What the Sproochentest actually tests
The exam is in two parts, taken in a single half-day session on a tablet. Speaking lasts 10 minutes and is assessed at CEFR level A2: five minutes of interview, then five minutes describing a picture. Listening lasts 35 minutes and is assessed at level B1, across three recordings.
Last verified against official sources on 18 August 2026. Exam fees, dates and regulations change — always confirm on inll.lu before you register.
The speaking test: 10 minutes, in two halves
- Part one — the interview, about 5 minutes
- A conversation on an everyday subject at A2 level. The examiner offers a choice between two subjects, so you have some say in what you talk about, but not a free choice.
- Part two — describing a visual medium, about 5 minutes
- You describe an image, choosing from three offered. This is the half people are least ready for: it needs vocabulary for what is in a picture and where things are in it, which rarely comes up in conversation practice.
Both halves are a live exchange, not a recital. That is why the assessment criteria include interactivity and the ability to be understood rather than accuracy alone.
The listening test: 35 minutes, three kinds of recording
- A radio message.
- An everyday conversation.
- An exchange or presentation on a specific subject.
You mark your answers on a questionnaire as you go. The three types are deliberately different from one another: a broadcast voice, ordinary speech between people, and someone speaking at length on a topic. Practising only one of the three leaves you exposed on the other two.
How is the exam taken?
Both parts are administered on a tablet, and the whole thing takes place within a half-day session. Knowing that in advance is worth something on the day: the interface is not the difficulty, but it is one less thing to meet for the first time under exam conditions.
What the two levels actually demand
The parts are set at different levels of the Common European Framework, and the gap between them is the single most useful thing to understand about the exam.
- Speaking at A2
- Simple, routine exchanges on familiar topics, and a series of phrases and sentences describing your family, other people, living conditions and your job. Simple sentences that arrive are the target — not complex ones that stall.
- Listening at B1
- Understanding the main points of clear standard speech on familiar matters from work, school or leisure. A level above what you have to produce, and the reason listening deserves its own preparation rather than being folded into speaking practice.
What does the day look like?
Both parts fall inside a single half-day session, and both are taken on a tablet. The 10 minutes of speaking and the 35 minutes of listening are the assessed time; the session around them accounts for arrival, setup and the gap between parts.
The INL publishes the available sessions on its MyINL portal, which is also where registration happens. Session dates and the calendar change, so check there rather than taking any date from a third-party page.
What is not tested?
There is no reading paper and no writing paper in the Sproochentest. The exam is about spoken Luxembourgish in both directions — producing it and understanding it. That is a genuine relief for many candidates, because Luxembourgish spelling is the part of the language most learners find hardest, and it is not what stands between you and this certificate.
How the format should shape your preparation
The structure tells you where the marks are, and it is not where most people spend their time.
- Describing a picture is half the speaking test. It is the half people skip, because it feels unpredictable — but the vocabulary it needs is narrow and finishable: what is in the image, who is doing what, and where things sit in relation to each other.
- The interview half is only about five minutes. Short enough that hesitation is expensive, long enough that one-word answers will not fill it. Practise answering in a sentence and adding a reason without being asked for one.
- Listening runs 35 minutes across three kinds of recording. Practising only conversation leaves you cold for the radio message and the presentation, which sound nothing alike.
- Neither part rewards written accuracy, because neither part is written. Time spent on spelling is time not spent on the exam in front of you.
- Both parts are taken on a tablet. Meeting that for the first time on the day is a small, avoidable cost.
Where these facts come from
Everything on this page about the exam is traceable to an official source. Where something is not published, this page says so instead of guessing.
- Introduction to the SproochentestInstitut National des Langues — the body that runs the exam
- Prerequisites for voluntary acquisition of nationalityguichet.lu — the Luxembourg government’s citizen portal
- The Common European Framework of Reference for language skillsEuropass — the European Union’s official skills framework