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Language assessment tests | ||
Tags: Placement Test | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Immersion, Schools & Certificates |  | |
| outcast Bilingual Heptaglot Senior Member China Joined 4934 days ago 869 posts - 1364 votes  Speaks: Spanish*, English*, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Mandarin Studies: Korean | Message 1 of 8 01 February 2014 at 7:28pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Hello! I hope everyone has been doing well in the last few months I have not been here!
As some here may know, I have been studying languages very hard for 3 years now (2011, 2012, 2013). I feel it is time to get a proper, professional assessment of where I stand in the three languages I have learned (French, German, Portuguese). I get extremely high praise from people both on my pronunciation, and vocabulary, and I am told that I am "fluent" quite a bit now. I don't think I am completely fluent yet, thus I still describe my knowledge as "basic fluency", which I am now quite certain it is more than appropriate for me (last year I still had doubts). Anyway, I want an "official" assessment. Where could I take an assessment test for these three languages. I hope people understand what I mean here. There are tests in all three for "levels": A2, B1, B2, C1, etc. I DO NOT want to take that sort of test (for the time being). I just want to show up somewhere, take a test (preferably oral and written), without any prior "studying". I am simply showing up with what I have learned on my own, and let the chips fall where they may. At the end of that I simply get an assessment of my level, and thus I can analyze where I stand and where have to improve. I don't want online tests (I mean, I don't mind links if any of you have them for me to take them just for fun... I just took the Goethe institute's assessment and got 25 of 30, claiming I was "almost perfect"), I want something that is actually graded by a human being or an organization in person. Cheers! 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5247 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 2 of 8 01 February 2014 at 8:17pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Welcome back, outcast! I can only answer for Portuguese. If I remember correctly, you were concentrating on Brazilian Portuguese. I thought about taking it but it's just too cost prohibitive for me to travel to the mainland US just to take the test.
The Brazilian test is the Celpe-Bras. It is not done to CEFR level, since Brazil is not in Europe. The test is usually given in April and October at four official testing sites in the U.S.: Florida International University, Harvard University, University of Florida, and Utah Valley. Cost is about $100 for the test itself. You can register at INEP. For Iberian Portuguese the Centro de Avaliação de Português Língua Estrangeira tests seem to have a less rigid schedule. These are done by CEFR level. I'd love to know your take on the test after you've done it. I downloaded a bunch of the practice materials for the test a year ago but can't remember the site where I got them. I think it was the official Ministry of Education site. Hopefully, you won't have to travel too far to take the test. For me, It's just not practical given where I live. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
 emk Diglot Moderator United States Joined 5517 days ago 2615 posts - 8806 votes Speaks: English*, FrenchB2 Studies: Spanish, Ancient Egyptian Personal Language Map | Message 3 of 8 01 February 2014 at 8:26pm | IP Logged | |||||
For French, your best bet is probably the TCF (Test de connaissance du français). This is supposed to be the "assessment" exam where you can more-or-less walk in off the street and get a score. In practice, of course, you can probably get a boost by doing one practice exam beforehand so you're not figuring things out on exam day. The other major French exams are the DELF/DALF. These are the "diploma" exams, and you're supposed to study for them. I mean, I really loved the DELF B2 oral exam, which required me to choose a position and to defend it successfully with an oral presentation and Q&A. But that's the kind of skill where some practice helps, especially at B2! For the DALF C1, you need to write a synthèse, which is a specific type of essay that's apparently somewhat popular in France. Again, studying helps. The other possibility is that you can shop around for a good exam tutor. They can usually give you a ballpark judgement pretty quickly, because they frequently need to decide when their students are ready to sit an exam. 6 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| outcast Bilingual Heptaglot Senior Member China Joined 4934 days ago 869 posts - 1364 votes Speaks: Spanish*, English*, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Mandarin Studies: Korean | Message 4 of 8 02 February 2014 at 5:48am | IP Logged | |||||
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Hello EMK and Iguanamon,
The TCF seems exactly what I was looking for. I have to see how much the test costs, hopefully not as much as a diploma-style DELF. Otherwise it sort of makes no sense if it does not confer you any official title. Iguanamon, the CELPE-BRAS seems to be more of a diploma test, that is, there are four levels. Now, I wonder if one simply pre-selects which level they want to take the exam in (intermediate, int-advanced, etc), or do they do a pre-test online or through postal service. I don't know if you have any insights, otherwise I will contact both on Monday for more detailed information. I'm a bit unsure what I should really do. I REALLY do want to be tested to see at what level my skills are right now. The reason I don't think the CEFR style tests help me in this case is because they seem to be an "up and down" vote: either you pass or you fail. They don't tell you where you stand. Furthermore, they encourage you to study for the tests. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5247 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 5 of 8 02 February 2014 at 12:46pm | IP Logged | |||||
You take the test and your grade determines the level:
Edited by iguanamon on 02 February 2014 at 3:36pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 4994 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 6 of 8 02 February 2014 at 1:26pm | IP Logged | |||||
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TCF prices are similar to the DELF/DALF ones. It is very likely to be just what you need, it is meant to show the up to date level of your French so the certificate is valid for two years only. There are exam preparation materials (I once borrowed such a book in the library) which are a good lead on what to expect. Another huge difference is the composition of the exam. You can take the exam and do only passive skills parts + use of language part (which is something missing in the delf/dalf but present in similar exams for English or Spanish learners). Actually, the written and the spoken exams are separate parts you pay on top of the basic exams.
So, it is awesome to know your level up to date. But considering you may do the exam without speaking and writing and still get a score, it is easier to get higher results (and it makes comparing people based on tcf (which some universities and companies prefer over delf/dalf) a bit tricky in my opinion). And the price, at least from the info I found two years ago or so, is higher if you consider delf/dalf for a lifetime vs. tcf basic+written+spoken for two years. Edited by Cavesa on 02 February 2014 at 1:36pm 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Mareike Senior Member Germany Joined 6209 days ago 267 posts - 323 votes Speaks: German* Studies: English, Swedish | Message 7 of 8 06 February 2014 at 5:30pm | IP Logged | |||||
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It is not a human being and it doesn't say anything about speaking, but have you tried dialang?
It has tests for Reading, Listning, Writing, Grammar and Vocabulary and give you a level (A1 to C2) for each area. I know you don't looking for an online/computer test, but it's free and you get some feedback: http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/researchenterprise/dialang/dialan g_technical 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| iguanamon Pentaglot Senior Member Virgin Islands Speaks: Ladino Joined 5247 days ago 2241 posts - 6731 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Creole (French) | Message 8 of 8 11 February 2014 at 4:48pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Registration for the CELPE-Bras test worldwide starts today. Registration ends on March 10.
To Register online Edited by iguanamon on 11 February 2014 at 4:49pm 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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