Exam tests in English. Exams for children. TOEFL or IELTS: which one to choose

In difficult times, many begin to think about emigration. But the desire to change the country is not enough. People who are abroad are mainly expected to have good professional skills and, moreover, know a foreign language well.

In order to pass an interview at the embassy, \u200b\u200bthe applicant for a residence permit must pass special language tests that confirm the degree of language proficiency. To successfully pass the tests, almost every applicant must undergo special training at an English language school that has an appropriate certificate.

For many years, British Skylines has been preparing graduates of educational institutions who are going to continue their studies abroad, and adults who plan to live and work abroad, to take the TOEFL and IELTS language tests.

On the basis of many years of practice, the methodologists have worked out special educational systems that allow, in a fairly short time (taking into account the starting level of knowledge) to get the highest possible result based on the results of testing. The test preparation program is designed for students whose level of knowledge is at least Pre-Intermediate and is designed for about five months.

Passing the exam and preparing for the IELTS test in English includes two major blocks:
- systematization of knowledge, filling gaps in education, increasing vocabulary and mastering special vocabulary;
- working out the test execution system. As you know, one must not only have knowledge, but also be able to use it, understand how the written part of the test is filled in and what examiners expect during an oral interview.

The tests include four blocks of tasks: for comprehension of spoken English, for checking reading, writing and speaking skills. A feature of TOEFL and IELTS tests is the need to master special vocabulary. Therefore, during preparation, students are also encouraged to watch news and educational programs of the BBC news and Discovery TV channels in English, and read scientific journals.

To successfully pass the test, it is important to be able to analyze the text and clearly formulate your thoughts in order to give the correct answers to the questions.

The oral part of the test can be especially difficult, since the applicant is required to have a high level of language proficiency, the ability to formulate complex sentences and a willingness to discuss any topic. Not only dialogue skills are important, but also the ability to speak out on a given topic, deliver a monologue until the examiner stops.

As the teachers note, you can prepare for the tests yourself, but this is a rather difficult activity that does not protect against mistakes. Certified English teachers "British Skylines" possess techniques that allow you to quickly assimilate educational material, work out the methods of presentation itself, conduct a dialogue, present projects, help to master the methods of analyzing English-language texts of different styles.

Meanwhile, it should be remembered that the maximum educational effect is achieved due to high personal motivation. Any teacher acts exclusively as a coach. Each student is required not only desire, but also some effort to master the material, including homework and practice in conversation clubs.

English is a language, knowledge of which makes life much easier and opens up a lot of new opportunities. If you want a good job - learn English, if you want to feel comfortable in almost any country - again, learn, you won't go wrong. If you decide to pull yourself together and start to study English hard - congratulations, this is the right decision, which is worthy of respect!

Testing as a way to test knowledge

In the modern world, one of the most common ways to control knowledge of the English language is to take a test. There are many international standardized tests such as TOEFL. Without passing this test, you will not enter any American higher education institution. TOEFL is also actively used in recruiting in foreign companies. In addition to TOEFL, among the most common standardized tests are TOEIC, IELTS, etc.

It doesn't matter what test in English you take - planned at school or one, on the results of which your whole destiny will depend. Correct preparation for taking the test always affects the result and will never be superfluous. We will talk about how to prepare for the English test in this article. Moreover, some tips will be useful even if, instead of English, you need to prepare for tests in Russian or, say, in mathematics. So, let's begin..

Read and do

1. Take time to prepare... Yes, no matter how corny it sounds, "patience and work will grind everything." So go for it, your trump card on the test is your head filled with useful information. When preparing, it is very important to schedule your time and start preparing for the test in advance. As one more proverb says, "if you don't eat, you won't be full."

2. If possible, walk a few like the coming to you tests yourself. In this case, you will be prepared for the specifics of the tasks, which, without appropriate preparation, may cause a "stupor" or require more time to solve.

3. Watch movies and read books in English... So you can combine business with pleasure, and your brain will automatically record and memorize established speech patterns, expressions, new words, as well as a lot of other useful information.

4. Do not be nervous... In addition to your knowledge, your emotional state can greatly affect your test score. Almost everyone knows the situation when, due to too much excitement, the simplest things suddenly become difficult. For example, you can, worrying, forget a word or rule. At the same time, in a calm atmosphere, when the test is over, this most treacherous word will itself pop up in memory. To reveal your capabilities fully and give your best on the test, stay calm and balanced, do not rush to make decisions, tune in to a positive mood. Remember that anxiety is a bad ally when taking a test, and in life in general. We recommend that you study the article about in our blog.

5. Get a good night's sleep before the test... A sound and healthy sleep has a positive effect on brain function, so you should not throw a party or walk until the morning before an important test, or frantically cram irregular verbs all night long. Better sleep well, and your brain will thank you!

