ÖIF exam in Austria: why take it and how to prepare?
ÖIF integration exam, how long does it take to prepare? ÖIF or ÖSD certificates: what levels of German knowledge in Austria are required for work and study? Read about this in the 4th essay by an emigrant with experience.
The Russian version is here.
ÖIF integration exam and its features
The Austrian Integration Foundation (Österreichischer Integrationsfonds (ÖIF)) conducts German language courses, at the end of which an exam is taken at levels A1-B2. However, A1 is considered an introductory level, so it is not necessary to take this exam even after completing the courses.
And only from level A2 does the opportunity to work or study appear. Therefore, many employers and educational institutions require certificates confirming knowledge of German.
The peculiarity of the ÖIF exam is that in addition to the main 4 parts, it includes the 5th, integration part with questions on the topics:
— history of Austrian democracy;
— public administration system;
— social structure of the country;
— rights and obligations of citizens, etc.
This is a separate stage, where there is a test of 18 questions, which takes 40 minutes.
ÖIF or ÖSD certificate: what is the difference?
In addition to courses and the ÖIF exam, many people in Austria take the ÖSD exam. The main difference between them is that ÖSD only includes 4 parts (listening, reading, writing, speaking). The ÖIF and ÖSD exams differ:
— assignments for some parts;
— the number of mandatory parts (ÖIF — 5 parts, and ÖSD — 4);
— the complexity of the requirements for knowledge of German at the same level;
For example, at level B1, passing the ÖIF exam and obtaining a certificate is easier than passing the ÖSD exam.
Therefore, the ÖIF certificate is more important for applying for work, visa, residence permit, etc. And for admission to educational institutions (colleges and universities) — the ÖSD certificate is preferable. It follows that before you start preparing for the exam, you need to decide on your goals.
Choosing a goal and ways to achieve it
For me, any language is an ocean that you can enter and swim toward the horizon, the line of which is constantly moving ahead. And one day, you will run out of strength, give up, and, giving up, “go to the bottom,” losing all your accumulated knowledge in inaction. Or you can first go to shallow depths and swim to a large stone, and then from it to a lighthouse on an island visible in the distance. And stop there and look around to find the next landmark.
Understanding this, I choose for myself clear criteria by which to determine the results of the work done.
From the very beginning, it is important to accept the fact that learning a foreign language and preparing for an exam are 2 different paths. This will help you immediately understand what exactly, how, and why you need to do.
In previous essays, a lot has been said about how to learn German on your own. However, when I started searching for information on preparing for Austrian exams after 2021, I was disappointed. And since I found almost nothing, and the tasks are updated periodically, I had to develop my own preparation plan. Videos of those who took integration exams in Germany helped me with this. And later — the experience of friends who passed similar exams in Austria before me.
My goal was to pass the ÖIF exam at level B1, from the starting point “level 0” in 1–1.5 years. Because foreign languages are not easy for me, then it seemed tantamount to flying into space… But in September 2023 I’ve done it!
The path traveled led to the creation of a series of essays describing how an immigrant can learn the German language in Austria. And how, in the most convenient way for him/her, to obtain the certificates necessary to live in this country.
How to prepare for the German exam on your own?
Below I will outline the main steps I followed and the rationale behind them.
- Determine goals, deadlines, and criteria for their achievement. Based on this, choose as early as possible which exam and what level you will take.
- On the main website of the ÖIF or ÖSD exam, find training materials (tasks, examples, and recommendations). Carefully study their requirements, the essence of the tasks, and the conditions for evaluating the results. On their website, the ÖIF practice test can be taken online for each level, and in addition, there are 2 more practice test sets in PDF with audio recordings available for download.
- Make your action plan for working on each part of the exam (listening, reading, writing, speaking). How to work with them is usually taught in courses. But the practice of many graduates shows that the time spent there is clearly not enough to pass the exam properly. Therefore, you still have to study independently and systematically.
- It is necessary to correctly calculate the time from the start of preparation to the exam date. The generalized experience of different people with strong motivation indicates that you will have to study German at least 5 times per week for 2–3 hours a day.
The approximate preparation time may then be as follows:
— From 0 to A1: for those who are talented in languages — 2 months, for others — 2.5–3 months.
— From A1 to A2: for those who are talented in languages — 2 months, for others — 2.5–3 months.
— From A2 to B1: for those who are talented in languages — 2 months, for others — 2.5–3 months.
For the integration part of the ÖIF, additional time can only be allocated 3 weeks before the exam. It is needed starting from level A2, and there you must already confidently read and understand at least 70% of the text. It is easy to prepare for this part of the exam. The questions are simple, just read them and take practice tests from the selection of materials on the ÖIF website.
If learning a language is not easy, you should study more and set the exam date 3–4 weeks later at each level. Knowing my own characteristics of language acquisition, I studied independently and systematically for 4–6 hours a day, focusing on the tasks of each exam part. It took me 1 year from the decision to receive an ÖIF certificate for level B1 to the exam, but I was ready to take it after 10 months.
Read about what specific materials, videos, and actions helped me walk this path and get the desired result in the following essays.
Inspiration and success to you. To be continued.
