The most important tip for the A2 Speaking exam is almost nowhere to be found online, and it costs candidates points every year: in part 1 you are often asked two questions at once, not one. Answer only the first and you give half an answer — and it counts as half an answer.
The Speaking exam at level A2 is taken on a computer and lasts 35 minutes. It is marked partly automatically and partly by certified assessors.
Source: inburgeren.nl — content of the language exams — consulted 28-07-2026 (Dutch)
The seven tips
1. Listen to the whole question — there are often two in it
Marieke Schipper · NT2 teacher
Part 1: listen very carefully to the question. Two questions are asked, not one. For example: “Ik doe mijn boodschappen bij Albert Heijn. Waar doe jij je boodschappen? En hoe vaak per week?”
In that example there are two things you have to say: where you do your shopping and how often. If you answer only “Bij de Lidl”, you miss half the question.
What to train: listen to the end before you start thinking about your answer. Count the question words in your head — waar, hoe vaak, waarom, wanneer. Every question word is one thing that has to be in your answer.
Half an answer
- Bij de Lidl.
Complete answer
- Ik doe mijn boodschappen bij de Lidl. Ik ga twee keer per week.
Two short sentences, both questions answered. Done. You do not need to say more than that.
2. Choose ‘want’, not ‘omdat’
When speaking you have no time to repair a sentence. Want leaves the word order alone; omdat sends the verb to the end of the clause, and under time pressure that goes wrong.
With want
No risk
Sentence
Ik ga met de fiets, want het is dichtbij.
What you must do
Nothing. The sentence stays normal.
With omdat
Harder under pressure
Sentence
Ik ga met de fiets, omdat het dichtbij is.
What you must do
Move the verb to the end.
The exception: to a direct waarom question you do answer with omdat. The full explanation is in Want or omdat.
3. Two short sentences are better than one long one
At A2 you are assessed on whether you speak clearly and correctly, not on whether you build complex sentences. A long sentence that collapses halfway scores less than two sentences that are right.
4. Do not forget ‘me’ and ‘zich’
Ik voel me goed. Ik bereid me voor. Ik kan me concentreren. Dropping that little word is one of the most audible mistakes, and in speech it stands out more than on paper. The twenty verbs you need at A2 are in Dutch reflexive verbs.
5. Keep talking until time is up
Silence scores nothing. Given your answer and still have time? Add one sentence: an example, a reason or a detail.
Ik doe boodschappen bij de Lidl. Ik ga twee keer per week. Het is dichtbij mijn huis. That third sentence costs you nothing and lets you show more Dutch.
6. Carry on after a mistake
You say something wrong and you hear it yourself. Correct it once and move on: “Ik ga... ik ben naar de dokter geweest.” That is normal speech and it is not penalised. Starting over completely costs time you do not have.
7. Practise out loud, not in your head
Speaking is the only part where you have to hear your own voice to improve. Thinking up answers in your head feels productive and trains almost nothing: you do not hear your own omissions, and you do not notice that you stall halfway through a sentence.
Record yourself on your phone and listen back. The first time is uncomfortable. After that you hear in one minute what a week of practice had not shown you.
Where to practise this
On our platform you get exam questions with images and audio in DUO’s format, you record your answer, and you get feedback based on a marking rubric written by a certified NT2 teacher. See the A2 Speaking practice exams.