24 messages over 3 pages: 1 2 3 Next >>
napoleon
Tetraglot
Senior Member
India
Joined 4826 days ago
543 posts - 874 votes 
Speaks: Bengali*, English, Hindi, Urdu
Studies: French, Arabic (Written)
| Message 1 of 24 11 July 2014 at 12:39pm | IP Logged |
The CPE is not very popular in my country. Here, if someone wants to go study in the US, he takes the TOEFL. If he wants to study in the UK or some other Commonwealth realm, he takes the IELTS. No one ever takes the CPE.
It is so uncommon that I had never heard of this test before I joined HTLAL.
It is so uncommon that British Council, Kolkata, does not administer it. They have test centres for it in only three cities: Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai.
The day before yesterday, I fired off an email to British Council, Delhi.
Here's what I wrote:
Quote:
Dear Sir,
I am writing to you because I wish to appear for the CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English) examination.
Could you please send me a brochure and the relevant forms.
Please let me know the examination fee and the examination date.
I would have liked to sit for the examination in Kolkata, but, as far as I know, the CPE is only administered by the British Councils of Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. I shall be grateful if you could confirm that British Council, Kolkata, does not offer this examination.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours truly,
...
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Then, I went n00b. I started a thread in the Advice Centre without bothering to google first.
napoleon wrote:
I am going to take the CPE (Certificate of proficiency in English) examination this December.
I am confident about acing the written test.
The spoken exam is what worries me.
I'm sure I'll pass. But I want an A.
Any of you have any tips, about the exam in general, and the speaking part of it, in particular?
Thanks.
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When I did not get any advice on the thread, I did the next best thing. I asked Uncle Google for help, who directed me to Francois' excllent thread on this subject.
Francois has not written much about how he passed the CPE, but, he has shared with us, a picture of his certificate.
"Grade A", no less.
Looking at it has been very motivating.
2 persons have voted this message useful
| Lugubert
Heptaglot
Senior Member
Sweden
Joined 6677 days ago
186 posts - 235 votes
Speaks: Swedish*, Danish, Norwegian, EnglishC2, German, Dutch, French
Studies: Mandarin, Hindi
| Message 2 of 24 11 July 2014 at 3:02pm | IP Logged |
I got here by link. Some comments on orals at the source thread.
My am I old! I got the Grade A well before those stupid Yurrp levels were designed. I think I'm at English (sufficiently close to my native Swedish) C2 and not way behind in German. Customers seem to judge me at at least C2 for translating from French, but in Paris or Brussels, francophones too often ask me to switch to English.
2 persons have voted this message useful
| napoleon
Tetraglot
Senior Member
India
Joined 4826 days ago
543 posts - 874 votes
Speaks: Bengali*, English, Hindi, Urdu
Studies: French, Arabic (Written)
| Message 3 of 24 11 July 2014 at 3:19pm | IP Logged |
So, how difficult is it to get an A Grade?
I'll have to spend about 9000 rupees ($150) on this exam, not counting hotel expenses and train fare to Delhi and back.
And If I don't get an A, my parents will skin me alive. :)
2 persons have voted this message useful
| napoleon
Tetraglot
Senior Member
India
Joined 4826 days ago
543 posts - 874 votes
Speaks: Bengali*, English, Hindi, Urdu
Studies: French, Arabic (Written)
| Message 4 of 24 11 July 2014 at 5:11pm | IP Logged |
I spent the last four hours hunched over my keyboard, trying the practice tests from the CPE website:
Reading and Use of English
The part that was a bit difficult was the one where they give you an article with some paragraphs removed and you have to set them in the right order. Despite this hiccup, I finished this in half the allotted time.
Listening
This was very dicey affair. They throw a truckload of information at you and you don't get much time to pause and write down the answers. Fortunately, they play every dialogue twice.
Writing
I think this was fairly easy.
Although, I can't say for sure. I know my writing is grammatical, for the most part.
Then again, I haven't written an essay since I left school. Writing idiomatic English is one thing.
Writing well, that's a whole different ballgame.
2 persons have voted this message useful
| napoleon
Tetraglot
Senior Member
India
Joined 4826 days ago
543 posts - 874 votes
Speaks: Bengali*, English, Hindi, Urdu
Studies: French, Arabic (Written)
| Message 5 of 24 11 July 2014 at 5:19pm | IP Logged |
Here are my answers to the Writing section of the practice test.
Quote:
Read the two texts below. Write an essay summarising and evaluating the key points from both texts. Use your own words throughout as far as possible, and include your own ideas in your answers. Write your answer in 240 – 280 words.
Text 1:
Shifting sands: behavioural change
Nowadays, in some cultures there may often be confusion between generations about what is acceptable behaviour in certain situations. Older people sometimes complain, for example, about the real or imagined rudeness of others, such as in the use of electronic devices in public places. However, the younger generation do not regard electronic communication as intrusive, but rather as fundamental to their way of life. Only increased mutual understanding is likely to resolve potential conflict or confusion in any society. In this case, as in all others, it pays to be aware of other people's points of view.
Text 2:
Follow my leader?
Should we always aim to do what society expects of us? No, what society needs is individuality. Worrying about what other people think inhibits enthusiasm and creativity. Nothing new is ever achieved by conforming to expected social norms. This is not only true for society's innovators: everybody needs a strong sense of their own worth as an individual. This is essential for psychological well-being and the ability to function effectively in one's personal and professional life. Paying too much attention to society's conventions can be counter-productive in these and other ways. Write your essay.
