Praskovya Root, PhD student at Moscow State University:
– In the written part of DSH, the main difficulty is assessing your strengths and understanding how much time to allocate to each section of the text. There is no time for rewriting, so you need to formulate your thoughts clearly right away. Do not dwell too long on one task; better move on to the next and then come back to the unfinished one. This will be calmer, and your train of thought will refresh, making it easier to find the right solution.
As for preparing for the oral part, practicing in front of a mirror always helps me. I would take a topic from those the university offers as examples and try to say everything that comes to mind about it.
Olesya Arlt, bachelor's student at the University of Bonn:
– In DSH, the oral part turned out to be the easiest for me. I was given a text and time to prepare, so I managed to read it several times. There were first questions on the text, then a few personal ones.
I prepared specifically for the exam for a month. First of all, I prepared a story about myself. I also read texts on various topics and retold them aloud. Also, there are many practice exams on the websites of German universities that help understand and master the exam structure. I passed the exam successfully with the highest result DSH-3 in all parts.
Roman Fisun, PhD student at Moscow State University, master's student at the University of Regensburg:
– I prepared for DSH at the courses of the Russian-German Institute of Science and Culture at Moscow State University and took the exam there. For students of this institute, everything was free. As far as I know, there is no other opportunity to take DSH in Russia.
In the courses, we prepared oral summaries on current topics, each lesson we listened to several presentations. There was an opportunity to do a trial oral part with the teacher. But I think it’s also important to try at home to do a couple of written assignments on your own, watching the clock and developing your own rhythm.
Natalya Bliznyakova, master's student at the University of Bonn:
– I studied German at school for all 11 years. I needed TestDaF after a four-year break when I hadn't used the language. For several months I buried myself in practice tests and German books and films. Then, to assess my chances, I took a practice test at the Goethe-Institut.
I scored '5554' on TestDaF itself. You must bring a watch to the exam because there aren't any in the room. And when they announce that there are 10 minutes left, it doesn't help much.
Dmitry Alekseev, law student at the University of Bonn:
– To prepare for TestDaF, I took courses at the German Center named after Karl Duisberg. The teachers are usually very familiar with the exam format and train students specifically according to it, simultaneously expanding vocabulary and providing speaking practice. In the case of TestDaF, knowing the format is already 50 percent of a positive evaluation. Even without special knowledge of the language, but with practiced techniques for all types of tasks, you can pass the exam quite well.
The format of tasks in the oral part is far from the 'normal' communication in a foreign language that is taught in school. Analyzing diagrams in two or three minutes, and without a live interlocutor, is not a very natural situation. I would advise memorizing a certain set of phrases for analyzing graphs – they will definitely help maintain the structure of the answer. Everyone is given soundproof headphones to maximize the feeling that the test taker is alone in the room; but when everyone starts talking at the same time, it still throws you off a bit. For me, the most difficult thing was the feeling of absurdity from talking into a microphone rather than to a live interlocutor.
Yulia Kolosova, master's student at the University of Bonn:
– I started by finding textbooks for TestDaF preparation and did tasks from the 'Hören' and 'Lesen' sections. I think external help is not needed in these parts. But for the 'Schreiben' and 'Sprechen' parts, I took 12 lessons with a tutor so he could check and explain errors.
My experience taking language tests showed that the key to success (at least half) is vocabulary. If you understand all the words, you quickly solve almost all tasks. My advice is to read more texts from the 'Lesen' exercises and learn as many words from them as possible. Moreover, the set of topics for the exam is more or less limited: study, work, ecology, social issues.