Rilke
A study plan up to the exam: eight weeks are enough
With a fixed date, "learning German" turns into a task with an end. This plan spreads the work so that on exam day you know the format, you know your weak spots — and you are not exhausted.
Before you start: a date and an honest look
Register first. A date in the calendar changes how you study: "some day" becomes "56 days to go". Eight weeks are enough for most people to prepare in a focused way for an exam at their level — provided the level is roughly right. If you have only just finished A2, B1 needs more than eight weeks of exam training.
On day one, take stock: do one task from each part of the exam, without any help. Note where you struggle. That list is your plan for the coming weeks — not the coursebook from cover to cover.
Weeks 1–2: get to know the format
- Do every part of the exam once, calmly and without time pressure. Read the instructions closely: how many words? How often is the recording played? What is allowed?
- Start a list of your mistakes: which ones keep coming back? Word order in subordinate clauses, articles, the perfect with sein? These become your grammar topics.
- Start a vocabulary routine: 15 to 20 words a day, with the article and an example sentence, in short sessions. Ten minutes every day does more than an hour once a week.
Weeks 3–5: targeted training
Now you work on your weak spots, not on what you can already do.
- Writing: two or three texts a week, each to a real exam task — and with feedback. A text nobody corrects mainly trains your own mistakes.
- Speaking: five minutes out loud every day, even alone: introducing yourself, presenting a topic, making suggestions. The set phrases need to come out of your mouth, not just your head.
- Listening and reading: single parts against the clock, then work through them with the transcript or answer key: where exactly was the answer?
- Grammar: two topics a week, picked from your list of mistakes.
Weeks 6–7: under exam conditions
Do two or three complete mock exams — timed, without breaks between the parts, without a dictionary. More brings little: after each mock you need a day to analyse it. The analysis is the real gain: where did you run out of time? Which part costs you the most points?
Don't waste your mock exams
A mock exam shows you where you stand — but it hardly moves you forward if all you do afterwards is count the points. After each mock, plan two or three days working on exactly the parts it showed to be weak.
Week 8: exam week
- No new topics. Whatever you start now won't stick by the exam.
- Revise what earns points: set phrases for writing and speaking, the structure of your texts, your list of mistakes.
- Your last mock no later than three days before. After that, only short sessions.
- Sort out the practicalities: where is the exam, when do you need to be there, which ID do you need? It is all in the test centre's invitation.
- Sleep. A rested mind listens and reads faster than one that went over vocabulary until midnight.
How much per day?
Regularity beats quantity. An hour on five or six days a week is a good frame for eight weeks. A day might look like this:
| Time | What |
|---|---|
| 10 minutes | revise vocabulary |
| 15 minutes | one listening or reading part, timed |
| 20 minutes | writing or speaking — alternating |
| 10 minutes | one grammar topic from your list of mistakes |
On days with little time, the first ten minutes are enough. What matters is not breaking the chain.
What often goes wrong
Spending weeks on what is fun — usually vocabulary — and putting off the writing.
Doing a mock exam every day and wondering why the score doesn't rise.
Starting a new grammar chapter the evening before the exam.
And with Rilke?
In the Rilke app you enter your exam date; it becomes a countdown and a daily plan. In the last week the app switches to exam simulation — exactly the phase this plan describes. Grammar, vocabulary, reading and listening are free; for writing and speaking you get an assessment against the criteria of your exam.