Everything about the Cambridge English Exam

Teresa

If you plan to get a certification for your English language skills, you must’ve definitely heard of the Cambridge English Language Exam. We want to tell you everything there is to know about the exam, so fasten your seat belts and hop on.

Before we head into the article, let’s know a little bit about the history of this exam.

The Cambridge Language Exam was first administered in 1913, for students who were not members of the Cambridge University. This was 109 years ago.

Do you know what else happened 100 -109 years ago?

The world population was just 1.8 billion

The Band-Aids came to light.

World War 1 started.

Now let’s get back to the exam and deal with the most basic and important question.

WHY DO I NEED THE CAMBRIDGE EXAM ???

Over 5 million Cambridge English Exams are taken every year. Why is this exam so popular?

Academic merits

To access higher education and to study at your dream university in your dream country, you will need a language certification. This certification will also help you obtain your scholarships, apply for National public exams and also get your diploma.

Job Market

Such certifications will help you stand out from the crowd while applying for jobs or can simply help you expand your CV. They will also help in obtaining a work permit in different countries and also to bag a promotion within your company.

Interpersonal motivation

It has been proven that learning different languages will improve your general IQ, and preparing for such competitive exams will help you improve your learning process and sharpen your study techniques.

OKAY!! now that you are ready to take the exam, here is what the test entails.

THE EXAM PATTERN

Don’t fret, it’s not the medical or civil services exam you are preparing for, it’s just a language exam, you listen to songs and watch movies in English. In fact, most of the words in English are derived from languages across the world, so if you find any similar words, don’t be surprised.

The exam contains four sections or modules as we like to call it.

Reading

This module will assess if you can read compound sentences and comprehend the vocabulary and grammar. If you are planning to study further, imagine how useful it is to learn beforehand how to read, it will make your uni life even better.

You will have 45 minutes to 90 minutes (depending on the level of your exam) to finish this module.
We recommend you read as many books (start with children’s storybooks, they are simple and easy to read) or articles every day as you can. This will increase your WPM (words per minute) count and help you learn new words.

Writing

This module will check your ability to write simple and compound sentences with minimal grammatical and structural errors. Extremely useful when you have to draft a letter to a professor, recruiter, or employer asking for something important.

You will have 45 minutes to 90 minutes (depending on the level of your exam) to finish this module.
Jot down points of what you want to write and plan your structure before you start writing.
Try using compound sentences, and also better vocabulary wherever appropriate.

Listening

You guessed it right, this module will assess your ability to listen to and understand the English language.

You will have 30 minutes to 40 minutes.
Watch more movies without the subtitles. Language learning is fun.

Speaking

People love talking, but if you don’t respond to the conversation it is considered rude. So practicing for this module will help you hold a conversation in real life.

You will have 10 minutes to 20 minutes (depending on the level of your exam) to finish this module.
Practice speaking in front of a mirror. Record your speech and listen to it, to improve your skill.

Now that we all have discussed the pattern of this exam, let’s see how Langoo can help you.

Don't know what level of test to take?

LANGOO IS HERE TO HELP

We will never leave you alone in this battle of getting a language certification. So here is how we can help you.

Level tests I and II

If you don’t know what level you need to test for, all you need to do is log onto the Langoo website and take the Level Test.

Here you will be given a couple of questions for which you choose the best suitable answer, and we will tell you at the end of the test which level best suits your knowledge, according to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR).

Personalized study guide

We provide a personalized study guide to every student who signs up on our website. To match your pace and help you tackle every step correctly.

Exam-like material

We will provide you with practice materials that will help you prepare for your exam better.

Feedback from teachers

When you take a practice test with us, you can opt to get personalized feedback from professional teachers. You can know the areas where you can improve and work harder to get a better score. #

Finally, I would like to end this blog by saying that when you sign up with us, we will not let you down on this journey of getting a language certification.

WRITING

Practice writing as much as you can, and if possible get it evaluated by an expert. Writing can be hard at times, but practicing is the only way to go about it.

Make sure you write down all the rules of that language in one place and by-heart them. Do the same with words and verbs. Then when you start writing it’ll all just come together.

OTHER

Rules:

Read about the exam structure well in advance. How much time do you have for each task, what are you allowed to take into the exam room, is there an order to answer the questions, your test date, time and place and more. Being informed about the exam is very important.

Previous years:

Look into the kind of questions that were asked in the previous years. This will give you an idea of how the paper will be set and the level of difficulty you might have to prepare for.

Time:

Make sure you spend equal time on all the 4 modules (speaking, listening, reading & writing). If you think there are any areas that you are lagging in, spend more time on it and get expert help if possible.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help:

If you are part of any language learning community, reach out to other students and professionals there for help. Join Langoo’s Discord community to meet other students like you.

Let us know in the comments below how you prepare for your language exam.

Good Luck for your exam!!!

Remember to check our post with tips to prepare for a language exam

Teresa

Degree in English Philology, Master in ICT for language teaching and processing, EFL teacher, translator in international meetings, and Cambridge preparer. Specialized in language processing and e-learning content creation.