We know very well how difficult it can be to pass this or that test. Often, students simply physically do not have enough time to prepare. Distance tests are widely used in the modern education system. There are situations when students have to decide how to simultaneously prepare for a test in history, mathematics, Russian, while completing a lot of other things in parallel. If for some reason you do not have time to prepare for the test in English, we are always ready to help you and take any test with the required result. We hope the tips in this article will be useful and will help you prepare for the English test and you will pass it with the highest mark!

There is an exam ahead, and you are not sure you will have time to prepare for it? We will tell you how to prepare for your English exam correctly, without hassle and sleepless nights.

Preparing for an English exam - stress? Get rid of it with our tips. Despite the recent fashion in our country for everything primordially Russian, the English language is getting closer to us: new technologies, the Internet, work, study - all these areas are in one way or another closely related to English. It is not surprising that more and more people every year begin to learn the language in order to obtain a certificate of English proficiency in order to have a document confirming their knowledge. But before you get the coveted certificate, you have to work hard: preparing for an English exam is a serious and time-consuming business.

How to Quickly Prepare for the English Exam: Tips for Successful Exam

1. Set real deadlines

Many can prepare for the exam for several years, each time delaying the moment of passing the exam. At the same time, a person may be ready for a knowledge test, but due to fear of failing the exam, it will seem to him that it is too early. A dream is a goal with a deadline. If you have a deadline, you can plan your preparation steps down to the smallest detail.

2. Prepare for intense work with a minimum of days off

You need to do it every day, at least 1 hour a day. Closer to the date of the exam, it is advisable to increase the duration of training to 2-4 hours a day. However, don't forget about the breaks. Check out the article "", the principles of time management described in it are ideal for preparing for the exam.

3. Test your knowledge

Before preparing, clearly define your level of English, find gaps and weaknesses. To do this, you can go through, it will show your achievements in writing, reading and listening skills.

4. Choose the “right” teacher

Which teacher to study with: Russian or native speaker? As a rule, native speakers are great at helping to break down the language barrier. English-speaking teachers do not know Russian, so you have to speak English, and the teacher at this time corrects your mistakes and teaches colloquial cliches, useful vocabulary - helps your speech to become "alive".

Thus, the best choice is a combination of classes with a native speaker and a Russian-speaking teacher. The lessons will complement each other and help you achieve your goal.

5. Perform typical tasks

Find out what tasks await you on the selected exam, then find examples of such exercises on the Internet and do them daily, at least a couple of tasks a day. If you have to take the exam, purchase a special manual with typical tasks and solve it from beginning to end.

Visit examenglish.com to learn about the format of the Cambridge exams and practice the sample assignments. There you will find free tests to prepare for IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC, CAE, FCE, KET, PET, PTE Academic, PTE General, Michigan.

6. Develop all skills at the same time

Any exam consists of several parts, which test all the skills of knowledge of English: writing and speaking, listening, reading, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation. Each of us has our own strengths and weaknesses, the strengths must be skillfully used, and the weaknesses must be developed to strengths. How do you work on each skill? We offer the following techniques:

• Reading skill... Read texts on various topics: from newspapers and magazines to fiction and popular science literature. This will help you learn new words from context, increase your reading speed, use visual memory to memorize the spelling of new words, and refresh your knowledge of words and phrases on specific topics. A typical exam reading assignment is text comprehension questions. You can practice this skill on the website. There are dozens of tests of a wide variety of topics and questions for understanding.
• Writing skill... A typical exam assignment is an essay. Learn to write it correctly: any letter you write should have an introduction, a few paragraphs of body text, and a conclusion. Be aware that some exams may ask you to write a letter in a specific style: formal or informal. So practice using appropriate vocabulary and grammar correctly. In addition, try to keep within a certain volume and allotted time when writing. For example, if you know that on the exam you need to write an essay of about 200-250 words, train yourself to write exactly such volumes, then when passing you you will not need to count the words, you will see that you have achieved the ideal length. An important prerequisite for working on a letter is having someone who can test and evaluate your writing skills. Such a person will be able to tell how you should and should not write. You can get acquainted with the main types, structure and rules of writing an essay in our article "".
• Listening skill... A typical exam task is listening to an audio file and answering questions to it. Testing your English listening comprehension is one of the most difficult parts of the exam. However, if you practice listening, there will be no problems with this test. One of the most effective and affordable ways to practice your skill is listening to audio podcasts. We wrote about the secrets of working with audio files in the article "".
• Speaking skill... A typical task is a spontaneous speech on any topic. It is best to rehearse this part of the exam with your teacher: he will help you correct common mistakes and teach you to speak naturally. There is a simple and very effective exercise for training spontaneous speech: choose any object and try to talk about it for 1 minute. So you will learn to talk about anything, and this is exactly what you need on the exam. You can also work on your speaking skills on your own. To do this, try the following method. Take an interesting video, watch it several times, learn subtitles. After that, turn on the video without sound and try to catch the pace of the speaker. This exercise will help you learn useful vocabulary and become fluent in English. In addition, do not forget to read aloud: you will improve your pronunciation, work on intonation and correct accent, and learn to formulate your thoughts clearly and competently.

