Of the three parts of the Dutch civic integration exam (inburgering), Spreken (the speaking part) is the one people put off the longest: "I'll learn the words first, then I'll speak." Yet the official assessment model rewards short, intelligible answers; so preparing for Spreken is not about building long sentences, it is about learning to open your mouth comfortably on the topics that come up most. This article gives you a plan to reach that comfort in 14 days with 20–30 minutes a day: one topic per day, concrete tasks, reviews at the weekend. If you do not yet know how Spreken works and what sample answers look like, read the Spreken exam guide first; here we go straight to the schedule.

What is the plan based on?

In the exam, Spreken consists of answering Dutch questions asked by the computer out loud and completing half sentences. Your answers are scored by human assessors using the official Beoordelingsmodel Spreken; this model has two criteria: does the answer fit the question, and is it intelligible. A one-word answer can score, and your grammar does not have to be perfect.

That is why the 14-day plan rests on three principles:

Short and clear: For every topic you prepare both a one-word answer and a one-sentence answer. If nerves hit you in the exam, you switch to the short one.
Out loud, every day: You cannot study Spreken by reading. Every day you record at least 5 answers and listen to them.
Correct with feedback: In the Spreken practice exams on Dutch Daily Online, every recording gets AI feedback in your own language; you see the transcript of your recordings and the sample answers. You never have to guess what you said wrong.

Tip: Start a "Spreken notebook" (paper or a note on your phone). Every day, write down the questions for that day's topic, your short answer and your one-sentence answer. By day 14 you will have a notebook of answers written around your own life that covers most of the exam.

The 14-day plan

20–30 minutes a day. Everything we call "record" is done in the Spreken practice exam or in your phone's voice recorder; prefer the practice exam, because that is where the feedback comes.

Day	Topic	Tasks (20–30 min)
1	Introducing yourself	Name, age, home country, the city you live in: write your short + long answer to 5 questions. In the Spreken practice exam record 5 answers, listen, compare with the sample answers. 10 words: heten, wonen, komen uit, jaar, stad…
2	Family	Are you married, children, where does your partner live, why the Netherlands: record 5 answers. Re-record any answer the feedback marked "does not fit". 10 words: getrouwd, kinderen, zoon, dochter, partner…
3	Home	How many rooms, house or apartment, who do you live with: record 5 answers. Count the numbers (1–10) out loud. 10 words: huis, kamer, keuken, woonkamer, huur…
4	Work	What work do you do, where, what do you do if you are not working: record 5 answers. Repeat the patterns Ik werk in…, Ik werk niet, ik… 3 times. 10 words: werk, winkel, kantoor, collega, baas…
5	Shopping	Where do you shop, what do you buy, how many euros: record 5 answers. Practice saying prices (twee euro vijftig). 10 words: boodschappen, supermarkt, markt, brood, betalen…
6	Health	What do you do when you are ill, doctor, pharmacy: record 5 answers. Sentence completion: Ik ga naar de dokter, want… with 3 different endings. 10 words: ziek, dokter, huisarts, pijn, medicijn…
7	Review (weekend)	Listen to the recordings from days 1–6. Re-record your 3 weakest answers. Take a full Spreken practice exam without looking at your notes. Test the week's 60 words in the word games.
8	Transport	How do you get to work, bike, bus, train: record 5 answers. The Met de… pattern. 10 words: fiets, bus, trein, auto, station…
9	Time / clock	What time do you get up, go to bed, work: record 5 answers. Say the times out loud (half acht, kwart over negen). 10 words: uur, half, kwart, ’s ochtends, ’s avonds…
10	Weather	What is the weather like today, which season do you like: record 5 answers. Sentence completion: Als het regent, … with 3 endings. 10 words: weer, regen, zon, koud, warm…
11	Hobbies	What do you do in your free time, sport, music: record 5 answers. The In mijn vrije tijd… pattern. 10 words: vrije tijd, wandelen, sporten, lezen, muziek…
12	Appointments	Doctor/gemeente appointment, time, cancelling: record 5 answers. Sentence completion: Ik kom niet, omdat… (verb at the end). 10 words: afspraak, afzeggen, later, morgen, kantoor…
13	School and phone	Which school do the children go to, introducing yourself on the phone, saying a number: record 5 answers. Say your phone number out loud digit by digit. 10 words: school, leraar, bellen, nummer, telefoon…
14	Review and full rehearsal	Pick 10 random questions from the 14 topics (shuffle the order) and record them all. Then do Spreken in the real exam simulation with the Dutch-only screen.

Every day ends the same way: record → listen → read the feedback → re-record the weak answer. The second recording is usually noticeably better than the first; hearing that difference is the best source of motivation there is.

What does the assessment model reward?

