As I mentioned, next week is the exams for my B2 course at Mondriaan. Reading and writing on Tuesday and speaking and listening on Thursday. For that one you only need to pass three of the four sections to move on. In this case “moving on” is only useful if you want to take the NT2 Staatsexamen Training course that Mondriaan offers. Mondriaan does not offer anything beyond this (no C1+ courses), although other schools do.
But after the B2 course is done, I will need to study for the actual NT2 Staatsexamen Programma II. For that one you need to pass all four sections (though not at the same time – you can re-do individual sections if you don’t pass one).
Thus I have checked out a voorbeeldexamen (practice exam) from The Hague’s central library – this one is from 2012.
2012 Staatsexamen Programma II practice exam
Above is a copy of the practice exam. It contains four things – two CDs for listening (parts A/B and C) and one CD for speaking. It also contains a booklet with the four exams, the answers, and useful introductory information about each section (more than what is just given in the next picture).
Example of the page before the listening section. As you can see (if you read Dutch), the length of the test is above 70 minutes. You also read that you cannot use a dictionary (there is no time, really), you must use a pencil, and if you need to erase an answer and choose another you must make it clear which one you meant. Also, a somewhat interesting requirement: during the pause after you hear the question you must answer it and read the following question and the possible answers. On the plus side, each piece you listen to has exactly one corresponding question – never more than that.
Above is an example of a speaking question – this one is a bit longer. You receive 15 seconds to prepare (by looking at the pictures) and you have 30 seconds to speak. The good thing about the speaking exam is that you see most of the information in front of you. The only exception to this is sometimes you hear supplementary information. For example, if you need to give someone advice, you might hear them speak for a sentence about the problem and then hear them ask for advice, and the book says only luisteer naar uw vriend en reageer – listen to your friend and respond. Don’t worry though – they have already mentioned what the problem is above, in writing. They are not testing your listening skills here!
This question says that you work for a company and today you have to give instructions to the new cashiers about what they must not do, and that you have to use all of the images in your answer. So you could say something like: U mag geen korte broek dragen, u mag bij de kassa niet eten en u mag tijdens uw werk niet naar muziek luisteren. You cannot wear shorts, you cannot eat by the cash register, and you cannot listen to music while you werk.
Don’t make it too long – the test will tell you exactly how much time you have to speak at the beginning of each section. Once the time is up you will hear a soft beep. Anything you say after does not count towards your score. (Though I heard from a teacher that you are still recorded for a bit after that point, so try not to swear if you run out of time!)
Life in the Hague 