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The Best fide Test Preparation in 2026: 6 Options Ranked for Zurich

Six ways to prepare for the fide test in Zurich, from fide's free model test to private coaching, ranked on speaking practice, feedback, closeness to the test, flexibility and price.

By Echoa editorial team · Prices checked 6 November 2026

In short

The best fide test preparation depends on what is holding you back: the free fide model test for knowing the tasks, Echoa for daily speaking practice, FEMIA for a low-cost oral module with mock tests, XLINGUA for one-to-one coaching, ILS Zürich for a one-morning refresher and Flying Teachers for the most class hours. For daily speaking practice, Echoa is the strongest: around fifty spoken answers a lesson, each one answered, at any hour, for CHF 39 a month, less than one hour of private fide coaching.

Key takeaways

  • The best fide preparation depends on where you get stuck, not on how many hours a course sells.
  • The free model test from fide itself shows exactly what the test asks; start there whatever else you choose.
  • Echoa is the strongest choice for daily speaking practice: around fifty spoken answers in a 15-minute lesson, each one answered, at any hour.
  • FEMIA and XLINGUA run mock tests; ILS Zürich does a one-morning crash course; Flying Teachers gives the most class hours.
  • Combine two: the model test for the format, and daily speaking practice so the answers come out when the examiner is listening.

The best fide test preparation is the one that gets you saying German out loud, to someone who answers, well before test day. The speaking part lasts about 15 minutes, with two licensed examiners: one talks with you, the other takes notes and scores.

The good news is in fide's own handbook. At A2, examiners expect a limited vocabulary, longer pauses, elementary mistakes and frequent restarts, and how well you handle the situation weighs more than perfect grammar. You can also answer in Swiss German if that is what you speak. What counts is getting through the task: describing a picture, arranging an appointment on the phone, talking about your habits and something that happened.

This guide is for adults in Zurich preparing for the fide test for a C permit, a family permit or a Swiss passport, comparing what each kind of preparation costs and how much speaking it actually gives you.

How we ranked them

We compared six ways to prepare on the five things that most help someone pass the speaking part:

  1. Speaking practice per session: how much of the time you spend saying German yourself. For a class, at most the session divided by the group size.
  2. Feedback: whether someone answers or corrects what you actually said.
  3. Closeness to the test: whether you rehearse fide's own tasks, or a mock exam.
  4. Flexibility: whether it fits round work, and how soon you can start.
  5. Honest price: the published price for what you get, from each provider's own website.

School certificates did not count: on this route the result comes from fide itself, the fide Sprachenpass. Prices were checked in November 2026.

We compare other languages' exams the same way: DELE A2 preparation, DELF A2 preparation, CIPLE preparation, inburgering exam preparation and CILS B1 Cittadinanza preparation.

1.fide model test (free): best for knowing exactly what the test asks

  • CourseFree download: full model test (zip), 'Sprechen' A1-A2 and A2-B1 task sheets, 'Verstehen' tasks and audio, reading/writing tasks with answers, info sheet, regulations
  • PriceFree
  • WhenAny time; download
  • GroupSelf-study
  • Ideal forEveryone sitting the fide test, before anything else

The fide office publishes a complete model test free on its own website: speaking task sheets for both level combinations, the listening tasks with their audio, reading and writing tasks with answers, and the test handbook. No login, no charge. fide also says plainly that no preparation course is needed, that it runs no courses of its own and that it works with no course providers.

Standout strength: these are the test's own kinds of task, in the real order, written by the people who set the test. Nothing else here shows you more precisely what the examiners will ask.

The catch: paper does not answer back. The model test itself suggests recording yourself on your phone and listening to it afterwards, which shows you what you said but not what to say instead.

Our post on practising speaking German on your own suggests other ways to practise alone.

Price (2026): free.

2.Echoa: best for daily speaking practice with an answer to every sentence

  • CourseSpeaking course, on your phone or computer; German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch and Italian
  • PriceCHF 39 a month; first 3 lessons free. No card needed
  • LessonsAbout 15 minutes, around fifty spoken answers each
  • GroupJust you, with Sam answering every sentence you say
  • Ideal forPeople who understand more German than they can say, and need to say it on the day

Lesson 1. By the end you say: “Guten Abend! Ich möchte einen Tisch für zwei Personen, bitte.”

Echoa is a speaking course on your phone or computer. Each lesson takes about 15 minutes: you hear an English cue, build the German sentence and say it out loud, and Sam, Echoa's AI teacher, answers what you actually said. The German course runs from a restaurant first, then meeting people, making plans, saying what happened, sorting things out and having friends round, which brings you to A2. Making plans and saying what happened are close to what the A2 tasks ask for: arranging an appointment, and recounting something that happened.

Standout strength: around fifty spoken answers in about 15 minutes, every one of them yours and every one answered. It works at any hour, so it fits round shifts, a commute or children's bedtimes, and it builds the habit the speaking part rewards: getting a sentence out without help.

