Can I choose the image I want?
Yes, from the three you are shown. The choice is free and it is best made quickly.
Describing the picture without freezing
Three images are shown, you pick one and you speak for about five minutes. It is the part of the exam that rewards preparation most, because its structure never changes.
Page updated 4 September 2026. 9 min read.
Picking the right image in ten seconds
The choice is not a matter of taste. Pick the image whose vocabulary you know, not the one you like. A market scene you can describe beats an office scene you find more interesting.
A useful reflex: scan the three images and count in your head how many people and objects you can name in each. Take the one with the highest count.
- Count the words you can say, not the ones you would like to say.
- Prefer a scene with people: people give you action verbs.
- Avoid a very abstract image if the vocabulary feels shaky.
- Decide fast: long hesitation is already eating into your speaking time.
The four-step plan
A description that fills five minutes always follows the same order. This plan is your safety net: even when a word is missing, the structure carries you to the end.
- Set the scene: op dësem Bild gesinn ech… (what I see, in one general sentence).
- Describe: wien, wou, wat maachen se (who, where, what people are doing).
- Add detail: colours, weather, time of day, atmosphere.
- React: what the scene brings to mind, a memory, a comparison with your own country or routine.
Step four pays the most
Many candidates stop after the description. Yet it is the personal reaction that shows range, coherence and the ability to develop an idea, three of the eight criteria.
Sentences worth learning by heart
A dozen tool sentences carry you from one image to the next without thinking about form. They are not filler: they free your attention for vocabulary.
- Op dësem Bild gesinn ech… (in this picture I see…)
- Am Virdergrond ass… / Am Hannergrond gesinn ech… (in the foreground / in the background)
- Lénks steet… / Riets sëtzt… (on the left / on the right)
- D’Leit schéngen… ze sinn (the people seem to be…)
- Ech mengen, datt… well… (I think that… because…)
- Dat erënnert mech un… (that reminds me of…)
- Bei eis doheem ass dat anescht, well… (back home it is different, because…)
What costs marks here
Mistakes in the picture task repeat from candidate to candidate, which makes them easy to fix before exam day.
- Listing isolated words instead of building full sentences.
- Saying everything in ten seconds and then going quiet: slow down and add detail.
- Inventing a complicated story beyond your language level.
- Staying in the present tense when one perfect-tense sentence would show more.
- Ignoring the examiner’s questions to finish a rehearsed text.
Practising alone, effectively
Take any photograph on your phone, set a three-minute timer and describe it out loud following the four-step plan. Record yourself, then listen back with one question in mind: did I speak in full sentences?
Repeated ten times with ten different images, this drill turns the most feared part into the most predictable one.
Key points
- Pick the image whose vocabulary you know, in ten seconds.
- Always follow the same plan: set the scene, describe, add detail, react.
- A dozen memorised tool sentences free your attention for vocabulary.
- Full sentences beat a list of correct words.
Frequently asked
Do I have to describe everything in the image?
No. Five elements described in full sentences beat twenty words listed.
Does the examiner ask questions during the description?
They may step in to ask for a detail. Answering is part of the interaction mark.
Sources and checking
This guide draws on what the INL publishes (inll.lu and its registration platform), the men.public.lu portal and guichet.lu. Arrangements, amounts, durations and exam sites can change: always confirm with the INL before registering.
Next: put it into practice
The free simulation uses the exact format of the listening paper: three audio documents, fifteen questions, 35 timed minutes, your mark at the end. No account, no payment.