Goethe-Zertifikat B2: the Lesen module

Germany's best-known certificate, A1 to C2. B1 is the language proof for the settlement permit and for citizenship.

Official exam page

B2 is the level most often asked for by German employers and by universities as an entry step. Its Lesen module keeps the same duration and item count as B1, which is exactly why it surprises people: the clock did not change, but the texts did.

The reading section

Reading time
65 minutesSource
Scored reading items
30Source
Texts or passages
not published
Approximate words
not published
CEFR level
B2–B2Source
Published annual volume
1 100 000 per yearSource
Awarding body
Goethe-Institut

Question types the awarding body publishes

  • Forum — match statements to four people (a person may be chosen more than once)
  • Comprehension items on a longer text
  • Multiple choice (a / b / c) on a newspaper article
  • Items on an opinion or commentary text
  • Items on a rules or regulations text
Source

What that means in practice

From B1 upward the four skills are separately certifiable modules, so Lesen can be sat and passed on its own. Candidates may work the parts in any order. Dictionaries and phones are not allowed.

Every figure on this page was checked against the awarding body on that date. Exam formats change; check the official page before you book.

How well reading practice fits this exam

A full reading section

Reading is a complete, separately scored section with real passages. Training it moves a number that appears on your result.

LingoRead trains reading. It does not prepare a speaking or writing paper, it does not mark free-text answers, and it does not issue or predict an official result.

Practise reading for this exam

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Where the difficulty actually moves

The forum task asks you to match statements to four people, and a person may be chosen more than once — so elimination stops working and you have to read each contribution for its actual position rather than its topic. The commentary and opinion text is the other step up: it is written by someone with a stance, and the questions are about that stance, not about the events described.

The rules-and-regulations text returns at B2 as well. Between it and the newspaper article, the module covers three registers most learners never read voluntarily, and reading only novels or only news leaves a real gap.

Practising for opinion, not just information

The habit worth building is asking, after every German text you read, one question: what does this writer actually think, and which sentence tells me? That is the B2 skill. Answering comprehension questions immediately afterwards is what turns a vague sense of the text into a checkable answer.

LingoRead writes a fresh German passage every day at the level you are actually reading at, with audio and tap-to-translate, and asks comprehension questions on it. Set a work or university reason and the register moves towards the argumentative texts this module uses.

Honest scope

Lesen is one of four separately certifiable modules. LingoRead does not prepare Hören, Schreiben or Sprechen, and it does not issue a Goethe result. Reading practice is training; the certificate comes from an exam centre.

Questions people ask

Free tools that help

Our four free tools are English-only for now, so there is no matching tool for this exam. They are still worth a look if you also read in English.

See the free tools

Other levels of Goethe

  • A1 (Start Deutsch 1)
  • A2
  • B1
  • C1
  • C2 (Großes Deutsches Sprachdiplom)

No dedicated page — the research did not show enough search demand for it.

Goethe-Zertifikat B2 Lesen: format and practice | LingoRead