Should you take a language proficiency exam?
MY STORY
I’m definitely a person who needs a firm and clear goal to aim towards – when I think of the challenges I have taken on in the last few years, each one had a very specific purpose and a measurable goal. The Berlin Marathon was a defined distance that I needed to train for, the Inca Trail had a clear finish line and reward at the end.
After spending a couple of years studying hard and passing the Spanish DELE exams up to level C1 I said that with my Italian I would take a more relaxed approach, and just enjoy the process without making it academic. I couldn’t do it! I was mainly learning on my own, not in a class, and really struggled with the total lack of any structure or syllabus. My plans were somewhat derailed by Covid but in the end I passed the CILS B2 exam in Genoa. I’ve got no plans to take the Italian C1 exam at the moment but you never know!
Taking the exams has been a really positive experience for me and I’m really glad I did it. I want to share my experience and hopefully encourage others who are thinking about doing it but are apprehensive about the challenge
Let’s start off with the basics – what are language proficiency exams and how do they work? Note this is mostly focussed on the European exams, but similar scales exist for other languages, many people take standardised Korean and Japanese exams for example but they use slightly different structures and levels.
Language proficiency exams are standard tests to assess your level, and are normally structured following the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for languages).
They consist of various sections, normally reading, writing, speaking and listening. Often to pass you need to get a minimum required mark in each of those sections, as well as an overall pass. They happen at various points during the year and are administered by a formal body (like Instituto Cervantes for Spanish). The exams get longer, and more expensive to take as you move up the levels – for C1 or C2 bank on spending upwards of £100 and most of your day at the testing centre.
WHY TAKE A LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY EXAM?
It’s a good way to break through the intermediate plateau
Ah the famous intermediate plateau. You’re studying hard but don’t feel like you’re making any noticeable progress. The joy of the beginner stage and learning a new word or phrase every day has worn off, replaced by frustration and lack of motivation. Exams are a great way to challenge yourself with more difficult material and really get the feeling that you are upping your level and making measurable improvement.
It gives you some guidance on what to study
Without an Italian class I was drifting, my experience with Spanish gave me a little guidance but ultimately I didn’t know which new grammatical structures to learn, what vocabulary I should research, what material I should know by now. You don’t know what you don’t know – I was stuck. With an exam (and the preparation books that come with it) comes a clearly defined syllabus. For B2 it became clear that I would need to master the imperfect subjunctive, for C1 I would need a lot more specialised vocabulary. In short I knew what I needed to study and had a list of things to focus on. Honestly, even if you don’t take the exam in the end, the exam books are good study guides.
It forces you to practice all areas
My written Spanish was terrible – I wasn’t good at structuring a formal piece of writing in English, never mind Spanish and it wasn’t a skill I had put a lot of practice into. But to pass the DELE exam as well as getting an overall pass mark you need to reach a certain level in each of the 4 skills – reading, writing, listening, oral. I was going to have to face up to the skill I had been avoiding. The writing part of both the B2 and C1 exam was by far the hardest part for me and I scored the lowest of all the sections, having spent so much time checking my word count and making sure my handwriting was neat enough to read! Without taking the exam though, my writing would still be at B1 level or even lower – I would have never made the effort to improve it. The higher levels also make you practice combining skills – at C1 the writing part actually consists of listening to something first then writing about it.
It can go on your CV
Career progression has never been my main reason for taking exams, having said that if you do pass an exam it sets you apart from others who don’t have that formal qualification. This is particularly true at B2 or above where it’s generally accepted that you could use the language in day to day work. Even if the job you are applying for is not language related, taking an exam shows your ability to focus and manage your time well and is a transferable skill.
It exposes you to interesting content and conversations
I actually found the Spanish oral sections at levels B2 and C1 easier than the lower levels. At the lower levels you get questions like ‘tell me about your favourite singer’. At B2 and C1 the topics are much more interesting and are topics that are easy to speak about because you are more likely to have a genuine opinion about them. In the C1 exam I had to talk about the tendency we have nowadays to live life through the lens of a smartphone – have we lost the ability to enjoy a moment in favour of making sure we have a good instagram photo? In the practice exam book one of the questions was about what stage of life we are happiest – in our 20s when the world is your oyster and you have few responsibilities, or in your 60s when you have free time again but have a certain confidence in yourself that can only come from life experience. Both fascinating topics that I could have talked about for much longer than the allocated time! Challenging yes, but I prefer an engaging philosophical debate over ‘what time does the train for Madrid leave’ any day!
It gives you some accountability
I told my friends, family, colleagues, and Spanish class that I was going to do the exam. There was no going back and I was going to have to share the result with them whatever it was! For me this was a huge motivation to study and do well, but it also meant that people offered help and advice which was very welcome. Without the exam I’m certain I wouldn’t have been as focussed and wouldn’t have studied as hard as I did. Most exams also have a cost attached to them, which increases with each level. I am quite lucky and could do the DELE exams in Durham, a short train ride away from my hometown. With an early start, and potentially unreliable trains though I still chose to stay the night before in a cheap hotel 10 minutes walk from the university. I also took the week of the exam off work. All this meant that I had invested not just time, but also money – one of the best incentives around to make sure that I studied hard and didn’t waste that investment!