The catch: it is a German speaking course, not a fide course. It does not run the model test's tasks or a mock exam, so pair it with the free model test. No certificate; for a permit or citizenship, learners sit the recognised exam.

Price (2026): CHF 39 a month for every language course, less than one hour of one-to-one fide coaching at XLINGUA (about CHF 80 an hour). The first 3 lessons are free.

CHF 39/mo

Echoa, every language. The other options here are free or cost about CHF 38–600 for preparation for the fide test in Zurich.

Start lesson 1 free

3.FEMIA: best for low-cost mock speaking tests

  • CourseOral fide preparation module A1/A2, 3 Wednesday afternoons, includes simulated individual oral tests
  • PriceCHF 38, about 7 hours in class
  • WhenWednesday afternoon 14:00-16:20, in person, Kalkbreitestrasse 37, 8003 Zürich
  • Groupmax 12
  • Ideal forWomen living in the city of Zurich who are free on Wednesday afternoons

FEMIA, a Zurich organisation for migrant women, runs "Startklar für fide", an oral preparation module for A1 and A2 on three Wednesday afternoons near Kalkbreite, in groups of up to twelve. The module includes simulated individual oral tests. You join after an interview and a placement test.

Standout strength: mock speaking tests at the lowest price among the schools here: about CHF 38 for city of Zurich residents, which works out at about CHF 5 an hour. With a KulturLegi, city residents who attend most of the lessons get the fee back.

The catch: FEMIA's courses are for migrant women, it runs only on weekday afternoons, and the price doubles if you live outside the city. Each afternoon is shared by the group (max 12 people).

Price (2026): about CHF 38 for city residents.

4.XLINGUA: best for one-to-one coaching with a mock test

  • Plan5 private online fide prep sessions × 60 min + free mock test + expert corrections, online via XLINGUA & Zoom; offer ends 30.11.2026
  • PriceCHF 400, about 5 hours in class
  • HowOnline (XLINGUA app + Zoom), times by arrangement
  • Group1
  • Ideal forLearners who want a teacher's full attention and a mock test, from home

XLINGUA sells a fide package of five one-hour private lessons online, with a free mock test and corrections from its teachers. Times are arranged with you, over XLINGUA's app and Zoom.

Standout strength: a teacher's whole hour is yours, and the mock test shows you where you stand before the real one.

The catch: about CHF 80 an hour, and the package is a special offer with an end date, so check it is still on before you plan round it.

Price (2026): about CHF 400 for the five lessons.

5.ILS Zürich: best for a one-morning refresher before the test

  • CourseOne-day group crash course for the fide test, 4 lessons, A1-B1, oral and written
  • PriceCHF 150, about 3 hours in class
  • WhenSaturday morning 9:00-12:15, in person in Zurich, weekly start dates
  • Group2 to 10
  • Ideal forAnyone whose test is close and who wants to see the format with a teacher once

ILS Zürich runs a one-day crash course for the fide test: four lessons on a Saturday morning, covering A1 to B1, oral and written, with new dates every week. Booking it together with your test at ILS saves a little.

Standout strength: one morning shortly before the test to go through the format with a teacher, at about CHF 50 an hour.

The catch: a single morning, shared between 2 to 10 people, and it covers the written part too. It shows you the test; it cannot give you the weeks of speaking that make the answers come.

Price (2026): about CHF 150.

6.Flying Teachers: best for the most class hours, written part included

  • CourseGroup fide preparation course, 10 lessons × 90 min, oral and written, hybrid on-site/online (Kurs-ID 4022923)
  • PriceCHF 600, about 15 hours in class
  • WhenOnline or in person ('Online, Präsenz'); all group courses hybrid; Zurich sites Löwenstrasse 20, Beckenhofstrasse 6, Schaffhauserstrasse 235-241; times not published
  • Group4 to 12
  • Ideal forLearners who want a full course covering speaking, reading and writing

Flying Teachers runs a fide preparation group of ten 90-minute lessons, oral and written, which you can join in person at its Zurich sites or online. Times are not published on the course page.

Standout strength: the most class hours here, about CHF 40 an hour, with time for the reading and writing part as well as speaking.

The catch: groups of 4 to 12, so each lesson's speaking is shared with the whole group, the course book is extra, and if too few people sign up it may be run as private lessons instead.

Price (2026): about CHF 600.

The 2026 comparison at a glance

Prices are for preparation for the fide test in Zurich, unless the row says what else they buy. Echoa is priced by the month.

