Certificate Exams

[ali.mashi]

!Hello every one

Since a lot of people who study English finally end up taking one of the certificate exams & also a numerous amount of you , my sampadian friends , are going to to take these exams one day; we've decided to open this topic

This topic is gonna be a place in which you will be introduced and guided through different certificate exams such as TOEFL, IELTS, FCE and any other globally approved English exams. The interesting part is that you are going to be the people who write the introductions.

Inside this topic each & every one of these exams will be analysed and introduced to you with great amount of details about it, & also any questions you have about it will be answered.

This is how the process goes: Someone volunteers to do the research on one of the exams & they write their introductions and then other people can come and ask the questions they might have about that exam.

Since we've just started & also we wanna keep it in order, the topic is gonna be locked & any volunteers shall pm me & tell me which exam they R ready to introduce

As a beginning I'm gonna do the TOEFL ibt & my partner will do IELTS
​

 

[ali.mashi]

پاسخ : Certificate Exams

.This exam is purposed to evaluate four main skills in English language
Reading Listening Speaking Writing
each one of the skills is evaluated in the scale of 30 and the total mark is counted out of 120

The exam is given by a computer and all you have to do is to read of the screen click/type the answers & take notes if necessary. You are gonna have to listen to some parts & also speak in the microphone in the speaking part.


Reading #
The exam begins with this part. (usually) 3 passages in different topics such as biology,history, etc. will appear on the screen you're gonna have some time to read them and the important parts on which the questions are based on will be highlighted so you won't have a hard time finding a word or sentence which is being questioned.
The passages are almost as big as an A4 paper give or take a few lines... But personally I think reading is the hardest part of the exam. Cuz it requires a big deal of knowledge in vocabulary.
: About 11 -15 questions are asked for each passage and they might be asking
What a specific part of the passage is implying
Why the author has mentioned an expression
What a word/phrase in the passage refers to
...


Listening

In this part ur gonna hear conversations & lectures & then some questions will be asked about them. The very very very important factor here is taking notes! & even more important is having the ability to keep up with the speakers in taking notes.
I'm emphasizing so much on taking notes because the listening material is gonna be fast and ur gonna hear it only once! so it's important not to miss any details.
The conversations are usually in student - professor consultation mode and there usually isn't any hard vocabulary. All you have to do is listening well to get a fixed idea about the context and take notes of the details.
The lectures however, are gonna be a little harder. Since they might involve some unusual vocabulary & names of places you have never heard of. Things you have to do may vary according to the context of the lecture. But to give u a general guidance, you must be very careful with numbers, names & steps of the processes that may be mentioned. Try to write these things as fast as you can & be very careful in not missing any parts of the lecture.
Just to let you know, I must say that the hardest lecture topics ever are the ones related to biology! If you can ace them then you are a listening master d



Speaking

The most important thing in speaking test is to be fast enough to get ready as well as speaking fast. It doesn't matter what you are saying as long as it's related to the question, what matters is how fluent your speaking /accent is, & the proper vocabulary that you use. This is also a pretty easy part as long as your head is filled with ideas so you won't waste time on thinking about what u write.

There are gonna be 6 questions the first two questions are gonna be easy ones asking you simple questions for which you have 15seconds to prepare & 45seconds to respond. no important thing about these two... just the speed factor

In question 3 & 4 ur gonna read a small text, 5 to 6 lines, and then ur gonna listen to a small passage which is almost in the same topic. then a question will appear and you must answer that. a few things to notice are that the reading material will disappear after 45 seconds! so be careful to write a very small summary of it to keep the whole idea of it! Also take notes from the listening material so you wouldn't forget it
When the question appears u will have 30 seconds to prepare your answer and 60 to respond.
What is important in marking your answer, in addition to what is said for questions 1 &2 , is that you use the information stated in the text & listening passage for your answer. So make sure you mention them

Questions 5 & 6 are something like 4 & 3 except in these ones you just gonna hear a part of a lecture or conversation and then a question will appear and you have to answer that according to the information provided in the listening material.
You will have 20 seconds to prepare ur answer & 60 to speak ur answer. So be fast and don't forget to get proper notes


Writing :-s

This section includes two horrifying questions They're not hard, but they ARE exhausting # d
speed, accuracy & dominance on vocabulary in various topics are the keys to get high scores in this section
The first question is " the integrated writing task" which is very similar to the the third & forth questions in listening. You will have 3minutes to read a passage and take notes and then it will disappear. Then you hear a passage and after it's finished you have 1 minute to prepare & after that you have 20 minutes to type ur answer. e
Remember that your personal opinion is not asked here at all! and you should answer according to the information provided by the passages

The second question is the "independent writing task" in which a question is asked and your gonna have to answer it with an essay of details required in the question. You will have 30 minutes to prepare and write your answer.
The best technique in answering writing tasks is having a writing plan. It's suitable for all four sections but it is NECESSARY in writing. In this technique you write key words and summaries (1line) of each paragraph of your essay and find an overlook to what your are going to write and then you start. This is the best way to keep track of time as well as writing a proper essay to get the complete grade


I hope my explanations have been quite clear​

 

[ali.mashi]

پاسخ : Certificate Exams

The topic is now open for any questions you have about this exam​

 

[sampadii_farzanegan2]

پاسخ : Certificate Exams

How is your score evaluated ? I know that there's no pass-fail system ,but can you define what score is a advanced or intermediate learner expected to get ?​

 

[ali.mashi]

پاسخ : Certificate Exams

How is your score evaluated ? I know that there's no pass-fail system ,but can you define what score is a advanced or intermediate learner expected to get ?​

not sure! but i think something around 20-25 must be for intermediates and 25 & above must be advanceds

 

[belata]

پاسخ : Certificate Exams

I'm gonna give U a piece of info about TOEFL PBT(paper based TOEFL


When the TOEFL iBT® test was launched in 2005, ETS established a transition period to allow continued use of the paper-based test in countries where infrastructure issues limited our ability to offer the TOEFL iBT test. These issues included unreliable electrical service, Internet connectivity issues and other factors.

