Describing a picture in the A2 check — how to do it

Pictures turn up in two places in the A2 check: in the speaking part, where you describe two pictures, and in the first writing task, where you write a description of a person from pictures plus a business card. Both places want exactly the same thing — full sentences about people, actions, place and time, not a list of words.

That is good news for anyone preparing: one structure, learnt once, covers both parts.

Where the pictures appear

Part	Task	What it asks for
Speaking (runātprasme)	description of two pictures	describe the pictures — people, actions, place, time — in full sentences
Writing (rakstītprasme)	task 1	write at least 30 words about a person, from pictures and a business card

In the speaking part this task is not scored on its own: the interview and the picture description together give 12 points out of the 15 for speaking, while the third task — forming questions — gives the remaining 3. So the picture description sits inside the larger block of points in the whole speaking part, and leaving it aside is simply not an option.

Four questions you have to answer

The wording of the task itself says what is expected: people, actions, place, time and the like. From that comes a simple, memorable frame that works on any picture at all:

1. Kas? — who? How many people are in the picture and who they might be.
2. Ko dara? — what are they doing? What each of them is doing.
3. Kur? — where? What the place is.
4. Kad? — when? Season, time of day, weather.
5. What is the mood? — and, if there are two pictures, how they differ.

Five answers are five sentences. Five sentences are a perfectly sufficient description at A2 level — no story and no interpretation is expected there.

Ready-made phrases to start every sentence with

These phrases are worth learning until they come by themselves — then all your thinking is free for the content. They stay in Latvian: this is what you actually say.

To open

• Attēlā es redzu… — "In the picture I see…"
• Pirmajā attēlā ir… / Otrajā attēlā ir… — "In the first picture there is…" / "In the second picture there is…"
• Es redzu divus attēlus. — "I see two pictures."

For people

• Attēlā ir divi cilvēki: sieviete un vīrietis. — "There are two people in the picture: a woman and a man."
• Sievietei ir apmēram četrdesmit gadu. — "The woman is about forty years old."
• Vīrietim ir zila jaka. — "The man has a blue jacket."
• Blakus stāv… / Pie galda sēž… — "Standing next to them is…" / "Sitting at the table is…"

For actions

• Sieviete pērk… / Vīrietis lasa… / Bērni spēlējas… — "The woman is buying…" / "The man is reading…" / "The children are playing…"
• Viņa tur rokā… — "She is holding in her hand…"
• Viņi runā par… — "They are talking about…"

For place and time

• Tas notiek tirgū / veikalā / pludmalē / virtuvē. — "It is happening at the market / in the shop / on the beach / in the kitchen."
• Ir rudens / vasara / rīts / vakars. — "It is autumn / summer / morning / evening."
• Laiks ir saulains / mākoņains, tāpēc cilvēkiem ir siltas drēbes. — "The weather is sunny / cloudy, so the people are wearing warm clothes."

For comparison and for closing — exactly what pays off most in a two-picture task

• Pirmajā attēlā cilvēki strādā, bet otrajā attēlā viņi atpūšas. — "In the first picture the people are working, but in the second picture they are resting."
• Abos attēlos ir cilvēki, bet vieta un gadalaiks ir dažādi. — "There are people in both pictures, but the place and the season are different."
• Man vairāk patīk otrais attēls, jo tur ir silts. — "I like the second picture more, because it is warm there."

Why the comparison is the most important sentence

If there are two pictures, then the whole description must not be two separate descriptions. It is precisely the link between them that shows what A2 level expects from language: connected text, not isolated sentences.

Two sentences with bet ("but") or turpretī ("whereas") change the impression more than ten extra details:

Pirmajā attēlā ir rudens rīts tirgū, un cilvēki ir siltās drēbēs. Otrajā attēlā ir vasara pludmalē, un ģimene atpūšas. Pirmajā attēlā cilvēki iepērkas, bet otrajā viņi atpūšas.

("In the first picture it is an autumn morning at the market, and the people are in warm clothes. In the second picture it is summer on the beach, and a family is resting. In the first picture the people are shopping, but in the second they are resting.")

Three sentences, all four questions answered, and a comparison at the end.

Three mistakes that cost points

A list instead of sentences. "Woman. Apples. Market." is not a description. The requirement — in full sentences — is in the task text for a reason; one-word answers in the speaking part are not scored highly.

Guessing instead of details. There is no need to invent why the people in the picture are there and what they feel. It is safer to describe what is visible, and only then add one assumption with manuprāt ("in my opinion") or laikam ("probably").

An unknown word stops the whole sentence. If you do not know the word lietussargs ("umbrella"), that is no reason to stop. At A2 level viņai rokā ir kaut kas no lietus ("she has something for the rain in her hand") or viņa tur melnu lietu ("she is holding a black thing") is perfectly enough. A description that keeps going is worth more than a correct word that never arrives.

Writing task 1 — the same thing, only on paper

In the first writing task there is a business card next to the pictures, and that changes the character of the task: part of the information no longer has to be invented from the picture, it has to be read off the card — occupation, place of work, contact details. The rest comes from the pictures: what the person looks like, where they live, what they do in their free time.

The requirement is at least 30 words in full sentences, and the safest structure is one sentence per piece of given information:

Šo sievieti sauc Sabīne. Viņa ir ārste un strādā medicīnas centrā. Viņa dzīvo mazā mājā ar ģimeni. Brīvajā laikā viņai patīk lasīt grāmatas. Viņai var rakstīt uz e-pastu vai zvanīt pa tālruni.

("This woman is called Sabīne. She is a doctor and works at a medical centre. She lives in a small house with her family. In her free time she likes reading books. You can write to her by e-mail or call her by phone.")

Five lines, every piece of given information used, the length reached. On the other two writing tasks — see the article the writing part of the A2 check.

What is assessed, and what cannot be found out about the assessment

What is assessed is how well the content matches the task, the required language functions, connected text, sufficiency of vocabulary, and the extent to which mistakes do or do not get in the way of understanding the text. In the speaking part, speech is assessed on the spot or from a recording.

What cannot be said: specific point bands are not published, and the first and second speaking tasks are assessed together in the official table, so nobody can correctly name a finer breakdown than 12 + 3. If someone promises you an exact "how many points for the picture" table, it does not come from a published source.

How to train it in three weeks

The method is simple and it works because it repeats the task itself. Take any photograph — from your phone, a newspaper or the internet — and describe it out loud following the five questions. One picture a day, two minutes. After a week the frame starts coming by itself; after three weeks you no longer think about where to begin.

Two pictures can be trained just as simply: take two different photos and finish with a sentence that compares them.

On this site the picture description is available both in exam format and in training mode, where artificial intelligence gives feedback on content and language — you can try both the spoken and the written version there. The result there is training feedback, not an official assessment. The most common mistakes in every part — in the article why people fail the A2 check; short answers — here.

This article is not legal advice. The task descriptions reflect the published exam programme and MK noteikumi Nr. 157 (Cabinet Regulation No. 157), and they may change. Check the current programme before applying.