  • fide model test (free)Best for knowing exactly what the test asksFree official material, self-studyFree · Speaking: self-study, no feedback
  • EchoaBest for daily speaking practice with an answer to every sentenceSpeaking course, on your phone or computerCHF 39 a month · Speaking: around fifty spoken answers in 15 min, each one answered
  • FEMIABest for low-cost mock speaking testsGroup classes, groups of max 12CHF 38 · Speaking: at most 5 min an hour
  • XLINGUABest for one-to-one coaching with a mock testOnline classes, groups of 1CHF 400 · Speaking: at most 60 min an hour
  • ILS ZürichBest for a one-morning refresher before the testGroup classes, groups of 2 to 10CHF 150 · Speaking: at most 6–30 min an hour, by group size
  • Flying TeachersBest for the most class hours, written part includedGroup classes, groups of 4 to 12CHF 600 · Speaking: at most 5–15 min an hour, by group size

Prices are rounded; each source linked below has the exact prices. Speaking for a group class is 60 minutes divided by the group size the school states, from a full class to the smallest: the most each learner could speak, before the teacher says anything.

Should you use more than one?

Yes, and it is the cheapest way to prepare well. Use the free model test to learn the format: what the picture description, the phone call and the conversation look like at your level. Then use a speaking practice every day so the German comes out when someone is waiting for it. Reading a task sheet tells you what to say; saying it fifty times is what lets you say it in the room.

If you are choosing between an app and an online school for the German itself, see Lingoda vs Babbel for German.

When to upgrade from your first pick

There often comes a point before the test date when you know the tasks and can manage the sentences, but have never done the whole thing in front of someone. That is the moment for a mock test: FEMIA's simulated oral tests, XLINGUA's package, or test-style practice in ILS Zürich's private lessons, about CHF 350 for five 45-minute lessons if you sit the test at ILS. A tutor from a marketplace such as Preply costs about CHF 31 an hour on average in Zurich, though most are not fide specialists. If you need a general evening course before you focus on the test, see German courses in Zurich compared.

Which one should you choose?

Pick the one that fixes where you get stuck.

  • You don't know what the test looks like: the free fide model test.
  • You understand German but freeze when you have to speak: Echoa, every day, for CHF 39 a month.
  • You are a woman living in the city of Zurich and want mock tests for very little: FEMIA.
  • You want one-to-one coaching and a mock test, online: XLINGUA.
  • Your test is next week: ILS Zürich's Saturday crash course.
  • You want a long course that covers the written part too: Flying Teachers.

Most people will want the model test and one other. If speaking is the part that worries you, make the other one Echoa: lesson 1 takes about 15 minutes, the first 3 lessons are free. No card needed.

Start lesson 1 free

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a preparation course for the fide test?

No. fide says no preparation course is needed, and its office runs no courses and works with no course providers. It warns that not every online preparation offer is reliable. Its free model test is the most reliable guide to what the test asks.

How much does the fide test cost?

The test itself costs about CHF 250 for the whole test, or CHF 170 for the speaking and listening part on its own. You book it with an accredited exam centre, not with fide, at least 15 days before the test date, as the whole test, the oral part (speaking and listening) only or the written part only. In Zurich, ECAP takes bookings online or at Neugasse 116.

What level do I need for a C permit or a Swiss passport?

An ordinary C permit needs A2 for speaking and A1 for writing (Art. 60 VZAE). Naturalisation needs at least B1 for speaking and A2 for writing, and cantons may ask for more. Our guide to how much German a C permit needs covers the other permits.

How long is the speaking part?

About 15 minutes, with two licensed examiners: one talks with you, the other takes notes and scores. Everyone starts with A2 tasks; the examiners then suggest continuing at A1 or B1, and you decide. Our post on the fide speaking test goes through each task.

Can I speak Swiss German in the fide test?

Yes, in the speaking part you may answer in dialect or a mix of dialect and standard German, and Swiss expressions are not marked down. The written part needs written standard German.

When do I get my result?

The fide office posts your result and your fide Sprachenpass about four weeks after the test (up to six weeks for tests between mid-December and mid-January). Results are not given by phone. The Sprachenpass shows one level for the oral part and one for the written part.

About Echoa

Echoa is a speaking course on your phone or computer, in German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Dutch and Italian. In each 15-minute lesson you build sentences and say them out loud, and Sam answers every one. Real conversations in 20 hours. A2 in weeks, not years. It costs CHF 39 a month for every language course, and the first 3 lessons are free.

How we compared

This page is published by Echoa, one of the options compared. Every price comes from the source linked for it below, the provider’s own website unless named otherwise, on the date shown. The page is drafted with AI from those sources, then checked against them before it is published. Every option except Echoa, which is priced by the month, is priced on the same basis: preparation for the fide test in Zurich. Options under “also checked” were looked at too and are not compared here, because they are priced on another basis or weren’t picked. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.

Also checked, not picked here: Berlitz Zürich, Alemania, ILS Zürich private lessons, Preply tutors.

Other sources: fide-service.ch, fide-info.ch, sem.admin.ch, femia.ch.

More on learning German: learn German with Echoa · German courses in Zurich compared · Lingoda vs Babbel · how much German a C permit needs · what the fide speaking test asks