Module test 1 (modultest 3.1): the oral test explained

The first module test on Danskuddannelse 3 is oral only and takes six to eight minutes. You answer questions about your own life from a mind map you have prepared, and then you ask questions about a set of photos. Here is exactly what happens, and how to prepare so that the six minutes feel like a conversation and not a test.

Part 1: your mind map

Before the test, you fill in mind maps on the official templates. There are six topics: Mit arbejde (my work), Min praktik (my internship), Mit studie (my studies), Min sprogskole (my language school), Min bolig (my home) and Min fritidsaktivitet (my free-time activity). You bring two of them. Each mind map has six branches, for example for work: your job, your workplace, your boss, your colleagues, your hours and your breaks. On each branch you write keywords, not sentences.

In the test, the tester looks at your mind map and asks two questions per branch. They are simple and concrete:

• Hvad laver du?What do you do?
• Hvor arbejder du?Where do you work?
• Hvad hedder din chef?What is your boss called?
• Hvornår arbejder du?When do you work?
• Hvad laver du i pausen?What do you do in the break?

You answer in short, whole sentences: Jeg arbejder på et hospital. Min chef hedder Mette. Hun er sød. The keywords on your mind map are there to remind you, so write them in the form you will say them: på et hospital, not just hospital.

Part 2: the case

You get a case: a person, a short situation and six photos with keywords, for example a man called Jacob, his flat, his job, his family. Now you are the one who asks. You must ask at least seven questions about at least four of the photos, and the tester answers as the person in the case.

This is the part people underestimate, because asking questions in Danish has its own word order. The verb comes right after the question word:

• Hvor bor du?Where do you live?
• Hvor mange værelser har du?How many rooms do you have?
• Hvad laver du i weekenden?What do you do at the weekend?
• Har du børn?Do you have children?
• Kan du lide dit arbejde?Do you like your job?

A question that starts with an English word order, Hvor du bor?, or that is only a keyword with a question mark, does not count. Seven correct questions is the goal, so prepare more than seven.

How to prepare

1. Fill in two mind maps properly. Choose the two topics you can say the most about. If you have a job, take Mit arbejde; if you do not, Min bolig and Min fritidsaktivitet are the easiest. Write the keywords as you will say them, with the little words: i Aarhus, mandag til fredag, sammen med min kone.
2. Practise the twelve questions per mind map until the answers come without thinking. Two questions per branch, six branches. That is only twelve answers, and you know them all, because they are about you.
3. Learn the question words with their word order. Hvad, hvor, hvornår, hvem, hvor mange, hvorfor, and the yes/no questions that start with the verb: Har du …?, Bor du …?, Kan du lide …?
4. Do a case out loud with someone. Give a friend six photos and ask them seven questions. It feels silly, and it is exactly the test.

In the free course, module 1 has all of this: the six mind maps with guided fields that write the Danish for you as you choose (mandag–fredag, 8–16), the tester’s questions one at a time, and four cases where the page checks your question and gives you a hint if the word order is off, without showing you the answer.

What comes after

Module 2 adds reading and writing to the test, and the mind map comes back, but this time you present it yourself for a minute or two before the questions. Read the module 2 guide.