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 :

-Initial level:

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.

-Intermediate level:

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.

-Superior level:

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.

EXAM SITTINGS IN 2008:

Bi-annual exam sittings, May 2008:

· Friday 23th of May: All countries except for those listed below.

· Saturday 24th of May: Albania, Argentina, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Estonia, Greece (except Patras), Haiti, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macedonia, Mexico, Palestinian Territories, Poland (except Poznan), Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Switzerland (except Coira), Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, United States of America and Uruguay.

· Registration dates: From 3rd March to 11th April, both inclusive. Spain: From 3rd March to 18th April.

Bi-annual exam sittings, November 2008:

· Friday 21th of November: All countries except for those listed below.

· Saturday 22th November: Albania, Argentina, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Estonia, Greece (except Patras), Haiti, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macedonia, Mexico, Palestinian Territories, Poland (except Poznan), Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Switzerland (except Coira), Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, United States of America and Uruguay.

· Registration for the November sittings is open from September 1st until, and including, October 10th. In Spain registration will be open until October 17th.

· Special exam sittings 2008:

· (All levels): 22th August. For further information about country exam availability please contact with Exam Centres placed in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Malaysia, Dominican Republic, Korea, Spain and Switzerland.

· Registration dates: From 14th July to 1st August, both inclusive. Spain: till 8 August.

REGISTRATION:

The exam fees as set for each country are listed on a table located on the Instituto Cervantes website. Cantidates should bear in mind that these fees do not include a surcharge that some of the exam centres may apply. In any case, these surcharges will not exceed 35% of the amount set for the exam fees in each country and for each Diploma to be sat.
Exam fees may be paid in cash, by cheque, by direct deposit or bank transfer, or by any other means the Exam Centre may make available. These fees cover the costs of issuing the corresponding Diploma and sending it by post. Once a candidate has registered, he or she will be given a copy of the registration form which has been stamped with an assigned code. The candidate will then be sent by post the official data about the exam sitting, including the place, date and time when the test will be conducted. A list of Exam Centers is also available on the Instituto Cervantes website. In order to complete your registration, the following items are required:

· Completed registration form, available from the Exam Centres or on the Internet.
· Identification card containing a photograph, and one photocopy of the same identification card.
· Receipt proving exam fees have been paid.
If required, a signed statement that the candidate meets at least two of the general conditions listed above.

More information in Instituto Cervantes, you can download an exam sample here.