I just got my DELE results and I passed the B1—I’m so happy! It took me about a year and a half to go from starting Spanish to passing the B1, almost entirely through self-study. I’ve seen a lot of people on the forum asking for preparation tips, so I decided to start this thread to share my humble experience. I hope it can help those of you on the same journey!
Choosing Your Study Materials
The number of textbooks on the market is overwhelming, and I definitely took a few wrong turns at first. For me, the core materials were a comprehensive textbook series (popular among Asian learners for its systematic approach) and its accompanying workbooks. The way it lays out the grammar system is incredibly clear, which is perfect for students accustomed to structured learning. Besides my main DELE B1 textbook, I also highly recommend the specific exam prep book Preparación al DELE. This book fully simulates the real exam, covering listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Make sure to go through it multiple times to get familiar with the question formats and the exam’s rhythm.
Tips for Each Section
For the four sections—listening, speaking, reading, and writing—I don’t think you can afford to neglect any of them. The challenge of the B1 level lies in your overall competence; you can’t have any major weak spots.
- Reading: There’s no shortcut here—just read a lot. Besides working through past papers, I made it a daily habit to read news from Spanish websites like El País or 20minutos. It’s definitely tough at first with so many unknown words, but if you stick with it, your intuition for the language and your reading speed will improve dramatically.
- Listening: This was my biggest headache! I later found a great method: combining “intensive listening” with “extensive listening.” For intensive listening, I used the audio from my DELE prep books, replaying tracks until I understood every single word. For extensive listening, I kept it casual by listening to Spanish podcasts or watching Spanish series on Netflix with Spanish subtitles, like La casa de papel. The main goal was just to immerse myself in the language environment.
- Writing: You absolutely have to practice writing yourself! Find common B1 topics—like writing an email, describing an experience, or introducing your hometown—and write about them under timed conditions. Then, try to find a language exchange partner or a teacher who can help you correct them. Using standard sentence structures and connectors is crucial.
- Speaking: You have to speak out loud! Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. I found a language partner on an app called Tandem, and we would chat once or twice a week. I’d prepare a bit beforehand by using the prompts from Tarea 1 and Tarea 2 of the DELE speaking exam to practice with my partner. The results were amazing!
My Exam Prep Timeline
Everyone’s starting point is different, so this timeline for self-studying for the DELE B1 is just a reference. I focused my main efforts in the three months leading up to the exam, with the following schedule:
| Phase | Main Task | Time Allocation |
|---|
| 3 months before exam | Review grammar, memorize core vocabulary | 1-1.5 hours/day |
| 2 months before exam | Start working through Preparación al DELE | 2-3 practice tests/week |
| 1 month before exam | Final push with mock exams, focus on speaking and writing | 2+ hours/day |
Finally, I want to say that learning a language is truly a painful yet joyful very rewarding process. Passing the B1 is just the beginning. The feeling of being able to communicate with people and discover a new world through self-studying Spanish is an irreplaceable sense of achievement. Good luck everyone, ¡Ánimo! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment below, and I’ll do my best to answer!
