There is one number that changes how you should prepare for the DELE A2 oral test, and almost nobody publishes it.
Task 3, the role play, is worth 50% of the points your grader gives. Tasks 1 and 2 are worth 25% each. Weighting matters on the written papers too, which is where DELE A2 writing samples come into play.
Most candidates spend their preparation rehearsing Task 1, because it’s the one you can script. Then they walk into task 3, which is unscripted, unpredictable, and worth as much as the other two combined. These sample papers fix that balance. All the specifications below come from the official A2 exam guide published by Instituto Cervantes.
What are the 3 tasks in DELE A2 expresión oral?
The DELE A2 speaking test runs for 12 minutes, with 12 minutes of preparation beforehand. Task 1 is a personal presentation of 2 to 3 minutes. Task 2 is a 2-to-3-minute photo description. Task 3 is a role-play with the examiner, based on the photo from Task 2, lasting 3 to 4 minutes.
The link between tasks 2 and 3 is the design feature that catches people out. You don’t get a fresh scenario for the role-play. You get thrown into the situation you just described.
So when you look at your photo in the preparation room, you’re not only planning a description. You’re planning who you might have to become.
For the format and scoring behind these papers, read the DELE A2 speaking guide first.
How is the DELE A2 expresión e interacción orales scored?
Two people mark you. The assessor, who watches and scores each task separately, contributes 60% of your mark. The interviewer, who talks to you and scores the whole test as one impression, contributes 40%. Within the assessor’s share, Task 1 and Task 2 are worth 25% each, and Task 3 is worth 50%.
Every score splits again into two criteria: language use, worth 66%, and task completion, worth 34%.
That second split is worth sitting with. A third of your mark is simply whether you did what the task asked. Describe the photo, cover the points, stay in the role-play, and respond to what the examiner says. You can have imperfect grammar and still bank the full 34%.
| Component | Share |
|---|---|
| Assessor, task 1 | 25% of assessor score |
| Assessor, task 2 | 25% of assessor score |
| Assessor, task 3 | 50% of assessor score |
| Assessor total | 60% of final mark |
| Interviewer, whole test | 40% of final mark |
Speaking is worth 25 of the diploma’s 100 points, and at A2 it’s grouped with listening. That pair needs 30 points out of 50, with reading and writing forming the other group. DELE Spanish levels explained one by one cover how the groups work across A1 to C2.
Sample paper 1: Tarea 1, presentación personal A2
The prompt
Tarea 1. Presentación personal
Hable de usted durante 2 o 3 minutos. Puede hablar de:
- su vida y su familia
- sus estudios o su trabajo
- su barrio o su ciudad
- sus gustos, sus aficiones y su tiempo libre
- sus planes para el futuro
A2 asks for more than A1 did. Two to three minutes rather than one to two, and the fifth bullet now wants future plans, which means you need voy a + an infinitive or quiero + an infinitive.
A model answer
Buenas tardes. Me llamo Rohan Mehta y tengo veintinueve años. Soy de Noida, en el norte de la India, y vivo aquí con mi mujer y mi hija pequeña.
Trabajo en una empresa de logística. Soy coordinador de exportaciones y llevo cuatro años en la misma empresa. Antes trabajaba en Bangalore, pero volví a Noida en 2022 porque mi familia vive aquí.
Mi barrio es tranquilo y tiene muchas tiendas cerca. No es el centro de la ciudad, pero hay un parque grande al lado de mi casa y me gusta mucho.
En mi tiempo libre juego al críquet con mis amigos los domingos. También me gusta cocinar, sobre todo los fines de semana, cuando tengo más tiempo.
Estudio español porque mi empresa trabaja con clientes en Colombia y en Chile. El año que viene voy a viajar a Bogotá por trabajo, y quiero hablar español sin traductor.
Around 165 words. Note the two past tense verbs, trabajaba and volví, and the two future constructions, voy a viajar and quiero hablar. At A2, the examiner is looking for exactly this: present tense as your base, with a little past and a little future to show range.
The one upgrade that lifts an A2 presentation
Add a reason to every fact. A1 answers state things. A2 answers explain them.
- A1 level: Vivo en Noida.
- A2 level: Vivo en Noida porque mi familia vive aquí.
Porque is the cheapest way to sound a level higher. Use it four or five times across your presentation, and the difference is audible.
Sample paper 2: Tarea 2, descripción de una imagen
The prompt
Tarea 2. Descripción de una fotografía
Describa la fotografía durante 2 o 3 minutos. Hable de:
- las personas: dónde están, cómo son, qué ropa llevan
- el lugar y los objetos que hay
- qué están haciendo las personas
- qué cree usted que van a hacer después
La fotografía muestra a una familia en un parque. Hay un mantel en el suelo con comida y bebida. Una mujer sirve zumo en un vaso, un hombre habla por teléfono y dos niños juegan con un balón. Hace sol y hay árboles detrás.
