The biggest problem with practicing Spreken (the speaking part of the Dutch civic integration exam, inburgering) is that you cannot hear your own mistakes. You answer a question, play the recording back, think "sounds fine" and move on to the next one. But maybe you did not actually answer the question, maybe you swallowed the difference between ik and ik heb, maybe the g sound never came out. In the Spreken practice exam on Dutch Daily Online you now see an AI check in your own language right after you upload each answer. In this article we explain what that check looks at, what it does not look at, how to use it well, and what a sample week of practice looks like.

How does it work?

In the Spreken practice exam you make a separate recording for each question. As soon as you upload it, your answer is transcribed and a check appears on the screen shortly after. You do not need to refresh the page; the result shows up by itself when it is ready.

The check is written in the language you are using the site in at that moment. If you study in English, you read it in English; if you study in Spanish, in Spanish. The Dutch sentences always stay in Dutch; what is translated is the explanation, not the sample answers.

Your audio recording is not sent anywhere for the check; only the question, your transcribed answer and the sample answers are assessed. Your name, email and member details are never part of this process.

What do you see in the check?

For every answer, these sections appear on the screen:

Section	What it tells you
Summary	Your answer in one or two sentences: does it work, what is missing
Fit with the question	When the question asked waar, did you give a place? When it asked hoeveel, did you give a number?
Grammar flags	Verb forms, word order, missing words; each one as original → correct → explanation
Pronunciation flags	Places that stayed unclear in the transcript or sounded like a different word
Corrected answer	A cleaned-up version of your own answer; same meaning, correct form
Short sample answer	A one- to three-word answer that is enough for full marks
Long sample answer	A full sentence you can say if you feel comfortable

When you hover over any word in the sample answers, you see its word-by-word meaning. The Dutch word and its meaning are matched by color, so you see at a glance which part of the sentence is what. This is the shortest route to learning patterns instead of memorizing: once you have seen that woon in Ik woon in Londen. means "live", you can build Ik werk in… by yourself.

What does it not check?

We put this section near the top so you do not skip it.

It is not the official scorer. Your answers in the real exam are scored by DUO's assessors. The check here is a study partner: it shows you what you did; it does not give you an exam score.
A grammar mistake alone does not mean "wrong". In the official assessment model your answer does not have to be grammatically correct; the score comes from relevance and intelligibility. The check is built on the same logic: grammar mistakes are shown as corrections, they do not throw your answer away. Read our Spreken guide for the details.
It does not grade your accent. The pronunciation flags point to places that were not understood in the transcript; they never say anything like "you have an English accent". In the exam, too, what is measured is intelligibility, not accent.
It does not replace an instructor. From the same page you can also request an instructor review. The instructor's decision always comes before the AI's; if the two disagree, trust the instructor.
It does not assess a silent recording. If no speech can be heard in the recording (microphone off, too far away, or you did not speak), it says so and makes no assessment. That is actually a useful warning: staying silent in the exam is a guaranteed loss of points.

It is different in the real exam simulation: in the real exam simulation nothing is shown during the speaking part; just like in the real exam, your answers are recorded one after another. You see the check on the result page once the part is over. Use the practice exam to practice and the real exam simulation to rehearse.

Daily limit

There is a limit to how many AI checks each member can get per day. When you reach the limit, recording and the exam work as normal; only the check is not made for the rest of that day, and the screen tells you why. If you upload the same answer to the same question again, the earlier result is shown and it does not count against the limit. The limit is deliberate: the goal is not to upload a hundred answers in a row, but to work on a small number of answers carefully.

How do you study with the check?

Reading the check and moving on does not work. What works is this loop:

Answer, then listen. Before reading the check, play your recording once and make your own guess: "Did I answer the question? Can it be understood?"
Look at the fit first. If the check says "does not fit the question", reread the question before reading anything else. Most of the time you missed the question word (waar, wanneer, hoeveel, waarom).
Read the corrections one by one. Write every correction (original → correct) in your notebook. If the same mistake shows up three times, that is your personal rule; study that rule in Topic Lessons.
Say the corrected answer out loud three times. Reading is not enough; your mouth has to get used to it.
Record the same question again. This time say the corrected answer in your own voice. If the second check comes back clean, that question is done.
Do not memorize the short sample answer; take the pattern. What you take from Met de bus. is the pattern "met de + means of transport"; tomorrow you should be able to say met de trein, met de fiets.