7. Read about the experiences of people who passed the exam

If you are interested in the series of Cambridge exams FCE, CAE, CPE, then you should definitely read the article by the teacher Svetlana “How I passed the SAE. Confessions of a certificate holder ". She shared her personal experience of passing one of these exams, gave practical advice on how to show the "class" in the oral part of the exam. Try to learn from other people's mistakes.

Learn all you can from the mistakes of others. You won’t have time to make them all yourself.

Learn from the mistakes of others. You won't have enough time to do them all on your own.

8. Rehearse the exam

Find out how the test goes, how much time you will have to complete each assignment, etc. Together with a teacher or friend who also needs to take the exam, try writing an essay, reading the text and answering questions, doing listening exercises and speaking a variety of topics in English. In this case, you need to meet a certain time allotted for each part of the exam. By the time of the exam, you should have the notorious "sense of time", which will tell you at what pace to complete this or that task.

9. Get all information in English

Try to get all the information you need during the day in English. Looking for a new microwave? See descriptions of models and reviews on the websites of foreign online stores. Would you like to bake a cake? Look for the recipe on English-language sites. Can't imagine your life without books? Read them in English. Would you like to know how to properly prepare for your English exam? Look for information in English! In this simple way, you will enrich your vocabulary with vocabulary from various areas of life and discover many useful and exciting resources.

10. Do not be distracted by alarmists

Proper preparation for the English exam is the key to success and a good mood. Surely before the exam, you will go to some forum for English language learners, where you will look for tips on how to prepare for the English exam. It happens that the participants in the discussion give very valuable recommendations, but you will have to hardly isolate them from the stream of complaints and panic messages about how "difficult to pass the exam", "this year they promise super difficult tasks." Such messages distract and move you away from your desired goal. Better to spend precious time studying or relaxing.

We hope that after reading our article, you will no longer torment Google with the question "How to prepare for the English exam", but start hard and productive work. If you need help, try enrolling in the "" course. Experienced teachers will be happy to help you prepare for the challenge. Passing an exam is not so difficult if you thoroughly prepare for it. We wish you no fluff, no feather!

There are more than 20 international exams in the world that test knowledge of the English language. Have you decided to get an objective assessment of your knowledge, but do not know which English exam is better to pass? Among all the variety of exams, we will help you choose the one that suits your goals.

The day has come when you seriously thought about passing the international exam. There are several main reasons why a certificate might be useful to you:

• want to get a new prestigious job;
• dream of moving up the career ladder;
• firmly decided to leave for permanent residence abroad;
• intend to enter a university abroad;
• you need a certificate to get an objective assessment of your knowledge of the English language.

More than 15,000 universities, companies and government agencies around the world recognize international exam certificates. In employment, having an international certificate in English is a significant competitive advantage that will help you get a position in one of the large companies: Hewlett-Packard (HP), IBM, Sony, Bosch, DHL, Credit Suisse, Motorola, Siemens AG, American Express, Procter & Gamble etc.

The tests test the candidates' knowledge of the following skills:

• Reading - Reading.
• Listening - Listening.
• Writing - Writing.
• Speaking - Speaking.

In addition, the exams test how well the candidate is proficient in aspects of the language such as grammar (Grammar), vocabulary (Vocabulary) and pronunciation (Pronunciation).

In recent years, the structure of many exams has changed. Some of them have changed their names, but they are still searched on the Internet under the old names and abbreviations. We decided to collect old and current exam names into a table.

All those dreaming of a certificate ask themselves the question: "What exam in English to take?" And here the choice is very large (the sky is the limit)! So that you don't get confused, we have compiled an author's infographic of all international exams in English (click on it to enlarge the image).

Choose an exam depending on your goals and help.

Exams for Study Abroad

How many tempting prospects are opening up for us studying abroad! Have you already chosen where to enter the magistracy? It remains only to pass the exam. European countries and the United Kingdom most often require a certificate from the University of Cambridge in the list of documents for admission. If you are applying to a university in the USA or Canada, then, most likely, you will have to present an American exam certificate. You can read more about choosing an exam in our article ""

In many ways, these exams are similar. They confirm your current level of knowledge and do not imply any passing score. The question is, will you be satisfied with a certificate that indicates the Pre-Intermediate level? Most likely not, because universities require Upper-Intermediate and higher. TOEFL and IELTS certificates are valid for two years after passing. And this is logical. First, the level of knowledge of the language changes. Secondly, such a certificate helps to solve the problem here and now: go to university, get a job, etc.

