Exam topics: the twelve areas it never goes beyond
3 min read
The exam programme lists twelve topic areas, and the exam does not go beyond them. That is a rare case where a candidate is told not only "learn the language" but also where the field of study ends.
The twelve areas
| Area | |
|---|---|
| 1 | personal identity |
| 2 | buildings and housing |
| 3 | nature and the region |
| 4 | everyday life |
| 5 | leisure |
| 6 | travel |
| 7 | relationships with people |
| 8 | health and hygiene |
| 9 | education and learning |
| 10 | shopping |
| 11 | food and drink |
| 12 | services |
The list is not long and there is nothing exotic in it. It is the circle of everyday life: who you are, where you live, what you do, whom you deal with, where you shop and how you handle offices.
Why this is worth knowing
A limited set of topics changes the nature of preparation. A vocabulary list can be collected endlessly, but for these twelve areas its scope is finite.
In practice that means three things:
- Learn one area to the end rather than random words. One day, one area; the whole circle is covered in twelve days.
- Prepare a few sentences about yourself in every area. Almost every speaking and writing task asks not for a definition but for your own situation: where you live, what work you do, what you do in your free time.
- Do not learn what lies outside the circle. Politics, legal terminology and professional jargon are not on this list.
One provision of the programme that is rarely quoted
The programme also states that the exam covers only topics that should not cause candidates unpleasant emotions.
That is not a decorative remark. It means the choice of topics is deliberately neutral: you do not need to prepare to speak about painful personal circumstances, conflicts or difficult political questions. If in your preparation you met a "sample task" of that kind, it most likely does not come from this programme.
What this list does not tell you
- Which area will come up in your exam. That is not published, and any guess here would be only a guess. The list marks the circle, not the topic of the day.
- How many tasks fall to one area. That distribution is not published either.
- The wording of specific tasks. Our tasks are built according to these topic areas and to the official task types, but they never reproduce official exam material.
So the right strategy is not to guess the area but to go through all twelve — there are not many.
How this relates to the parts of the exam
The circle of topics is the same in every part; what differs is only what you have to do with a topic:
- in the reading and writing part you have to recognise it in a text and write about it — the reading and writing part;
- in the speaking part you have to talk about it out loud — speaking part strategy;
- and how all of it turns into the final result is described separately — how the exam is assessed.
Where to try this
All twelve areas can be worked through in the sample exam tests, and writing and speaking tasks with assessment in the training section. Short answers — on the FAQ page.
Sources
- State language exam programme (No. ISAK-209) — https://www.nsa.smsm.lt/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/AR_2009-06-12-1.pdf
- Exam administration instructions — https://www.nsa.smsm.lt/for-foreigners/lietuviu-kalbos-egzaminai-uzsienieciams/vykdymo-instrukcijos/
Last checked: 19 October 2026.
"Lietuvių A2" is an independent exam preparation website. We are not an examination centre and not a legal services office; we are not connected with any institution that organises or recognises state language exams. Our assessment is training feedback, not an official exam result. This text is informative in nature and is not legal advice. Before the exam, check the list of topics and the provisions of the programme with the institution administering the exam.