Tip: You do not have to say the long sample answer. The short answer gets full marks. Try the long answer only on questions where you feel at ease; if you stumble, go back to the short one.

A sample week

Fifteen minutes a day is enough. Use the same structure every day: 3–4 questions, and the loop above for each one.

Day	Focus	What you do
1	Introducing yourself	Hoe heet je? Waar kom je vandaan? Hoe oud ben je? Answer, write the corrections in your notebook
2	Family	Ben je getrouwd? Heb je kinderen? Repeat yesterday's corrections out loud once, then the new questions
3	Daily life	Hoe laat sta je op? Wat eet je graag? Watch the time and food words
4	Work and home	Wat voor werk doe je? Hoeveel kamers heeft je huis? Give a number to the hoeveel question
5	Sentence completion	Half sentences starting with omdat, want, dus, als; watch the word order after the conjunction
6	Re-recording day	Record the week's 5 worst answers again; compare with the second check
7	Rehearsal	Do the speaking part in the real exam simulation without help; compare the result with the week's notes

By the end of the week your notebook should hold two lists: recurring mistakes (these are your study topics) and patterns that came out clean (these are what you will use with confidence in the exam).

The most common pronunciation flags

In the recordings of English speakers, the places the check flags most often cluster around a few sounds. Knowing them in advance wipes out half of the flags before you start.

The g / ch sound: goed, graag, acht. Said like an English g, the transcript may hear a different word. Try it from the back of the throat, like a slightly raspy h.
ui: huis, uit. "Ui" is neither "u" nor "i"; there is no English equivalent, but saying huis with rounded lips, somewhere between "house" and "hoys", is usually understood.
ij / ei: ik heet, mijn, trein. Close to the "ay" in "day"; said as "ee", mijn sounds like a different word.
uu / u / oe: uur, bus, boek. uur is long and narrow (round your lips and say "ee"), bus is short and a little nasal, boek is the "oo" in "book" said slightly longer. Mixing the three is flagged often in time and transport answers.
Sounds at the end of words: ik werk, ik woon. When the ending is swallowed, the transcript hears ik wer or ik wo; finish the last sound.
Starting too fast: the first word usually does not make it into the recording. After pressing the record button, wait a second, then speak.

We cover how to make these sounds in more detail in the pronunciation section of the Spreken guide.

Using it on your phone

The check works in Safari on iPhone and in Chrome on Android. A few small notes:

Microphone permission is asked for at the first recording; recording does not start until you tap "Allow".
Do not lock your phone or switch to another app while recording; the recording ends with whatever was captured up to that point.
Links opened inside WhatsApp or Instagram usually have the microphone blocked; open the page in a real browser.
A silent room is not required, but a recording made with the TV on will get more pronunciation flags; that is not your fault.

Frequently asked questions

The check said "wrong" but I am sure I was right. What should I do?

Look at the fit-with-the-question section first: most "wrong" verdicts come not from the answer itself but from it not matching the question. If you are still not convinced, request an instructor review from the same page; the instructor's decision always takes priority.

The transcript wrote something different from what I said.

That happens. Transcription is not perfect either, and the check deliberately takes uncertain words into account. Still, if the transcript keeps mishearing you, that is a sign a real listener might struggle too; try saying that word more slowly and clearly.

Are my results saved?

Yes, your recording and your check stay in your account together with your practice exam result; you can come back weeks later and see your progress. If you delete your account, all of it is deleted.

If I use the site in Dutch, which language are the explanations in?

The explanations are in English and the Dutch sentences in Dutch. In the other four languages, the explanations come in that language.

Start now

You learn to speak by speaking; but speaking without anyone who sees your mistakes means cementing the same mistakes. Today, answer three questions, read the check, record the corrected answer again. Sign up and start your first Spreken practice exam.