ALL ABOUT PROFICIENCY EXAMS!

Proficiency exams are generally exams that aim to measure the English proficiency of new students who enter universities. 

What Is In The Content Of The Proficiency Exams?

The preparation exams aim to test how much and at what level you can use English and they consist of four parts.

Reading

Writing

Listening

Speaking

Even if it’s not quite common, some universities may not include one or more of these departments in the exam. For this reason, it is useful to get detailed information about the scope of the exam from your university before taking the exam.

Preparatory exams do not have a standard format; each university determines their formats of the preparatory exams.

How should I study for the Proficiency Exam?

First of all, review your university's past exams to see the style of questions and the difficulty of the questions. Today, these exams are quite  easy to access on the internet. Take these exams at home or in a quiet environment such as a library. In this way, you will measure how much you are ready for the exam.

Identifying your shortcomings is the basic step in preparing a study program. Determine which areas you lack.  While some students may have problems in the reading section, some students may have difficulty in the speaking section, this is a very natural process. If you discover the most challenging part and focus on that part, it will be beneficial for your development.

Being able to understand what you have read in the proficiency exams is one of the most important factors expected from you; as a matter of fact, it will be impossible to do the tasks requested from you without understanding what you have read. For this reason, read articles in English, internet resources, newspapers and magazines, especially books that suit your level.

It's time for mentioning listening skills. You have an unlimited world of resources to improve your listening skills: the internet. You can listen to the listening tracks on Youtube and work on your listening skills. In addition to Youtube, it will be beneficial for you to listen to English language learning podcasts from music applications such as spotify, apple music, soundcloud.

But do not forget; you should try to understand what you are listening to, if necessary, you should listen to a piece over and over and realize its meaning in general terms.

Another important point is the grammar part. Although some proficiency exams do not ask grammar questions directly, you will need grammar to be able to form regular and meaningful sentences and speak effectively. For this reason, it is useful to review and repeat the grammar issues you are missing.

And vocabulary. You need words to be able to understand questions, texts, instructions, to speak and write properly. In addition, in some prep exams, you may be asked to fill in the blanks or answer test or sentence completion questions. In order to be prepared for such questions, it will be useful for you to refresh your vocabulary before the exam. Because without a powerful vocabulary, you will be insufficient to apply the grammar rules you know.

You can set daily vocabulary limits for yourself to improve your vocabulary, and learn as many words as you set each day.

Finally, check out English resources written on your field. In the exam, questions about your field can be asked, especially in the speaking part. To be ready for questions like these, do a variety of readings on your field. In your reading, you do not have to understand everything you read; In general, it will be enough for you to gain a perspective.

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Monday, November 30, 2020