/last picture ___.
Op het laatste plaatje zit Sam aan tafel.
In the last picture, Sam is sitting at the table.
Repair phrases for when a word will not come
Long silences hurt your fluency score more than a small mistake. If a word is gone, describe it in simple Dutch and keep going.
Ik weet het woord niet, maar het is iets voor ___.
I don't know the word, but it is something for ___.
Ik weet het woord niet, maar het is iets voor de keuken.
I don't know the word, but it is something for the kitchen.
Hoe heet het... het is iets dat ___.
What is it called... it is something that ___.
Ik bedoel ___.
I mean ___.
A repair phrase only buys you time. It does not answer the question. After it, go back to the task: your choice, your reason, or what you see.
Where a template stops
These inburgering Spreken standaardzinnen give you a start, a reason or a repair. They do not give you the answer. You still have to add the place, the person, the reason, the time and the details from the picture or your own life. An answer that could fit any question tells the assessor nothing.
Practise each frame with many different questions. Our A2 speaking practice uses the same four parts, and DUO's own practice exams are on inburgeren.nl. To make your answers longer, read how to expand your A2 speaking answers.