Vanessa: The most common question that
my students ask me is, "Vanessa, what's my English level?" Maybe you've been learning English since
you were 10 years old. You can read some newspaper articles. You can understand some English songs.
You can have some basic English conversations. But when you try to turn on an English TV show
or movie without subtitles, oh my goodness, they speak so fast. Or maybe you try to have an
English conversation on the phone with a client at work, your heart starts to beat, boom, boom,
boom, boom, boom, boom, really fast. Is this you? Hi, I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.
And in my personal experience as an English teacher for the past 10 years to millions
of students around the world, I can tell you that your English level matters less
than your confidence and kindness when you speak in English. Let me explain.
Let's imagine this situation. You're visiting New York City, and someone approaches you and says,
"Excuse me, do you know which way is Central Park?" You have two options. Number one,
"I don't know." Or number two, "Sorry, I'm a visitor. I think Central Park is there."
So which one is better? Number two, of course, right? But does number two have amazing vocabulary
and clear native pronunciation? No, and no. But does it matter? No, because they spoke with
confidence and they were kind to the other person. Today, you are going to test yourself with
listening, reading, writing, and speaking at the beginner, some people call this A1 and A2,
intermediate, B1, B 2, and advanced C1 or C2 levels. So as you test yourself today with the
beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels in this English test, I want you to remember that,
really, confidence and kindness are key. Like always, I've created a free PDF
worksheet for you to download. This is essential for today's lesson. I highly
recommend downloading this free PDF so that you can review all of today's questions,
all of the correct answers, and some tips that I've added to this worksheet to help you improve
your English skills altogether. You can click on the link in the description to download that
free PDF worksheet for this English test today. All right, let's get started with the beginner
level questions. The first category is listening. You're going to listen to a
quick clip and then you're going to answer two questions about it. Let's listen two times.
Excuse me, can you help me find the modern art
museum? Dan:
Yeah, no problem. Go to the end of the street, and at the pet store, turn left. You'll see the
museum straight ahead. Vanessa:
Excuse me, can you help me find the modern art museum?
Dan: Yeah, no problem. Go
to the end of the street, and at the pet store, turn left. You'll see the museum straight ahead.
Vanessa: Listening question number one,
what does she want to find? The classical art museum, the modern art museum, or the pet store?
The correct answer is the modern art museum. Question number two, where should she go at the
pet store? Turn left, turn right, or go straight ahead? The correct answer is A, turn left.
Let's go on to the reading section. You are going to see a quick reading section appear
on the screen. I would like you to read this in your head or read it out loud. You are not
going to hear my voice reading this, but you'll have a few seconds to read over it,
and then you'll answer two questions based on this reading section. Let's read.
Where did Vanessa meet Sylvia? At a concert at school, at a park?
The answer is at a park. What does Sylvia want to do? She wants to give back the ticket,
she wants to go to a concert, or she wants to meet at the park?
She wants to give back the ticket. Let's go on to the beginner writing
section. I want you to choose which is the best word to fill in the blank. You can either
write it down or you can just choose one of the answers on the screen. The question is,
my sister is a quiet person. She isn't shy, talkative, or funny?
The answer is she isn't talkative. This is the opposite of quiet. That's your clue
here. My sister is quiet, she isn't... Which one is the opposite? Talkative.
Let's go to the next question. I love all types of food... Desserts. Especially,
almost, or sometimes? One of these words is the best fit in this sentence.
I love all types of food, especially desserts. Let's go on to the beginner speaking
section. I want to know how would you respond to me if I said this to you,
"I'm so sorry for being late." Would you say, "My bad," "That's tough," or "It's no problem"?
The correct answer is, that's no problem. How would you respond if I told you that I just
came back from a fishing trip in Alaska? Would you say, "Oh no," "How cool," or "That's good"?
What would you say? The best answer is how cool. Congratulations, you have completed the beginner
level questions. Let's level it up and go to the intermediate questions. The first
section is listening. You're going to listen to a longer dialogue between my husband, Dan,
and I. In this conversation, Dan is pretending to be a professional who is giving some listening
skills advice. Listen carefully to this clip. We will only listen to it one time. Of course,
this is a video. You can always go back and repeat it, but for the sake of this video, we will only
watch it or listen to it one time and then you'll answer two listening questions. Let's listen.
It's nice to meet you, Dan. I'm looking forward to your advice about how to improve
my listening skills. I have to confess, it's not something I'm very good at.
Dan: I'm glad to be here. Well,
I often hear that listening to fast conversations is really scary for language learners.
Vanessa: That's definitely the case for me,
especially in a stressful situation. Dan:
Well, there are two strategies. One is just to nod your head and try to get out of the situation as
fast as possible. Vanessa:
I've done that before. Dan:
But when you really want to know what the other person said, the second strategy is trying to
summarize what you think they said. Vanessa:
How can I do that? Dan:
You can start with a question like, so the first step is to, or I should go to the office,
and what was the name of the building? Vanessa:
Oh, thanks. That's some good advice. The first listening question is,
Vanessa confesses that she's not good at math, dancing, or listening?
The correct answer is Vanessa confesses that she's not good at listening.
Dan gives two strategies for what to do when you don't understand what someone said. What is the
second strategy? Is it scream and run away? Is it summarize what the other person said? Or is
it smile and nod your head? The correct answer is try to summarize what the other person said.
Let's go on to the intermediate reading section. Like before, you will have a few seconds to
read over a section and then we'll answer two questions based on what you read. Let's read.