WHICH LEVEL TO TAKE
With Spanish I started with level B1, then did B2 and finally C1. With Italian I jumped right in at B2, partly because I already had some experience of the process so I was more confident, and partly because I’d already waited a year longer than I wanted to because of Covid so didn’t want to spend time on the B1 then wait again to do the B2.
If it’s your first exam then in my experience there is value in beginning at a level you are comfortable with and working your way up. The exams tend to have a very specific format, and being familiar and practised with it is key especially at the higher levels. It also takes some of the worry away about the practicalities of the day and what to expect. When I did it I was in my 30s and hadn’t done an exam since school, I was definitely out of practice!
Unless you really need the highest level C2 for work or academic purposes, really think hard before choosing it. C1 is enough to demonstrate to anyone that you are fluent in the language and honestly many natives would not pass the C2 level. It requires you to restructure academic style texts and have a mastery of very specific vocabulary. Even with the Spanish C1 I used phrases in my speaking and writing that I don’t think I will ever use again in everyday interaction with people.
WHERE TO TAKE THEM
I did my Spanish exams in the UK, in a university close to where I live. A limited number of language schools and universities in the UK offer them so if you are lucky enough to have one near you or don’t mind a training journey this is an option. It’s also good if you don’t have the time or funds to travel. I did my Italian exam in Genoa, although that wasn’t my original plan! I had looked at doing it in Bologna, spending a week at an Italian school doing some intensive preparation classes then doing the exam immediately after. That didn’t work out for various reasons, but in the end I happened to be in Genoa for work the week of the December exam and so managed to squeeze it into that trip. I figured that a few days in the Italian office beforehand was intensive preparation enough.
Both options are fine and what’s right for you depends on your circumstances, but doing my CILS exam in Italy did give me a different experience. I was totally immersed in the language in the days immediately leading up to the exam, speaking it at work and in the evenings. There are pros and cons to that – while it got me some practice and got me used to speaking the language, long days at work then group dinners didn’t leave any time to do any proper study or revision of grammar etc. I have to say it did also make me feel more Italian grabbing an espresso and a pastry at a tiny coffee bar on the way to the exam, I’d like to think that contributed to the result! If I did ever do the Italian C1 I do think I would try to do it in Italy, and follow my original plan of doing a week of intensive preparation at an Italian school in the same trip, before the exam.
TIPS
Listen to different accents
In my Spanish B2 listening exam they threw in a strong Buenos Aires accent (Spanish speakers know!) Make sure that you watch or listen to various accents so that it doesn’t throw you off if you get it on the day.
Practice the writing section like crazy
You need to hand write a couple of hundred words. You need to stay within a word limit, and write neatly enough that someone can actually read it, and you need to do it within a pretty short time limit! In reality you don’t get that much time to make a plan, certainly not a full draft. You might need to write something formal like a letter of complaint or a job application. Unless you are already well practiced with this kind of writing, make sure that you spend the time on it. This is me practicing for Spanish C1 writing section!
Consider classes specifically to prepare for the oral exam
Reading and listening you can practice yourself with the preparation books, but speaking is more difficult. For my Spanish C1 exam I got an online tutor on italki who used to be an examiner, so knew the format well and could guide me on the things to focus on. We had a series of classes specifically to practice the oral part of the exam. I’m not sure I would have passed without it.
Get the exam preparation books
The exams often have a particular format, and half of the battle is being familiar with this and knowing what they look for – the structure and the way that the questions are formatted. You will do much better if you have practised it and know what to expect. Make sure to do some practice exams using a clock or stopwatch, especially the writing.
Make a proper study plan
The preparation books normally have 4 or 5 full practice exams. Reading and writing sections can be about an hour each, listening half an hour, then oral. So studying passively for a few minutes at a time isn’t going to cut it, you’re going to need to sit and focus for a few hours at a time, for a number of weeks as a minimum, ideally longer.
Focus on speaking correctly not quickly
Yes you need to demonstrate that you have a good vocabulary or can confidently use certain grammatical structures, but you will get better marks by speaking a little slower or using words and phrases that you know and get them 100% correct than take risks and get it wrong. Same with the writing – use the structures that you have practiced – the day of the exam isn’t the moment to try out a complex new phrase that you are not sure of.
RESOURCES
In addition to the below you can find a lot of old exams online by looking at the website of the examining body
Spanish DELE
There are a few different options for this exam, but I’ve tried them all and firmly recommend the cronómetro series over the others
See the resources section of my website for more ideas
Italian CILS
Again there are a couple of options but the Traguardo series is very good
See the resources section of my website for more ideas
English
Cambridge English have their own set of preparation materials
See the resources section of my website for more ideas
German
Goethe institute themselves publish some preparation books which I’ve heard good things about
French
Le DELF reussite are the most popular series for this one