Currently, 96 percent of TOEFL test takers worldwide take the TOEFL iBT test and access continues to expand. Also, the TOEFL iBT test is desired by universities because it measures all four communication skills — reading, writing, listening and speaking. For these and other reasons, we feel it is time to end paper-based testing.

The TOEFL PBT test is a paper-based test that measures your ability to use and understand English in a classroom setting at the college or university level. It accurately measures how well you can listen, read and write English while performing academic tasks.
The cost of the TOEFL PBT test is US$160

The TOEFL® PBT test, administered in a paper-based format, has three sections and a 30-minute writing test, the TWE® test. It takes about four hours. There is no scheduled break.

Test Section Time Limit No. of Questions
TOEFL PBT Listening Comprehension 30–40 minutes 50
TOEFL PBT Structure and Written Expression 25 minutes 40
TOEFL PBT Reading Comprehension 55 minutes 50
TWE Test of Written English 30 minutes 1 topic

Listening Comprehension measures the ability to understand spoken English.
Structure and Written Expression measures the ability to recognize language appropriate for standard written English.
Reading Comprehension measures the ability to understand non-technical reading material.
The TWE test measures the ability to write in English on an assigned topic.


× p.s:1.There is a chance that random guessing at the end of a section can seriously lower scores. The best strategy is to pace yourself so you have enough time to consider each question without guessing.
Each correct answer counts equally toward the score for that sectionn.Some questions in the test may not count toward the section or total scores.
Your score for the TWE test is reported separately and is not part of your total score.
There is no passing or failing score. Score requirements are established by individual institutions and agencies. TOEFL PBT scores are valid for two years.

the score scale for the TOEFL PBT
Listening: 31–68
Structure and Written Expression: 31–68
Reading: 31–67
Total: 310–677
TWE (on a separate scale): 0–6

 

[daneshvar.amrollahi]

پاسخ : Certificate Exams

Before you take IELTS or TOEFL, you can take some of the oxford exams. I mean PET,FCE and etc
I'm sure that you know your english level. so you can choose rhe approrpriate exam for your self
A1 level is Beginner
A2 level is Elementary and Pre-Intermediate
B1 level is Intermediate
B2 level is Upper-intermediate
C1 is Advanced
C2 is High Advanced

The exams from the lowest level to the highest are:
YLE - KET - PET - FCE - CAE - CPE

by taking theese exams you will get to know with IELTS and it's a good practice 4 u
you can get more info about theese by a quick search in google
hope this was useful

 

[Narcissus]

پاسخ : Certificate Exams

TOEFL IBT is a combination of time management and Eng knowledge.
Time management is very important in this test.You have to be able to write down what you've heard or read in a very damn short time.You won't even have any time to think about what you're doing! To be honest,you'll be under so much pressure during the exam,so before you start try to be calm and comfortable.

It's not difficult at all,just be focused.Don't let others distract you during the exam.Use soundproof headphones while doing the reading section.

Before taking this exam,practice a lot and be careful about the time you're spending on each section. :)​

 

[absolute]

پاسخ : Certificate Exams

do you know any thing about MSRT exam?!

 

[@rmina@]

پاسخ : Certificate Exams

What about ili certificates? Do you have any info about them?i wanna know wheter they are useful or not. . . Because i quitted the ili in advanced2 and now i am regretful . . . But i just wanna know about iran language institude certificates.

 

[Narcissus]

پاسخ : Certificate Exams

What about ili certificates? Do you have any info about them?i wanna know wheter they are useful or not. . . Because i quitted the ili in advanced2 and now i am regretful . . . But i just wanna know about iran language institude certificates.

ILI certificates are just some exams which evaluate your Eng knowledge.They are not valid out of ILI,I mean they aren't international certificates.
They're useful just for for knowing how well you have learned at the ILI
I don't recommend them to you,by the way.
Just practice for a while and get prepared to take the TOEFL.​

 

[sadafak]

Refrences for IELTS exam

Hi,I wanna register for ielts test.what are the books that you suggest me to study for preparing myself for this test/?​

 

[نمیدانم]

پاسخ : Refrences for IELTS exam

504
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Essential words for the IELTS
Dr.Lin Lougheed
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Techniques for Effective Reading
Hssein Farhady
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IELTS Language Practice
Michael Vince
Amanda French
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IELTS Speaking Tests
Dr.H.Iravani
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Cambridge IELTS 1,2,3,4,5,6,7

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[Sanctum]

پاسخ : Refrences for IELTS exam

Well! In my opinion there are no specific books to be studied for exams such as IELTS or TOEFL, althought you might find books with titles containing the words "IELTS"or "TOELF". It mainly depends on your background and general knowledge of english. all in all it's best to improve your general english (disregarding whether you are gonna take general or academic IELTS since academic comes after general) rather than study a specific book.​

and i almost forgot to mention one important thing. Not only is it necessary to have English knowledge to ace these exams, but also it is important to be familiar with the structure of these exams. It's kind of like our Konkoor exams. For example if you ask me, the writing section is the trickiest. There are some rules that should be obeyed. and no one is going to inform you of those rules. So you must be familiar with them previously and this is where TOEFL and IELTS classes or some books come forward. Like one might know what to write but how to write is an important element that must be considered. (I'd like to thank 61<----13 for the reminder.)​