A model answer
En la fotografía hay una familia en un parque. Creo que son cuatro personas: una mujer, un hombre y dos niños. Están de picnic.
La mujer tiene unos treinta y cinco años. Lleva un vestido azul y el pelo largo. El hombre lleva una camisa blanca y pantalones cortos. Los niños llevan camisetas y son pequeños, quizá tienen seis o siete años.
En el suelo hay un mantel con comida y bebida. Veo fruta, pan y una botella grande. Detrás hay muchos árboles y hace sol, así que probablemente es verano o primavera.
La mujer está sirviendo zumo en un vaso. El hombre está hablando por teléfono y no mira a los niños. Los dos niños están jugando con un balón.
Después creo que van a comer todos juntos. El hombre va a terminar la llamada y los niños van a sentarse en el mantel. Quizá por la tarde van a dar un paseo por el parque.
The three grammar structures this task needs
The photo task tests specific language, and you can prepare all of it in advance.
Existence: Hay plus a noun. Hay un mantel. Hay muchos árboles. En la fotografía hay una familia.
Present continuous: Estar plus the gerund. Está sirviendo. Está hablando. Están jugando. This is what the third bullet point tests, and candidates who use only the simple present lose the mark for it.
Speculation and future: Creo que, quizá, probablemente, me parece que, plus ir a and an infinitive. Creo que van a comer. Probablemente es verano. The fourth bullet cannot be answered without these.
Learn those three, and the photo task becomes formulaic in the best way. Rehearsing them against real photos is standard practice in our DELE A2 course, because it converts a task that feels improvised into one you have already done fifty times.
Describe what you see, not what you know
Candidates lose points by narrating a story instead of describing an image. The examiner wants observable details: number of people, clothing, objects, location, weather, and actions.
If you can’t identify something, hedge rather than skip. No sé qué es exactamente, pero creo que es una botella de zumo. That sentence earns you more than silence, and hedging is itself A2 language.
Sample paper 3: Tarea 3, situación simulada oral
This is the half-weighted task. It uses the same photo.
The prompt
Tarea 3. Conversación con el entrevistador
Usted es una de las personas de la fotografía. Está en el parque con su familia. Ha perdido su mochila con las llaves de casa y el móvil. Hable con el empleado del parque.
En la conversación debe:
- explicar el problema
- describir la mochila y decir qué hay dentro
- decir dónde y cuándo la perdió
- preguntar qué puede hacer
A sample exchange
Entrevistador: Buenas tardes, ¿en qué puedo ayudarle?
Candidato: Buenas tardes. Tengo un problema. He perdido mi mochila esta tarde, aquí en el parque.
Entrevistador: ¿Cómo es la mochila?
Candidato: Es una mochila negra, no muy grande, con una cremallera roja. Dentro están las llaves de mi casa, mi móvil y una botella de agua.
Entrevistador: ¿Y dónde estaba usted?
Candidato: Estábamos de picnic cerca de los árboles, al lado del parque infantil. Creo que la dejé allí sobre las cinco, cuando los niños empezaron a jugar al fútbol.
Entrevistador: Voy a mirar en la oficina de objetos perdidos. ¿Puede darme su teléfono?
Candidato: No tengo mi móvil, está en la mochila. Pero puedo darle el número de mi mujer. ¿Puedo esperar aquí? ¿Cuánto tiempo va a tardar?
Why candidates lose points here and how to avoid it
Three failures account for most of the lost points in task 3.
Dropping out of the role. Candidates answer as themselves sitting in an exam room rather than as the person in the situation. Stay in it. If the examiner offers you a chair, take it in Spanish.
Waiting to be asked. The prompt gives you four things to do. If the examiner doesn’t ask about one of them, raise it yourself. Task completion accounts for 34% of the mark, and unmentioned points are considered incomplete.
Never asking anything. Task 3 is interacción, interaction. A candidate who only answers is not interacting. Every one of the four bullet points can be turned into a question, and the last one usually should be.
Have three all-purpose interaction moves ready:
- ¿Puede repetir, por favor? Buys you time and costs nothing.
- ¿Qué me recomienda? Hands the turn back while sounding capable.
- Perdone, ¿puedo preguntarle algo? Opens a question anywhere in the conversation.
In fifteen years of running oral mocks, the candidates who clear task 3 comfortably are rarely the ones with the best grammar. They’re the ones who keep talking and keep asking.
Sample paper 4: Tarea 2 alternativa, foto en el mercado
A second photo card, because the images rotate and the language does not.
The oral is half of Group 2. Practice the listening half from our DELE sample paper index.
The prompt
Tarea 2. Descripción de una fotografía
Describa la fotografía durante 2 o 3 minutos. Hable de:
- las personas: dónde están, cómo son, qué ropa llevan
- el lugar y los objetos que hay
- qué están haciendo las personas
- qué cree usted que van a hacer después
La fotografía muestra un mercado al aire libre. Un hombre mayor vende fruta detrás de un puesto. Una mujer joven señala unas naranjas y sostiene una bolsa de tela. Hay cajas de verduras en el suelo y un perro pequeño duerme al lado. Es por la mañana y hace sol.
