Exam tip: reading practical texts

1. Question first. Read the question and underline (in your head) the key word: a day, a price, a person, "wat moet u doen?". Now you know what you are looking for.

2. Look at the text's shape. Practical texts have clues: a title, a sender, a date, bold words, a table, "Let op!". A letter from the woningcorporatie is about your home; "Let op!" is almost always tested.

3. Scan, then read closely. Move your eyes quickly until you find the key word (or a number), then read that sentence and the one after it slowly. You rarely need the rest.

4. Beat the traps. Each question has two wrong options that look good:

• Same word, wrong meaning. The option repeats a word from the text but says something else.
• True, but not the answer. The option is in the text, but it doesn't answer this question.
• Not in the text. It sounds logical, but the text never says it.

Cross out what is clearly wrong, then compare the last two options with the sentence in the text.

5. Calculate carefully. If the question asks "wat betaalt ze?", check: per person or in total? Children or adults? A discount card?

6. Watch the time. 65 minutes for about 25 questions is roughly 2.5 minutes per question. If one question takes longer, choose, mark it in your head and move on.

Component: Lezen. Task type: short practical texts (praktische teksten), multiple choice.

• Real task: on the computer, 65 minutes, about 25 multiple-choice questions on short texts from daily life: letters and emails (from the gemeente, a school, a landlord, an employer), leaflets (folders), schedules and opening hours, adverts, notices and web pages. Each text has one to a few questions with three answer options.
• What the questions ask: a detail (when, where, how much), what you must do, who the text is for, and why the text was written.

Most common mistakes

1. Reading the whole text word for word first, and running out of time at the end.
2. Choosing an option because it has the same word as the text (the "word-match trap"). The right answer often uses other words.
3. Answering with common sense or your own experience instead of what the text says.
4. Missing small words that change everything: niet, geen, nog, al, voor, na, tot en met.
5. Mixing up numbers: a price per person vs. the total, a day vs. a date, 14.00 vs. 4 uur.