Speaking (Mündliche Prüfung): fluency, range and interaction
The oral exam usually combines a short prepared or semi-prepared talk, a picture or situation prompt, and a discussion with the examiner. You are marked on pronunciation and intonation, fluency, range of structures and vocabulary, accuracy, and - crucially - interaction: can you keep the exchange going, react, and repair yourself?
Structuring your turn
- Signpost in German: Zunächst möchte ich ... sagen; Ein weiterer Punkt ist ...; Was mich betrifft, ...; Zusammenfassend würde ich sagen ...
- Buy thinking time with meaningful fillers (also, na ja, ich meine, wie sagt man), not silence.
- If a word is missing, paraphrase: instead of der Kühlschrank, say das Gerät in der Küche, in dem das Essen kalt bleibt.
- Use a subordinate clause in almost every answer: weil, obwohl, dass, wenn.
Worked example
Examiner: "Was machen Sie normalerweise am Wochenende?" Answer: "Eigentlich bleibe ich am Samstag meistens zu Hause, weil ich unter der Woche viel arbeite. Aber letzten Samstag war ich mit Freunden wandern - das war anstrengend, aber schön." Reasoning: "eigentlich" softens the statement and sounds idiomatic; "weil" pushes the verb to the end (ich ... arbeite); "unter der Woche" is precise vocabulary; "war" is correct Präteritum for a finished past event; "aber ... aber" gives contrast and keeps the answer flowing beyond one clause.
Traps that cost marks
Reciting a memorised presentation that does not answer the actual question; replying "Ja" or "Nein" without expansion; mixing du and Sie in a role-play (use Sie with an official, du with a friend); pronouncing ch as k (ich, nicht, Bücher); ignoring the examiner's follow-up question; and never self-correcting, which signals you are not monitoring your own German.