There are two types of IELTS exam: General and Academic. For study, you need Academic. It's harder than General: Writing and reading sections are based on complex texts with topical vocabulary and advanced grammar. And General will be useful to you for any purpose other than education (immigration, work).

Exams for emigration and self-development

Have you been studying English for a long time and would like to prove that you have a decent level of knowledge? Then select the exam among,.

The main advantage is that the certificates of these exams are valid for life. Only not everyone will receive it. Unfortunately, if the examinee is unable to achieve a passing grade, then he will be given a certificate at a lower level. It's simple: if you passed the CAE and did not score the required minimum points, you will receive a document with the Upper-Intermediate level. Strictly but fair.

Exams for work

Have you been offered an interesting job in an international company? Great news! One thing: you need a certificate that confirms your high level of English proficiency. What is the best English exam to take for work? Choose: TOEIC, IELTS (General), B2 First (FCE), C1 Advanced (CAE), C2 Proficiency (CPE).

Business English exams

If you need to confirm your knowledge of business English vocabulary, pay attention to: B1 Business Preliminary (BEC Preliminary) corresponds to the Intermediate level, B2 Business Vantage (BEC Vantage) - Upper-Intermediate, C1 Business Higher (BEC Higher) - Advanced. Looking to impress potential employers when applying for a job? Choose BEC. Are you going to study business disciplines in a foreign language? Also BEC. Are you planning to conduct seminars and trainings on business topics yourself? Again BEC.

Business English exams comprehensively test students' skills. The BEC series is distinguished by its emotional vocabulary, advanced grammar, long texts and audio recordings, graphics and presentations, topics from the fields of marketing and management.

Exams for English teachers

Recently, English teachers are increasingly thinking about certificates confirming their qualifications - this is a strong competitive advantage in the labor market. TKT, CELTA or DELTA will work for them.

The TKT (Teaching Knowledge Test) certificate confirms that its holder is proficient in the methodology and theory of teaching a foreign language. The exam consists of three theoretical modules, each of which can be taken separately.

CELTA (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) and DELTA (Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) are needed to show that the teacher knows how to apply their knowledge in practice. The CELTA exam is chosen by novice teachers, while DELTA is chosen by more experienced teachers.

Exams for children

The smallest English lovers need to start somewhere. What is the best English test for a child? The University of Cambridge offers three exams for children 7-12 years old: Pre A1 Starters (YLE Starters), A1 Movers (YLE Movers), A2 Flyers (YLE Flyers). These are the simplest exams, but they are very important for the child.

The A2 Key for Schools (KET for Schools) exam is a great place to start for a high school student. Key, like other exams, tests knowledge of four skills - listening, speaking, reading and writing. The exam is quite easy, but your child will be very pleased with himself, because not many peers can boast of such a confident start in English!

Upon successful passing of the B1 Preliminary for Schools (PET for Schools) exam, the child will receive an Intermediate level certificate, and B2 First for Schools (FCE for Schools) - Upper-Intermediate.

In conclusion, I would like to say that there is definitely an exam for every taste and color. We hope that after reading our article you will know exactly which English test is best to take. Whatever you choose, the main thing is to reach the end, get the coveted international certificate and prove to yourself that you speak English at a decent level.

Choose one of the following methods based on your preparation goals, planned budget, and personal priorities.

English courses abroad and in Russia

Training abroad is carried out on the basis of British language schools and universities. It is optimal to choose an English-speaking country for these purposes. Foreign educational institutions offer several groups of programs:

• from the Upper-Intermediate level and above: develop skills for passing the test;
• from a level below Intermediate: "Language for Academic Purposes", which combines language learning with preparation for passing the test;
• Foundation Program for future undergraduate students (combines language and academic training with preparation in the subjects that the applicant has chosen to study at the university).

Preparation abroad is immersion in the linguistic and cultural environment, acquaintance with the country and people. A barrier to such a choice can be cost, the inability to combine preparation with current work, study and, paradoxically, poor knowledge of the language.

Training in Russia is carried out within the framework of specialized programs based on language schools, courses and accredited examination centers. They offer general and special programs of varying intensity.

For some people, group work is an additional motivation. It encourages not to miss classes and complete tasks in a timely manner. However, most courses do not offer flexible schedules, and missed classes will most likely have to be reinstated on their own or for an additional fee. Short-term intensive courses will help to systematize existing knowledge and to talk, but you should not hope to master the program of a whole semester in a couple of weeks.

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