Quote:
Society expects us to follow certain norms and traditions. These traditions have developed over the years. Some of them deserve our respect, while the others have outgrown their usefulness and cling to our backs like a sack of bricks, preventing us from making any real progress.
When telegrams were first introduced, people complained that the art of letter-writing would be forever corrupted. The same thing happend with the introduction of text-messages. The same phenomenon repeats itself when people complain about the use of electronic devices in public places. There is always resistance to change; such has been the way of the world.
This does not mean that we should rebel just for the sake of rebellion. Rather, we should try to find a balance between the different points of view in our society. Only increased mutual understanding has the potential to defuse conflict and make our society harmonius.
Should the young follow tradition blindly? No, the need of the hour is individuality. Individuality sparks creativity and enthusiasm. No one would ever have discovered anything new if everyone were a stickler for tradition.
The time of the older generation has passed. It is upto the young, the life-blood of the world, to shape society as they see fit. If a tradition is a heavy chain that impedes development, it is not a good tradition. If we can feed the hungry and give jobs to the poor by breaking with tradition, so be it.
Individuality is essential for psychological well-being, as well as, for balance in one's personal and prfessional life.
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A literary magazine is running a series of reviews of books that people enjoyed reading as a child and would recommend for children today. You decide to send in a review in which you describe a book you enjoyed and the attractions it had for you as a child. You should also explain why you feel it remains relevant for children today.
Write your review.
Quote:
"Thakumar Jhuli", or Grandma's Sac, is a compendium of traditional fairy tales of Bengal.
I read "Thakumar Jhuli" for the first time, not as a child but as a teenager. Like my peers from class, I had been raised on a steady diet of Western fairy tales like those written by the Brothers Grim. I had read Enid Blyton. I had even read Sherlock Holmes. But "Thakumar Jhuli" was different.
It was a book I could identify with: I could easily imagine myself as a swash-buckling prince holding a "tulwar"(sword), riding my flying-horse, slaying gorgons and demons and rescuing the princess in the end.
These tales are so very different from traditional European stories like "Jack and the Beanstalk" and "Little Red Riding Hood". Tales from different cultures are a pleaure to read, but such tales can never replace "Thakumar Jhuli" for an Indian child,
This book helps him make sense of the world, and helps him form an identity that is unique.
These stories have been suckled by the Land of India and come from a variety of traditions and, in turn, these stories suckle and nourish Indian minds in ways that only an Indian tale can. The plots are not mere translations of tales from other cultures, these stories are our heritage.
In an age of nuclear families, grandparents do not get opportunities to recount traditional bed-time stories to their grandchildren. In this age where Indian traditions are dying out, this book has become even more relevant.
I think it is an excellent book not only for children in India, but also for those in the Occident, for whom such a book would be an exotic treat: different but eminently enjoyable.
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Edited by napoleon on 11 July 2014 at 5:21pm
1 person has voted this message useful
| Lugubert
Heptaglot
Senior Member
Sweden
Joined 6677 days ago
186 posts - 235 votes
Speaks: Swedish*, Danish, Norwegian, EnglishC2, German, Dutch, French
Studies: Mandarin, Hindi
| Message 6 of 24 11 July 2014 at 6:20pm | IP Logged |
I can't objectively judge the difficulty. I had very good notes in most subjects in secondary school, which helped during university studies in linguistics and chemical technology. A few years of working in Sweden after graduation; some on-job training using English but nothing extraordinary. Then CPE.
When I had taken the test, the Swedish organisers called me and wondered how I managed to get an A without taking their lengthy and expensive training course... Some luck, lots of love of languages, having inherited useful genes I suppose.
Main piece of advice: Assume that you will succeed. (From reading your posts, I'm sure you will.) Forget expectations from others. Relax and enjoy the experience.
2 persons have voted this message useful
| napoleon
Tetraglot
Senior Member
India
Joined 4826 days ago
543 posts - 874 votes
Speaks: Bengali*, English, Hindi, Urdu
Studies: French, Arabic (Written)
| Message 7 of 24 12 July 2014 at 11:07am | IP Logged |
Thank you for your kind words, Lugubert. :)
1 person has voted this message useful
| Gemuse
Senior Member
Germany
Joined 3892 days ago
818 posts - 1189 votes
Speaks: English
Studies: German
| Message 8 of 24 12 July 2014 at 12:50pm | IP Logged |
Napoleon da, your prose reads way better than the sample text from the exam :)
I have only one minor suggestion to make: In your book essay, you go from child -> he. Political correctness dictates that you rephrase so as to maintain gender neutrality.
I have some questions on the following instruction text:
napoleon wrote:
Quote:
Read the two texts below. Write an essay summarising and evaluating the key points from both texts. Use your own words throughout as far as possible, and include your own ideas in your answers. Write your answer in 240 – 280 words.
Text 1:
Shifting sands: behavioural change
Nowadays, in some cultures there may often be confusion between generations about what is acceptable behaviour in certain situations. Older people sometimes complain, for example, about the real or imagined rudeness of others, such as in the use of electronic devices in public places. However, the younger generation do not regard electronic communication as intrusive, but rather as fundamental to their way of life. Only increased mutual understanding is likely to resolve potential conflict or confusion in any society. In this case, as in all others, it pays to be aware of other people's points of view.
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1. "younger generation do not regard....their..."
Should it not be "does not regard...its.."
2. "other people's points of view."
This makes my brain hurt.
BTW, is the plural of "point of view", "point of views" or "points of view" or "points of views"?
2 persons have voted this message useful
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