A model answer
En la fotografía hay un mercado al aire libre. Veo a dos personas: un hombre mayor y una mujer joven.
El hombre tiene unos sesenta y cinco años y lleva una camisa de cuadros y un delantal azul. La mujer tiene unos treinta años, lleva un vestido verde y el pelo recogido.
Detrás del hombre hay un puesto con mucha fruta: naranjas, manzanas y plátanos. En el suelo hay cajas de verduras. También hay un perro pequeño que duerme al lado del puesto.
El hombre está esperando y la mujer está señalando unas naranjas. Creo que está preguntando el precio. Lleva una bolsa de tela, así que probablemente compra aquí a menudo.
Después creo que va a comprar un kilo de naranjas y va a pagar en efectivo. Luego seguirá comprando verduras en otro puesto.
The same three structures, a different picture
Hay for what exists. Está señalando; está esperando for the present continuous. Creo que va a comprar, probablemente for the guess.
That is the whole task. Two photo cards, identical grammar, and the only thing that changes is the vocabulary field. Prepare market, park, office, station, restaurant, classroom, and home, and you have covered almost every image the examiners use.
The A2 reading paper has 25 items to be completed in 60 minutes. The DELE A2 reading samples walk through every task.
How should you use the 12 minutes of preparation?
Spend roughly 4 minutes planning your presentation, 5 minutes on the photo, and 3 minutes on the role play. Note the role-play vocabulary you’ll need rather than full sentences, because the conversation will not go the way you scripted it.
A practical order of work:
- Read all three task cards before writing anything. Two minutes.
- Photo first, because it feeds task 3. List people, clothes, objects, actions, and one guess about what happens next.
- Role play second. Write only the nouns and verbs you’ll need. For a lost bag: mochila, cremallera, llaves, perdí, dejé, encontrar, objetos perdidos.
- Presentation last, since you’ve already rehearsed it at home. A quick check to make sure you’ve got five topics and two future verbs.
Notes come into the room with you, and you may look at them. Keep them as word lists, not paragraphs.
Before registering, read what A2 proves.
What changes between DELE A1 and DELE A2 speaking?
A2 adds a photo description task, extends each task by about a minute, gives you 12 minutes of preparation instead of 10, and expects past and future tenses rather than present tense alone. The role-play also replaces A1’s simpler question-and-answer exchange.
| A1 | A2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Total time | 10 minutes | 12 minutes |
| Preparation | 10 minutes | 12 minutes |
| Task 2 | Talk on a topic card | Describe a photograph |
| Task 3 | Conversation on your topic | Role play from the photo |
| Tenses expected | Present | Present, some past, some future |
Some candidates prefer a computer-based route. The SIELE alternative tests the same four skills.
The A2 listening paper has 25 items and lasts 40 minutes. The DELE A2 listening samples walk through every task.
A three-week plan for the A2 oral
Week 1, the photo. One photo a day, three minutes spoken aloud, recorded. Force yourself through all four bullet points every time. Use hay, the present continuous and creo que van a.
Week 2: the role play. Ten common situations: lost property, booking a table, returning a purchase, asking for directions, making a doctor’s appointment, complaining about a hotel room, buying a train ticket, arranging to meet a friend, asking about a course, reporting a delay. Two a day with a partner playing the official.
Week 3, full tests. 12 minutes of preparation, 12 minutes of performance, all three tasks, no stopping. Three or four of these are usually enough to make the format feel routine.
If you want the role-play practiced against someone who scores it like an assessor, our coached DELE prep runs timed orals with feedback split between language use and task completion.
Candidates outside Delhi NCR do the same mocks in online Spanish lessons.
If the DELE calendar doesn’t fit your deadline, read “SIELE vs DELE.”
Taking the A2 oral in India
DELE runs six times a year in India, in February, April, May, July, October, and November, at Instituto Cervantes New Delhi on Hanuman Road. The 2026 A2 fee is ₹6,200 before 18% GST, and registration usually closes 6 to 8 weeks in advance. Check the DELE exam calendar and fees in New Delhi before you plan travel.
Two practical points. The oral is often scheduled on a separate day from the written papers, so confirm your slot before booking anything. And results take one to three months, depending on the session, which matters if you need the certificate by a deadline.
Practice the task that carries half the points
The DELE A2 oral exam rewards a specific kind of preparation: formulaic language for the photo, situational vocabulary for the role-play, and the willingness to keep asking questions when the examiner hands you the turn. Task 3 is worth double, so give it double the practice.
Want your role-plays run by a trainer who scores them against the official criteria? Talk to us about the next DELE A2 batch in Noida or online. Call, message us on WhatsApp, or visit the Sector 18 center for a spoken-level check first. Batches are four to six students, and every one includes timed mock orals.