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You are not a real polyglot if... | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5215 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes  Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 289 of 299 06 November 2013 at 12:20am | IP Logged | |||||
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I certainly agree with everything that has been said so far about the real value of language tests and
certifications. Many people don't need them, and they don't reflect current reality. Fine, but I read on the website of Humboldt Universitat : "A certificate at least at level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (Europäischer Referenzrahmen für Sprachen) is required for a pre-university course. Documentation merely certifying attendance of German courses or lessons is not sufficient. Applicants for a degree course need to have German language skills at level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, or a TestDaF certificate with a TDN 3 score in all four parts of the test." I didn't invent this. Now, some people may say, "Who cares about Humboldt Universitat? I don't want to go there anyhow." Well, no test. You save time and money. But suppose you do want to attend this university, what do you do? My suggestion is that you better start studying for the exams. A ten-minute conversation over Skype isn't going to cut it. It all depends on what you want to do. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4492 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 290 of 299 06 November 2013 at 12:31am | IP Logged | |||||
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Good for the Humboldt Universität. I already have a degree.
4 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6382 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 291 of 299 06 November 2013 at 12:47am | IP Logged | |||||
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For me the more important part here is "Documentation merely certifying
attendance of German courses or lessons is not sufficient." Always great to see recognition for the fact that you can attend classes for 10 years and still know next to nothing. 6 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| s_allard Triglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5215 days ago 2704 posts - 5425 votes Speaks: French*, English, Spanish Studies: Polish | Message 292 of 299 06 November 2013 at 5:51am | IP Logged | |||||
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Wasn't it the great Mark Twain who said: “It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and
remove all doubt”? Let's move on. As has already been pointed out, most people here at HTLAL have no compelling need to have their language proficiency certified. This does not negate the observation that many other people, especially for university entrance, do need this certification. What is interesting is that some people do actually pursue certification without a professional necessity. Why would anyone go through all the trouble and expense of sitting a CEFR exam for no special reason? In my conversations with fellow candidates a few reasons emerged: 1. The desire to benchmark their linguistic achievements. Some people feel that the piece of paper says something about all the effort they have put into their pursuit. 2, Studying for the exam forces the candidate to practice and drill subjects that they would have normally neglected. This particularly important for points of grammar that are a bit more sophisticated. 3. Preparing for the exam demands that the candidat adopt a systematic study plan that includes considerable reading, listening and very often working with a tutor. Most people say that this gives a boost to their language skills. All in all, it seems that for these people passing an exam is a sign of personal triumph more than anything else. 3 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6382 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 293 of 299 06 November 2013 at 10:10am | IP Logged | |||||
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Great quote. Applies to both of us.
I'm actually one of these people, as I didn't need the Finnish certificate for anything, and I still don't need it. I was kicked out of uni and wanted to have a legitimate reason to go to Finland. I also wanted this to be out of the way in case I ever want to live or work in Finland (and by now I've decided that I do). It's also great to have a confirmation for something that I've never taken classes for, and it's had unexpected benefits as I used it to show that I can learn independently. I never said certificates should be abolished, but instead of your "deal with it" attitude it's more productive to point out that some universities are just lazy. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4492 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 294 of 299 06 November 2013 at 10:23am | IP Logged | |||||
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I would probably sit a few exams if I wanted to move somewhere permanently, or obtain a
job in a certain area. I hope to be able to do Swedex in 2014 to obtain a certificate that I speak B2 Swedish (so I can spend 6 months or a year in Sweden at some point). 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| montmorency Diglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 4613 days ago 2371 posts - 3676 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: Danish, Welsh | Message 295 of 299 06 November 2013 at 5:50pm | IP Logged | |||||
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Perhaps not the Humboldt, but I think at least some German univerities will accept your
application, conditional on passing the TestDAF prior to the start of the degree course. TestDaf might possibly be a more attractive option since it is presumably aimed more specifically at the requirements of someone studying at degree level in Germany. I also note that TDN 3 corresponds to "only" CEFR level B2, so it would seem to be an easier route to university degree study than a CEFR certification. And I think some universities offer courses aimed to get people through the TestDAf certificate which they could follow in the period prior to the start of their degree course. Quite a good introduction to university life in Germany, I would have thought. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| luke Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6990 days ago 3133 posts - 4351 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Esperanto, French | Message 296 of 299 19 December 2013 at 8:45am | IP Logged | |||||
Or the quadrilingual who can speak Canadian, Australian, English and American. 2 persons have voted this message useful |
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