Keep one table in mind while you follow the plan:

Criterion	What earns points	What loses points
Relevance	A plausible, fitting answer to the question, even a single word	Silence, repeating the question, answering a different question
Intelligibility	A calm, clear answer at normal speed	Swallowed words, rushing, stumbling and starting over

Three practical consequences:

Waar → place, wanneer → time, hoeveel → number. Catching the question word is half of the relevance score. The number and time drills on days 9 and 13 are there for this.
A long sentence earns no extra points. Build the sentence you are sure of; if you are not sure, fall back to the short answer. "In Manchester." and "Ik woon in Manchester met mijn familie." can earn the same score.
If relevance is 0, intelligibility counts as 0 too. Answering the wrong question with perfect pronunciation gains you nothing. That is why, every day, the plan starts with the question "did I understand the question?"

The same logic applies to sentence completion: your ending must be meaningful and fitting in content. Recognize the conjunction (want, omdat, dus, maar, als) and continue accordingly. We deliberately lined these conjunctions up on days 6, 10 and 12.

Common pronunciation traps

A flawless accent is not required; but some sounds change the meaning and lower intelligibility. The points English speakers trip over most often:

Sound / word	The trap	How to practice
g / ch	Saying it like an English "g" or "k"; goed, acht, gemeente become unintelligible	A raspy sound from the throat, close to a strong "h"; practice with goed on day 1 and acht on day 9
ui	Reading it as "oo-ee" or "you": huis, buiten	One single sound with rounded lips, somewhere between "ow" and "oy"; with the home words on day 3
ij / ei	Spelling it out as "ee" or "i-j": ik heet, mijn, trein	Close to the "ay" in "day"; it comes up plenty on days 1 and 8
uu / u	uur gets mixed up with u, minuut becomes an English "oo"	Round your lips and say "ee"; in the clock drill on day 9
oe	Reading it as two sounds, "o-e": boek, goed, zoon	The "oo" in "book"; zoon on day 2, boodschappen on day 5
Final -en	Hammering the "n" at the end of lopen, werken	A soft, almost inaudible "n"; it only improves intelligibility, it is not a scoring requirement
Speed	Speeding up with nerves and swallowing syllables	Listen to your recording; if you struggle to understand yourself, so will the assessor

We explain how to make each of these sounds one by one in the Dutch pronunciation guide. Listening to and repeating the day's 10 words with audio in the Dutch words dictionary makes pronunciation part of the routine instead of a separate chore.

Tip: Do shadowing: listen to the sample answer and repeat it immediately, with the same tone and speed. Three minutes a day is enough; in two weeks your mouth gets used to Dutch sounds.

How to use the AI feedback and the instructor review

In the Spreken practice exam every answer is recorded separately, and shortly after you upload it, feedback in your own language arrives. Read the feedback like this:

Relevance first: If the feedback says "does not answer the question", do not bother with pronunciation; listen to the question again, find the question word, record again.
Then intelligibility: If it tells you which word was not understood, say that word 5 times on its own, then inside the sentence.
Note the corrections, do not memorize them: Write the corrected sentence from the feedback in your Spreken notebook; but in the exam, the short answer that comes to mind is still enough.
Look at the transcript: The transcript of your recording shows the gap between what you think you said and what you actually said. If you meant huis and it wrote "hoys", that is where the trap is.

When the feedback marks an answer as "wrong", a grammar mistake alone is never the reason; just like in the official model, relevance and intelligibility come first. Grammar corrections are shown as information.

For practice exams where you disagree with the AI's verdict or are not sure, you can ask an instructor to listen to your recordings with the Request a review button on the result page. The instructor marks every question right or wrong, writes a comment, and you get a notification when the review is done; the instructor's decision overrides the AI's. It is most useful not for every recording, but for the 2–3 answers you hesitate over most in the full practice exams on days 7 and 14.

The last 48 hours before the exam

If there is still time before the exam after day 14, start the plan over; but for the last two days the rules change:

No new words. Only read the short answers in your notebook out loud.
One full rehearsal. Do Spreken in the real exam simulation with the Dutch-only screen, and do it the day before the exam.
Microphone habit. Make sure you are used to speaking from a normal distance in a normal voice. You will find what awaits you on exam day in the exam day guide.
The no-silence rule. Even if you did not fully understand the question, say something short based on the word you caught. Silence is a certain 0; a short answer is a chance.

Frequently asked questions

Is 20 minutes a day really enough?

For Spreken, yes, because the goal is not to speak at length but to give short, clear answers on the topics that come up most. If you feel it is not enough, do not stretch the sessions; run the plan a second time with the order shuffled.

Who sees my recordings?

You see your practice exam recordings; when you request a review, the instructor listens to the recordings of that practice exam. Details are in the help center.

Can't I just memorize my answers?

Learn the patterns (Ik woon in…, Ik werk in…, In mijn vrije tijd…), do not memorize scripts. A memorized script costs you the relevance score when it does not quite fit the question; a pattern adapts to any question.

Start now

Today is day 1: introduce yourself. Go into the Spreken practice exam, record 5 answers, read the feedback and say your weakest answer once more. In 14 days the microphone will no longer scare you.