English

I want to share my experience passing the CELPIP test. I got this test for the PR process, and I chose between IELTS and CELPIP. IELTS is an international test, and it is very different from CELPIP because the last one is totally Canadian. For example, in the listening or reading part in IELTS you can hear different accents from different nationalities. Instead, in CELPIP it will be just Canadian pronunciation. One more difference is that the CELPIP test is totally on a computer instead of in IELTS where you will speak with a real person. Also, your writing part in CELPIP you will type on the computer. What is amazing is that it will show you your mistakes as you can see it just like when you are typing a regular message on your phone. In IELTS you will write everything manually and every mistake, such as punctuation or wrong written words will count.

The CELPIP test consists of 4 parts. There are listening, speaking, reading and writing. You will have 3 hours for the whole process and your time will not stop if you go to the restroom. In the speaking part you will have 8 tasks with a timeline. You will have just 1 try to record your answer. My advice is do not stop speaking if you even don't know what you should say because it will be better than silence. In the reading part it will be 3 or 4 tasks where you will choose 1 from 4 multiple choice answers and the complexity will be from easy to hard (it could be some article from a science magazine, for example). In the listening part it will be a few tasks such as video conversation or just voice recorder and you should choose the correct answer. The writing part will consist of 2 parts. You will write an email and then the second part will consist of explaining your position on a survey question.

In conclusion, I would give a couple pieces of advice. First advice for everybody is to take some additional courses with a teacher, who can give you structure for this test, and you will just fill it up with your knowledge. It was so useful for me to be ready for what I would expect. I knew the whole structure of writing and speaking. I tried at home, for example, recording my answer to the teacher for 60 or 90 seconds where I should have at least 3 ideas in every section. When I had 30 seconds for preparation, I tried to think of which 3 ideas I could give. The second piece of advice is to be sure of your knowledge and don't panic. Remember also, that in the reading part when you choose the correct answers it will include synonyms. They will try to confuse you, using the same words in answers as in the texts, but you should choose the synonyms for your correct answer.

I got a score of 7 on my test, and it should be enough for my PR. Good luck to everybody and hope you will achieve your goals.