In this article I'll walk you through the 10 most typical mistakes I see in the DELE A2, what causes them and, above all, what to do so they don't catch you out on exam day. It isn't an impossible exam, but it pays to take it seriously. I'm telling you all this from an examiner's point of view.

Why DELE A2 candidates fail even though they "already have a base"

There's a very common mental trap here. Lots of people think: "I already speak a little, I get by day to day, I can pass the A2 with what I know". And they turn up on exam day without having looked at a single task from the official model paper, without having written a timed email and without being clear on when to use the indefinido and when to use the perfecto.

The DELE A2 doesn't assess your everyday street Spanish. It assesses whether you can do some specific tasks, with specific tenses, in a specific format. That's the difference.

You can have a B1 oral level in real life and fail a written A2 because you didn't understand what the task was asking for or because the verb tense let you down in every sentence. I see it in every exam session when I mark A2.

That's why the mistakes coming up aren't "not knowing Spanish" mistakes. They're mistakes of exam management, of the specific grammar of the level, of vocabulary that hasn't been worked on and of not knowing the format. Let's take them one by one.

Mistake 1: Not reading the task instructions properly

This is mistake number one. No contest.

The DELE A2 has longer tasks than the A1 and that's exactly what throws people. The instructions can ask you to cover three or four points ("habla de tu último viaje, dónde fuiste, con quién, qué hiciste y qué te gustó más"). If you skip a point, you lose marks. If you write 40 words when they ask for 60-70, same thing.

Wrong: you read the first line, see "último viaje" and start writing without looking at the rest.

Right: you underline the four points you have to cover, check the number of words they ask for, check who you're writing to (a friend, a hotel, a tourist office) and then you start.

Quick tip: in the written exam, spend the first 3 minutes reading and underlining the two tasks. It sounds like nothing, but it saves you rewriting half the text and, above all, it stops you leaving out a whole point.

Mistake 2: Confusing the present, the pretérito perfecto and the pretérito indefinido

This is the star mistake of the DELE A2. Without a doubt.

At A1 the present was enough. At A2 it isn't any more. Here you're asked to speak and write about the past, and that means choosing correctly between "hoy he comido", "ayer comí" and "comía cuando…". If everything comes out in the present, it sounds like A1 level. If you mix the past tenses at random, you get penalised.

Wrong: "Ayer he ido al cine con mi hermana y vemos una película muy bonita."

Right: "Ayer fui al cine con mi hermana y vimos una película muy bonita."

Wrong: "Esta mañana fui al médico porque me dolió la cabeza."

Right: "Esta mañana he ido al médico porque me dolía la cabeza."

Watch out for this: markers like "ayer, el año pasado, en 2019, el otro día" call for the indefinido. Markers like "hoy, esta semana, este mes, este año, alguna vez, nunca, ya, todavía no" call for the pretérito perfecto (in Spain; in much of Latin America the indefinido is more common, but the exam accepts both norms). For description in the past, the imperfecto. It's worth having all this revised task by task.

Mistake 3: Confusing "hay", "está" and "es"

This was already creeping in at A1, but at A2 it becomes a real problem, because the descriptions are longer and the mistakes pile up.

"Hay" is for introducing something new or saying that it exists. "Está" is for locating something already known and for temporary states. "Es" is for identifying and for permanent characteristics.

Wrong: "En mi barrio está un parque muy bonito. El parque es al lado del supermercado y hay muy tranquilo."

Right: "En mi barrio hay un parque muy bonito. El parque está al lado del supermercado y es muy tranquilo."

Quick tip: if you're introducing something for the first time with un, una, dos, mucho, poco, varios, it almost always calls for "hay". If you already know the subject and you're saying where it is, "está". If you're describing what it's like in a stable way, "es".

Mistake 4: Getting the greetings and the register wrong in the letter or email

At A2 the addressees get more varied. It's no longer just "tu amiga María". The task can ask you for an email to a hotel to book a room, a note to a flatmate, a message to a tourist office, an email to the school you're enrolling at. And each one calls for its own register.

Wrong: "Hola, hotel. Quiero una habitación para dos personas. ¿Tienes wifi? Un beso."

Right: "Estimados señores: les escribo para reservar una habitación doble del 5 al 8 de julio. ¿Podrían confirmarme si la habitación dispone de wifi? Muchas gracias. Un cordial saludo, Ana."

Watch out for this: if the task says "escribe a la oficina de turismo de Granada", go with usted/ustedes. If it says "escribe a tu amigo Luis", go with tú. And keep the same form from the greeting to the sign-off. It's very typical to open with "Estimados señores" and close with "un beso, hasta luego". Don't mix them.

