DIPLOMA OF SPANISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (DELE)

The Diplomas in Spanish as a Foreign Language (DELE) are official accreditations of a person´s command of the Spanish language which are issued by Spain´s Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. The entity responsible for writing and scoring the DELE exams is the University of Salamanca, while the Instituto Cervantes is responsible for the exam sittings. In order to sit the DELE exams you must prove that you are a citizen of a country where Spanish is not an official language, or you may also sit it if you are a citizen of a Spanish-speaking country and meet at least two of the following conditions:

1. Spanish is not the native language of one of your parents.
2. Spanish is not the first language that you learnt.
3. Spanish is not the language that you normally use to communicate.
4. You have not gone to a Spanish-speaking school for all or part of your elementary and secondary education.

DELE LEVELS:

The DELE diploma at this level tests whether the candidate´s linguistic competence is enough to understand and react to the most common daily situations in an appropriate way and to communicate wishes and needs at a basic level.

• Reading Comprehension (40 minutes): The candidate will be asked to choose the right answer to a series of multiple choice questions about a text of an informative nature. The candidate will be expected to choose the information from the text according the questions posed.

• Writing skills (50 minutes): The candidate will be expected to write brief and simple texts of a practical nature, such as notes, signs, and so on.

• Listening Comprehension (30 minutes): The candidate will be given four exercises to complete which are based on simple dialogues and recorded informative texts. The candidate will be asked to provide the correct responses.

• Grammar and Vocabulary (40 minutes): The candidate will be asked to match a set of sentences with a set of corresponding situations. The candidate will have to locate within a series of sentences the words or expressions which are inappropriate to the context. The candidate will also be asked to fill in the gaps in a text by choosing the correct answer.

• Speaking skills: The candidate will be asked to hold a 10-15 minute conversation with a panel of examiners.

The DELE diploma at this level tests whether the candidate is linguistically competent enough to perform well in common situations in daily life and in normal circumstances where communication does not require specialised usage of the language.

• Reading Comprehension (60 minutes): The candidate will be asked to choose the right answer to a series of 12 multiple choice questions about 4 different texts. The length of the texts will be no more than 450 words.

• Writing skills (60 minutes): The candidates will be expected to write a personal letter and also a composition. Each one of these texts should be between 150 and 200 words in length.

• Listening Comprehension (30 minutes): The candidate will be given 12 multiple choice questions to answer about 4 different recorded oral texts. The recordings will consist of announcements, news items, conversations, and interviews.

• Grammar and Vocabulary (60 minutes): The candidate will be asked to complete two exercises: select the right answer out of three choices to fill in the 20 gaps in a text; select the right multiple choice option to complete the gap in each one of 40 brief dialogues.

• Speaking skills (10-15 minutes): The candidate will be asked to hold a conversation with a panel of examiners.

The DELE diploma at this level tests the candidate´s ability to perform well in all situations that require an advanced level of language usage and also a knowledge of culturally appropriate uses of the language.

• Reading Comprehension (60 minutes): The candidate will be asked to choose the right answer for a series of 9 multiple choice questions about 3 different texts. The length of the texts will be no longer than 800 words. The candidate will be expected to match a maximum of ten text fragments.

• Writing skills (60 minutes): The candidate will be expected to write a letter addressing a non-personal topic and also a composition. Each one of these texts should be between 150 and 200 words in length.

• Listening Comprehension (45 minutes): The candidate will be given 16 multiple choice questions to answer about 4 different recorded oral texts. The recordings will consist of conversations between two or more participants, or of commentary or news items broadcast on the mass media.

• Grammar and Vocabulary (60 minutes): The candidate will be asked to complete three exercises: select the right answer out of three choices to fill in the 20 gaps in a text; select the right multiple choice option to complete the gap in each one of 35 sentences; and detect 5 grammatical errors in one or more brief texts.

• Speaking skills (10-15 minutes): The candidate will be asked to hold a conversation with a panel of examiners.

EXAMINATION DATES 2010:

MAY 2010
May 21st: All countries except those listed below.
May 22nd: Albania, Argentina (except Mendoza), Austria (only Weiz), Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica (only Playa de Tamarindo), Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Egypt, Estonia, Former Yugoslav Rep. of Macedonia, Greece (except Patras), Guatemala (Quetzaltenango), Haiti, India, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Mexico, Palestinian Territories, Poland (except Poznan), Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Switzerland (except Chur), Thailand, Taiwan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States of America and Uruguay.
Registration dates: From 22nd February to 16th April, both inclusive.
Italy: From 1st February to 31st March, both inclusive.
Greece: From 1st February to 9th April, both inclusive.

AUGUST 2010
August 20th: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Germany (only Bremen, Flensburg, Frankfurt am Main and Munich), Guatemala (Quetzaltenango), India (only Kolkata), Italy (only Rome), Jamaica (only Montego Bay), Lebanon, Malaysia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Russia (only Moscow and St Petersburg), South Korea, Spain,  Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey (only Istanbul), United Kingdom (only London), United States of America (only Albuquerque) and Uruguay.

NOVEMBER 2010
November 19th: All countries except those listed below.
November 20th: Albania, Argentina, Austria (only Weiz), Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica (only Playa de Tamarindo), Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Former Yugoslav Rep. of Macedonia, Greece (except Patras), Guatemala (Quetzaltenango), Haiti, India, Italy (only Milano and Rome), Japan, Jordan, Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Mexico, Mozambique, Namibia, Palestinian Territories, Poland (except Poznan), Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Switzerland (except Chur), Thailand, Taiwan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States of America and Uruguay.

REGISTRATION:

For the Diplomas of Spanish as a Foreign Language examination, registration starts approximately two months before the examination and will be open for approximately one month.

For 2010, the deadline for registration will be as follows:

May 2010 examination:
From 22nd February to 16th April, both inclusive. Italy: From 1st February to 31st March, both inclusive. Greece: From 1st February to 9th April, both inclusive.

August 2010 examination:
From 12th July to 30th July, both inclusive.

November 2010 examination:
From 1st September to 15th October, both inclusive.

Necessary documents for the registration in any of the three Diplomas of Spanish as a Foreign Language:

• Registration form: This can be obtained in the registering centres and must be correctly completed. On the diploma certificate finally obtained by the candidate, the name and surname(s), will appear just as they appear on the registration form.
  
• Original and photocopy of an identity card: On which must appear, as a mininum, these details: name and surname(s), nationality, date and place of birth. Personal details appearing on the registration form must correspond exactly to the ones on the identity card.
  

Once registered, each candidate will receive a sealed copy of the registration form on which will appear the assigned code. The candidate will receive by mail the document with the place, date and time of the exam.

More information at Instituto Cervantes.