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Practice for the listening test

Practice by listening to spoken Norwegian, for example on the radio. You can also do the sample tasks.

The listening test lasts 30-60 minutes. The length of the test depends on which pre-tests and which main test you get.

The tasks of the listening test are modelled on real conversations and messages because it is important to manage daily life outside the classroom.

To get a good result on the test, you should:

  • practice listening to and understanding Norwegian,
  • familiarize yourself with the content and structure of the test, and the types of tasks used in the test,
  • practice by doing the sample tasks for the listening test.

Tasks in the listening test

The test measures language skills, not memory. That is why the listening texts are short. The longest audio files last 90 seconds, but most of the files last between 10 and 30 seconds.

In a normal environment there will be a lot of background noise when you have a conversation or when you listen to something. On the test, there will be no such noise. Some tasks sound like phone conversation.

There are never more than two participants in a dialogue, normally a man and a woman, so it is easy to hear who says what.

Sounds indicating a pause or thinking, such as “eehhh” or “tja” are used more in everyday speech than in the listening tasks.

The speech is adapted to the skill level. Especially at lower levels, people speak slowly and clearly. We expect candidates at higher levels to be able to handle somewhat faster speech.

At B2 level you are expected to understand some moderated dialects.

You will hear listening texts twice

In a normal conversation, you can ask someone to repeat something that you did not understand. You cannot do this in the test.­ Therefore the question and the listening text are played twice for most tasks (all tasks at skill level A1-B1). Texts for B2 level are played only once.

Sample tasks

There are different task types in the listening test, depending on what language skill level you are on. Listen to the question carefully before you give your answer.

The sample tasks can help you prepare for the types of tasks you will meet in the test and practice how to answer the questions.

These tasks are only examples. You will not find these tasks in the test, but you will get similar tasks.

When you do the sample tasks, you will see how many tasks you answered correctly. You will not get a result (level).

The sample tasks are only available in Norwegian.

When you open the link to a set of sample tasks, you can choose to do them in bokmål or nynorsk.

The listening test and the sample tasks are done on a computer. The sample tasks might not work on a mobile or tablet.

Tips for working with listening tasks

The tasks of the listening test are modelled on real conversations and messages because it is important to manage daily life outside the classroom. To improve your listening skill, we suggest that you listen to as much “real” Norwegian language as possible. Listen to normal conversations, audio files for textbooks, podcasts, radio and TV programs, etc.

The sample tasks can help you prepare for the types of tasks you will meet in the test and how to answer the questions.

Practice by listening to spoken Norwegian

To improve your listening skills, we suggest that you listen to as much “real” Norwegian language as possible.

You can, for example, listen to:

  • everyday conversations,
  • audio files for textbooks,
  • podcasts,
  • radio and TV programs (especially news broadcasts and programs that include statements by politicians)
  • messages (for example from a teacher or from someone at work).