Mistake 5: Not enough vocabulary for the 15 A2 topics

The A2 expects you to have enough vocabulary for the big topics of the level: family, home, food, travel, work, studies, free time, health, the city, transport, shopping, clothes, the weather, festivals and daily routine. If you're missing the vocabulary for a whole block, it really shows.

Wrong: "Mi casa tiene cosas. Hay una cosa para cocinar y otra cosa para dormir."

Right: "Mi piso tiene tres habitaciones, una cocina pequeña y un salón con sofá. La habitación principal da a la calle."

It's worth making your own lists by blocks. You don't have to know them all by heart, but you do need to be able to talk for two minutes about each one without going blank. Learn the key verbs for each topic: viajar, alojarse, reservar, facturar, comer, pedir, probar, cocinar, alquilar, mudarse, contratar, despedir. These verbs open up a lot of options in both the oral and the written exam.

Mistake 6: Not using the basic connectors of the level

At A1 you could get by with "y, pero, porque". At A2 they ask for a bit more. Not much more, but more. Connectors like "también, además, después, luego, por eso, entonces, primero, finalmente" are expected in any text at this level.

Wrong: "Fui al parque. Comí un bocadillo. Volví a casa. Vi una película."

Right: "Primero fui al parque y comí un bocadillo. Después volví a casa y, además, vi una película muy divertida."

There's no need to bring in "sin embargo" or "no obstante". Those are B1 and above. But the A2 basics, yes. They make the difference between a text that sounds like loose sentences and a text that sounds like a text.

Mistake 7: Gender and number agreement

At A1 this mistake gets forgiven a little. At A2 not so much. When every noun in the text has the wrong gender, there's a serious problem that drags the mark down.

Wrong: "Mi casa es bonito y muy grande. La problema es que está lejos. Tengo dos hermano y una perro pequeño."

Right: "Mi casa es bonita y muy grande. El problema es que está lejos. Tengo dos hermanos y un perro pequeño."

It's worth learning the gender together with the word right from the start. Not "mano" but "la mano". Not "problema" but "el problema". Not "mapa" but "el mapa". And careful with plurals: if the subject is plural, the adjective goes in the plural ("mis padres son simpáticos", not "mi padres es simpático").

Mistake 8: Not reaching the word count in the written exam

At A2, the Expresión e Interacción Escritas (written expression and interaction) exam has two tasks. The first, a short message, postcard, note or email, usually asks for around 60-70 words. The second, a descriptive text about yourself or something familiar, usually asks for around 70-80 words. If you fall short, you lose. If you go way over, you lose too, because you tend to make more mistakes.

Wrong: handing in a 35-word postcard when they ask for 60-70.

Right: noting down the range in your draft and counting the words before writing up the final version.

Quick tip: practise at home against the clock and count your words every time. Within two weeks you'll be able to judge the range by eye and you'll stop falling short.

Mistake 9: Memorising whole speeches for the oral exam

I see this every exam session. The candidate learns a three-minute monologue about "mi familia y mi trabajo" off by heart and delivers it non-stop, without breathing, without looking at the examiner. At A2 the speeches are longer than at A1, so the problem shows even more.

The problem isn't preparing. The problem is sounding like a robot.

When an examiner detects a memorised speech, they usually cut in with a follow-up question ("¿y a qué se dedica tu hermano?", "¿qué hiciste el verano pasado en ese viaje?") to see whether you understand. And that's where the whole castle comes tumbling down: if you depend on the script, you can't step outside it.

It's better to prepare ideas and blocks of vocabulary, not whole sentences. Know what you want to say, but be able to say it in several different ways. It isn't magic, it's practice.

Mistake 10: Not having done a single official model exam

And this is the most painful one, because it's completely avoidable.

There are candidates who arrive at the DELE A2 without having seen what a single task looks like. And then they come up against four reading comprehension tasks in 60 minutes, two writing tasks in 45 minutes and an oral exam with three different tasks. If you haven't seen it before, the format alone is frightening.

The Instituto Cervantes publishes free model papers on its website. There's no excuse. Before you sit the exam, you should have done at least one complete model from start to finish, timed, in silence, as if it were the real day.

If you haven't done it, on exam day the whole environment will feel alien. If you have, you already know what you're walking into. That difference really shows.

Typical DELE A2 slips that come up exam session after exam session

Besides the ten above, there are three details that always come up when I mark A2:

  • Using "muy" and "mucho" the wrong way round. "Mi casa es mucho bonita" (it should be "muy"). "Tengo muy hambre" when you mean "mucha hambre". Remember: "muy" before adjectives and adverbs, "mucho/a/os/as" with nouns.
  • The prepositions "por" and "para". At A2 they already appear in any text about causes and purposes, and they tend to get mixed up. "Estudio español para mi trabajo" (purpose). "Estudio español por mi trabajo" (cause). Both are valid, but they mean different things.
  • Possessives without agreement. "Mis amigo", "su libros", "nuestro casa". At A2 they already expect this to be polished.

