Einbürgerungstest

Welp, it looks like I’m taking the naturalization test tomorrow. Hopefully, it won't be too difficult. It’s an hour long. 33 multiple choice questions.

I think I’m finally ready to do this. I was reluctant at first because the whole process is quite grueling. I have to get all the required B1 certificates. I’m confident that I will eventually acquire the one that’s missing. After I get all the required documents then I have to actually apply for naturalization. I think it’s going to take at least another year, maybe two, until completion.

This wasn’t the way I planned 2024. I didn’t realize that studying for the B1 and the Einbürgerungstest would take up so much of my time. The B1 consists of four separate tests: reading, listening, writing, and speaking. Reading, listening, and writing are each about an hour long. The speaking tests is about 30 minutes altogether. As a foreigner whose native language is English, I think these tests are difficult.

The B1 reading test contains a lot of deductive reasoning questions. It feels more like you're taking an IQ test, but in German. Also, the test is relatively long but you only have 60 minutes to finish. This means that you must read, translate and process the information very quickly. Even though I passed this test with a decent score, I can't say that it was easy.

Bear, who is a computer scientist and native German, took a mock reading B1 German test and found that it was not as easy as he had anticipated.

Writing in German is by definition more difficult than writing in English. The rules are so much more complicated. And other than a few random blog posts, when do I ever get the chance to practice writing in German? I honestly don't know how I passed this test.

The listening test was slightly easier for me because I've lived here so long. My ears are used to hearing German. But during the test I noticed quite a few trick questions. And we had to listen to a tour guide with a Bavarian accent. 😭 I can imagine that for some students it was quite difficult.

In my opinion, the B1 speaking test is humiliating. Why do they make us have spontaneous pretend conversations and force us to give impromptu presentations on random topics? They make us as nervous as possible and then tell us to speak in front of two people who are continuously taking notes. 💀 But you have to do what you have to do. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

I'll be a little nervous tomorrow, so wish me luck!