What does Vanessa want to do? Does she want to invite Dan to Central Park in New York,
or collaborate or work with Dan on some lessons, or tell Dan to stop stealing her students?
The correct answer is she wants to collaborate or work with Dan on some lessons.
How does Dan engage his English students? He uses different forms of social media,
he makes them read a lot of books, or he draws cartoons for them?
He uses different forms of social media. Let's go to the intermediate writing section.
I want you to fill in the blank with the best possible word choice. I tried the dessert,
but I came to the... That I don't like those flavors together. Answer, conclusion, or opinion?
Be careful. These words all have a very similar meaning, but there is only one correct answer.
I came to the conclusion that I don't like these flavors together. This is a fixed phrase, to come
to the conclusion. It always sticks together. Let's look at the next one. I want to go eat
sushi. Do you have a... For a restaurant? Recommendation, advice, or decision? Again,
these words are very similar, but there's only one correct answer.
Do you have a recommendation for a restaurant? All right, let's go to the next section. The
final intermediate section is speaking. How would you respond to me if I said to you, "Do you have
a second? I have a favor to ask."? Would you say, "Sure, what's up?", or would you say, "I'm good,
how are you?", or would you say, "Sounds good, see you tomorrow"? What would your response be?
The correct answer is, sure, what's up? How would you respond to me if I told you,
"Did you hear the news? I won the award." Would you say, "I'm so sorry," or would you say,
"Congratulations, that's great," or would you say, "Can I do anything to help?"?
The correct answer is congratulations. That's great.
And what else is great is that we have finished the intermediate section, so let's go on to the
advanced questions. We're leveling it up and we're going to start with the listening section. In this
advanced listening section, you will be listening to two people in a business meeting using quite
high level advanced vocabulary and grammatical structures, so listen carefully and then you'll
answer two questions about it. Let's listen. Dan:
Thanks for coming to this project meeting. I know that everyone has been hunkering
down for the past few weeks, but so far, the key stakeholders are really pleased with how
it's going. This project will really benefit our overall value proposition and company as a whole.
Vanessa: Thanks, Dan. It's been a good experience
collaborating together. I must say that it has been difficult to fit things in considering we're
also working on our usual monthly projects too. Dan:
Thanks for sharing that. Yes, I know everyone has a lot on their plates at the moment,
but let's talk about what we need to do and by when so that we can
finish up. Vanessa:
That sounds good. Dan:
First, we need to tackle the timeline so that we can finish everything on time.
Vanessa: Why does Vanessa say that it's been difficult to
fit in the new project? Because the stakeholders aren't pleased, because they're also working
on their usual monthly projects, or because collaborating with the team is taking too long?
The correct answer is because they're also working on their usual monthly projects.
What is the first task that they will discuss in this meeting? What the value proposition is,
who will be working on the project, or what the project timeline will be?
The correct answer is what the project timeline will be.
Let's go onto the advanced reading section. You are going to be reading quite an advanced article,
and I'll give you a few minutes to read through this and then we'll answer two
questions together. Are you ready to get your reading cap on? Let's go read.
What does Steven Pinker think is not really important for human wellbeing? Is it safety,
peace, knowledge and health? Economic inequality? Or reason and science are under attack?
He thinks that economic inequality is not important
for human wellbeing. Very interesting idea. Let's go to the next question. What does
Stephen Pinker think we are in danger of? Damage to democracy and world cooperation,
global warming and natural disasters, or worldwide health and inequality?
He thinks A, damage to democracy and world cooperation.
Okay, let's go to the next section, which is the advanced writing section. I want you to fill in
the blank with the best possible word. I called the company to complain about their product. My
husband didn't want to do it because he doesn't like meeting, confrontation, or disagreement?
The correct answer is he doesn't like confrontation. This is especially when
you are talking to someone verbally about a problem. He doesn't like to confront other
people about problems. Instead, maybe he will just avoid them. He doesn't like confrontation.
The next writing question is, Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison were very...
They gave us modern electricity. Is it invention, problem solving, or innovative?
They were very innovative. This means they created a lot of inventions. It's the word
we use to talk about people who create a lot of inventions. They were innovative.
Let's go on to our final section, which is the advanced speaking section. How
would you respond to me if I said to you, "I'm afraid I made a mistake. I forgot
to send you the email confirming our travel plans." Would you say,
"These things happen", "I'm so sorry about that," or "I feel better now"?
The best answer is these things happen. This is a great phrase to use when you want to make
someone else feel better when they made a mistake. Don't worry, these things happen.
What would you say to me if I said to you, "Thank you so much for covering my shift while I was away
last weekend." Would you say, "I hope that's okay," "Not a problem," or "When can I help?"
The correct answer is not a problem. Wonderful phrase to use.
Congratulations on finishing this English test. Let me know in the comments what your
score was. And remember, no matter what your score was, go into the world and use English
with confidence and kindness. And don't forget to download the free PDF worksheet that goes
with this English test. It includes all of the test questions, all of the test answers,
correct answers as well, and some tips to help you choose the correct answers the next time
that you take in English level test. You can click on the link in the description
to download that free PDF worksheet today. Well, thanks so much for learning English
with me and I'll see you again next Friday for a new lesson here on my YouTube channel. Bye.
But wait, do you want more? I recommend watching this video next where you will
test your advanced vocabulary skills. 3.9 million English students have already taken
this test. Will you be number four million? I don't know. We'll see you there. Bye.