Nerves and the DELE A2: how to manage them without having a bad time

A2 nerves are different from A1 nerves. Here you have more things to keep under control (past tenses, a wider vocabulary, longer texts) and that weighs on you. The typical feeling is "I'm going to forget everything".

First: breathe. It sounds like a cliché, but before the oral exam, two deep breaths inside and outside the room bring your pulse down by ten beats.

Second: accept that you're going to pause. That's fine. A pause to think doesn't lose you marks. Sounding rushed does.

Third: talk to the examiner the way you'd talk to anyone you get on with. The examiner is not your enemy. She's there so that you pass if you do it well, not to catch you out.

Is the DELE A2 really an intermediate level?

Yes and no. The A2 is the second level of the CEFR, so technically you're still in the basic user band, not intermediate. Intermediate starts at B1. But "basic" doesn't mean "easy". The A2 already asks you to talk about the past, describe people and places, talk about plans and leave messages with a bit of detail.

If you've been studying Spanish steadily for a year or a year and a half, you've got familiar with the format and you've done at least one model paper, it should go well. If you're coming from A1 without having worked on the past tenses, it can be a real struggle.

The A2 is within reach if you work at it. It isn't magic, but it isn't a wall either. It's an exam designed for someone who can manage in everyday situations, and if you can manage in them and you know the format, you go in with an advantage.

What the DELE A2 assesses: the four exams

It's worth being clear on this before you sit it. The A2 has four exams arranged in two groups:

  • Group 1 (written skills): Comprensión de lectura (reading comprehension: 4 tasks, 25 questions, 60 minutes) and Expresión e Interacción Escritas (2 tasks in 45 minutes, one a short message, postcard or note, and the other a descriptive text).
  • Group 2 (oral skills): Comprensión auditiva (listening comprehension: 4 tasks, 25 questions, 40 minutes) and Expresión e Interacción Orales (3 tasks in 12 minutes, with 12 minutes of preparation beforehand).

To get a pass you need 30 out of 50 in each group. In other words, it's not enough to score very high in one and very low in the other: both have to make the cut.

Frequently asked questions

How many times can I sit the DELE A2 if I fail?

You can sit it as many times as you like. There's no limit. That said, it's worth waiting a little between exam sessions to work on what went wrong, not just signing up again to see if you get lucky.

Do I need a B1 level to pass the A2?

Not exactly, but going in with a cushion helps. If you're only just at A2, any nerves or slip can leave you short. If you're between A2 and B1, you have more margin, especially in the listening, which is where most people fall down at A2.

How much does the DELE A2 cost?

It depends on the country and the exam centre. It's usually between 110 and 140 euros approximately, but it's worth checking the website of the Instituto Cervantes or of the centre where you want to take the exam for the up-to-date price.

How long do I need to prepare for the DELE A2?

It depends a lot on your starting point. If you're coming from A1 and you've been studying Spanish steadily, three or four months of format-specific preparation is usually enough. If you're starting from zero, allow between nine and twelve months.

Can I take the DELE A2 online?

The in-person exam is still the main official format. There's an electronic DELE option at some centres, but it's worth checking with your exam centre before enrolling.

Does the DELE A2 expire?

No. Once you've passed, the DELE diploma doesn't expire. It's for life. That said, if you need it for citizenship or a specific administrative process, check the requirements of the body asking for it, because sometimes they demand a higher level.

The essentials

  • The DELE A2 isn't hard, but it demands format and it demands past tenses.
  • Read the instructions and underline all the points before you start.
  • Revise the indefinido, the perfecto and the imperfecto. It's the block that gains you the most marks and loses you the most.
  • Keep tú or usted from the greeting to the sign-off.
  • Count your words: 60-70 in the first written task, 70-80 in the second.
  • Do at least one complete model paper before the exam, timed.
  • Work on vocabulary by blocks: travel, home, food, work, health.

If you want to work on the exam with a method and stop going in blind, here's my DELE A2 course, task by task, with strategies for each exam and annotated examples: https://a2.aporeldele.com/

If you prefer to practise with material on paper, I also have the book with 4 complete model exams on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Tvylte

If you still don't know whether your level is closer to A2 or B1, I recommend taking the free level test first to get your bearings: https://nivel.aporeldele.com/

And if you'd like to receive free resources, exam session reminders and useful updates, you can sign up to the newsletter: http://recursos.aporeldele.com/boletin