I have here a bunch of language tests or language exams: TOEFL IBT, Réussir le DAF
this is for French - El cronometro C1, Cronometro c2, and I also have IELTS and
ZOB, which is a German test for C2, I've taken all of these exams.. Hi my name
is Luca from LucaLampariello.com and today we're going to talk about how to use
language exams to improve your foreign languages.
When I say the word "Language exam" or exam for that matter or test, did a shiver
run down your spine? Well it did on mine. The reason why is because I have built I
as much as you probably did - have built a number of negative associations with the
event of exams or tests. I did a number of them at high school and university
this is how society and the education system has learned to assess, gauge our
skills in any field and on the one hand it's a system that works but on the
other it entails a number of stressful and negative emotions associated with that
in the book make it stick which you can see here the authors make the case that
if we build a positive association with tests things get much better so a number
of teachers and educators have actually implemented the system where tests are
just used as learning tools so you don't get marks anymore you just use tests to
fill in your gaps to discover the students gaps and people get much more
relaxed you can use tests not only for you know chemistry mathematics but also
for language learning and this is what we're going to talk about now.
Whatever your level in your target languages you can take tests at a
slightly higher level so that you can put yourself in a situation outside of
your comfort zone when you're going to learn a lot for example if you have a
beginner level you can take an A2 test to try your hand and test your hand and
learn as a consequence of that or if you have a b1 level you can try to strive
for a b2 but language exams really make a difference when you reached a b2 level
let me explain why. A b2 level - of course we're talking about labels but it gives
you an idea if we define a skill - is that level where you're able to function
within a society meaning that you can you started enjoying the language you
can read you can listen to the radio you can watch television you can talk to
people so people normally reach this level and they're very content with that
because they say okay I reached this level I can function in the language I can use
the language I can enjoy the language why should I do all those things that
I've done in school because if you think about it this is how we have learned our
own native language we have started learning the language in our own
environment with our parents with our peers but then we learned how the
language formally works, we learn how to speak and how to write in a more
formal way in a more refined way by going to school so people who reach a b2 level, normally they tell themselves that's it I've just done what
I had to do I function in the language I don't want to move forward this is where
language exams really make a difference let me explain how this works if you
take a language exam you're going to do a number of things that you would not
normally do in once you've reached a b2 level in my case I think I've reached a
b2 level in Polish and I function and I spend a lot of time in Poland I fully
enjoy I fully and thoroughly enjoy speaking polish but I do know that I have gaps I new
know that I still cannot express myself in a refined way give a three to five
minute speech write a very well-crafted email or write an essay
or read and understand the nuances of some more refined text etc so if
you purchase a language exam and you know the exact date you have three to
six months it already gives you a schedule it gives you a deadline as the
consequence of that, you can plan your own schedule of learning I've been
coaching a lot of students and I normally tell them that if they give
themselves three to six months you have a period of general preparation and then
you have a more specific preparation for the exam itself it's always important to
make simulations of the exam and buy some books to prepare specifically for
that exam we'll talk about this in a in another video but another great thing
that taking the language exam gives you is that it gives you structure it makes
you do things that you would not normally do so it makes you work in all
areas and this is what you should normally work on in your language
learning it makes you learning and reading listening speaking and writing
because most language tests or most language exams have these four versions
have these four sections plus it makes you enforces you to work within each
section in different activities which is a fantastic way to push yourself when
you don't feel like pushing yourself because as I said before you've already
reached a limit or already reached the stage where you're enjoying the language
so what really counts here is not the language exam per se that's the end of
the journey who really counts us for everything that you do before that
preparation planning looking forward to doing things immersing yourself in the
language doing things that you would not do if you didn't in the exam I've done this
in four languages English German Spanish and French C2, and each and every time
I've taken a language test it's been an exhilarating experience I've been
rehearsing I've been collaborating with other people and I highly recommend you
take the test for another reason which I'm going to tell you about in a second
you
I often see in the comments section that people ask me if I have language
certificates with which and through which I can actually prove that I speak
these languages I do not think honestly that you need language certificates to
prove that you speak a language because if for example I'm speaking English here
well that should be evidence enough that I can use English to deliver my message
but the world is not just about making YouTube videos the world is also about
finding a job or creating a career and whatnot and in some countries having a
piece of paper a certificate something that is proof that you can actually do
something is great to get a job you would not hire a pilot or a doctor if
they don't show you that they have some kind of piece of paper to prove that
they can you know drive an airplane or have surgery on you and in the case of
language learning of course if you want to speak languages for the sake of
communicating that's one thing but in within certain professional environments
like translators or interpreters or other jobs that entail a very good and
professional knowledge of the language you might want to have you might want to
have to say I have English French Spanish on your CV so this comes as a
bonus on top of taking language exams and learning through the process of
preparation of preparing the exam and taking the exam you also have a bonus of
having something that you can show and say hey look I speak the language and
mind you a lot of people put on their CVS the fact that they can speak a
language way they cannot speak the language you want to do two things that
go with one another and they're really important the combination is having
having a language on your CV but also actually be able to speak the language
that's a perfect combination for getting a job or you know for having a
fulfilling life in general
so there you have it there's a few key points that I wanted to touch upon and
stress in this video the very first point that I wanted to make is that we
have built through society in our life circumstances a number of negative
associations with the word or the concept of being tested or being
analyzed by somebody else it entails judgments marks disappointment and
competition instead you want to transform a test or a language exam into
a learning tool keep in mind that you should have this paradigm shift in place
you want to take a language test because you see it as a learning tool because
you want to learn more not because you want to get great marks on it a language
exam can and will always help you focus on the things that you need to work on
in order to move from one level to the other but the interesting part is when
you have reached a b2 level which is the level that people consider more or less
as fluency where you function in the language and take your language skills
to the next level language exams are a fantastic tool to make that happen and
the third point that I wanted to make is that if you take language tests with the
sake of learning you also get the bonus of having something to show to the world
and if you do it correctly if you really develop these skills to correspond to
these levels you'll have something on your CV to show a look I can actually
speak the language and then actually show that you do speak that language
because you really worked on it and this is great for your professional life and
your life in general I've analyzed just one aspect of
language exams there's so many other things that we can expand on together
and please feel free to drop a bunch of questions you might have about language
exams exams about whether these exams are useful which kind of exam do you
need for a specific language how to prepare how long it takes to prepare
what kind of exercises you want to do there's a number of things that you can
think of and please ask them and I will do my best to answer in a Q&A video as
always I've prepared a lengthy and through article about this very same topic
that you can read and listen to so please come over my blog and if you
haven't subscribed to my blog and this YouTube channel please do it now
also the last thing I wanted to say don't be scared of this stuff this is
very useful it can change your life it will make your language skills better so
just embrace it as one of the learning tools you have
that's your disposal to make your life better and your languages better for
that matter happy language learning