It has been exactly one month since I took my B2 Cambridge exam. Fortunately, I passed it, therefore, I have already my B2 level certificated, which was a requirement to take part in a master's degree that I will start in October.
This was the main reason, (an academic/professional reason), that I decided to spend nine months taking lessons in a private language school in order to preparing me for that exam. Nevertheless, my desire of keeping improving my English level today is what I actually take away from those months. I mean, if I had not taken those lessons I would not fancied learning English again.
Getting back to the present, I want to share with you why I have decided writing this post. Yesterday, my brother's girlfriend said to me:
- "Congrats on passing your English exam last mont! But now, if I were you, I would study by myself to prepare for the B2 EOI exam, (the Spanish official school of languages), because you will need this certificate to work for many companies in Spain"
- "I'll think about it, but I'd say it's not actually necessary" - I answered.
I know that language exams are essential in many different situations, above all when it comes to education, labor and things like these. However, I have my doubts whether they show the true level of the student. Personally, I believe they are a nice approximation of the language knowledge but not a hundred percent accurate, above all in the speaking assessment when very often students are far more scripted than in the real life.
Having said that all, I'd like to know about your opinion in this regard. Are language exams truly useful? What about their high price? Are they worth it for most people?
Thanks for reading. Happy language learning!
I mostly agree with you that they have their utilitarian value (for getting jobs or into schools). But if you are focusing too much of your study preparing for them, you will miss much of the breadth of the language, and you may take the validation of the exam to mean that you are better than you really are. That said, I'll probably take a Chinese proficiency exam next year just to see if I can pass (I'm not going to study for it though).
I know what you mean, they might give you a kind of wrong view of your real skills with the language. Good luck with your Chinese exam! Thanks for you feedback!
You seem to have a very impressive grasp of English! I can sometimes nitpick but it's really a compliment because most of what you say is quite natural.