One of the main objectives for any Spanish student is to achieve a level of knowledge of the language allowing him to communicate without problems. The best way to know if the level is achieved is to pass one of the examinations from DELE.
The Diplomas of Spanish as a Foreign Language (DELE) are official certificates given by the Spanish Ministry of Education that certify your level of knowledge of Spanish. These diplomas have a great international prestige, not only because they provide a guarantee of a good understanding of Spanish, but because they help your access to work in Spain and in other countries.
To achieve one of these diplomas all students have to pass the DELE exam, carried out jointly by the Instituto Cervantes and the University of Salamanca. There are six exam levels, as per the CEFR, the Common European Framework of Reference, which are divided following achieved levels of Spanish; the initial level (A1 and A2), elementary level (B1 and B2) and the advanced level (C1 and C2).
The DELE examination can be passed in the entire world, as there are more than 700 accredited testing centres (universities, Spanish schools, embassies and consulates). There are three examination sessions to pass the DELE examination every year, in 2012 the sessions will take place in May, August and November, so, if you are thinking about passing one of the tests this year you should enquire as soon as possible.
Most of the Spanish schools in Spain offer preparation courses for the DELE examination, with a programme focused on the preparation of the test in all its parts, so do not over think and start preparing for the DELE, in Spain. The don Quijote school offers, until 31st of March, a discount of 25% to all students for registration. If you want more information you can access this link: Course DELE exam preparation.
Image students. UniNavarra. http://bit.ly/Aj02kd
For those wanting to prepare the DELE C1 test, there is another good website for it with lots of tests available, http://www.deletests.com . You can also send your essays to them and they will correct them!