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#Post#: 18143--------------------------------------------------
OOPT on italki is it a serious test?
By: Aliph Date: July 18, 2019, 12:59 am
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When I was still allowed by the Chinese social credit gang to
spend my time and my money on italki I took the Online Oxford
Placement Test. I wonder if this easy* and quick test has any
value compared to some official English tests that last longer.
* by easy I mean that you can take it impulsively at any time of
your day or your night in any place, even in your bed!
Do those that have or had a teaching activity recommend taking
tests in general?
#Post#: 18147--------------------------------------------------
Re: OOPT on italki is it a serious test?
By: Alharacas Date: July 18, 2019, 3:11 am
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Good question, Sofia. :)
I don't know anything about this particular test, but since
italki is about taking (paid) classes, it probably serves its
purpose, insofar as it would give a teacher a rough idea of your
English level.
In general - no. IMO, far too much time, effort and money are
expended on test preparation and the tests themselves. If you
have a look at the huge variety of tests offered by Cambridge -
there are even exams for tiny little children, testing their
knowledge of the colours and the names of a few animals! - it's
pretty hard not to conclude that the only ones profiting from
them are those who get the money garnered from the sales of test
preparation materials, course books, courses, and from the exam
fees.
But then, of course, you do get a pretty piece of paper every
time you've passed one. ;D
#Post#: 18148--------------------------------------------------
Re: OOPT on italki is it a serious test?
By: Irena Date: July 18, 2019, 4:23 am
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[quote author=Alharacas link=topic=1243.msg18147#msg18147
date=1563437492]
IMO, far too much time, effort and money are expended on test
preparation and the tests themselves. If you have a look at the
huge variety of tests offered by Cambridge - there are even
exams for tiny little children, testing their knowledge of the
colours and the names of a few animals! - it's pretty hard not
to conclude that the only ones profiting from them are those who
get the money garnered from the sales of test preparation
materials, course books, courses, and from the exam fees.
But then, of course, you do get a pretty piece of paper every
time you've passed one. ;D
[/quote]
You know, I wonder if it might not be possible to make better
tests. The kind where you just show up for the test without any
test-specific preparation, and you get a more or less accurate
evaluation of your level. Actually, they used to make such
tests, didn't they? Wasn't the old TOEFL like that? (The old
TOEFL didn't have a speaking component, though, which was
obviously a problem.) Also, they have all these language
placement tests at universities (I took one for French). You
don't prepare for them. You just take them, and they tell you
what class to take. You don't get a pretty piece of paper,
though.
#Post#: 18149--------------------------------------------------
Re: OOPT on italki is it a serious test?
By: Aliph Date: July 18, 2019, 4:37 am
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I took this OOPT spontaneously once I had an hour to kill
waiting for some friends. I think italki sells it for 10
dollars, so I thought I just try it.
There was once a discussion on italki and I remeber that an
American who was posting here last year said that he took the
test and got a C1. It doesn’t surprise me. I had the same
result. However, I have more experience with the dirty tricks
that are used in tests than the average American who’s learning
his first and only foreign language. After all, at school I had
language classes in four different languages during 7 years.
I did the Dele in Spanish with no preparation at all. I think it
makes more sense to assess your real knowledge without any
previous drill.
#Post#: 18150--------------------------------------------------
Re: OOPT on italki is it a serious test?
By: Alharacas Date: July 18, 2019, 5:01 am
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Actually, nobody'd stop you from just showing up for a Cambridge
test, either (provided you've registered in advance, of course).
It's just that many people desperately need the appropriate
pretty piece of paper (from PET upwards), and since the exams
are a) not really cheap (depending on the country you're from,
of course) and b) such a hullabaloo is made about them, most
people opt for taking the courses to go with them, just to make
sure the exam fee doesn't go to waste.
#Post#: 18152--------------------------------------------------
Re: OOPT on italki is it a serious test?
By: Irena Date: July 18, 2019, 5:35 am
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@Alharacas
As far as Cambridge exams are concerned, I only took the FCE,
and that was more than half my life ago. I did take a course to
prepare, though I don't think we did that much test specific
prep. Maybe I'm misremembering, though.
I once glanced at the CPE format, and apparently, it's all about
knowing the difference between a report, an article, an essay,
etc. I have no idea what the difference is supposed to be, and I
suspect most other people (including those with a very high
English level) don't know either. So, if I ever wanted to take
that exam, I'd have to figure that out first.
My Russian exam (which I took about a year ago; C1 level) took a
huge amount of test specific prep, especially for speaking and
writing. I challenge anyone (native speakers with advanced
degrees included) to pass that exam without any previous
test-specific prep. ::)
#Post#: 18153--------------------------------------------------
Re: OOPT on italki is it a serious test?
By: Alharacas Date: July 18, 2019, 5:45 am
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[quote author=Irena link=topic=1243.msg18152#msg18152
date=1563446122]
My Russian exam (which I took about a year ago; C1 level) took a
huge amount of test specific prep, especially for speaking and
writing. I challenge anyone (native speakers with advanced
degrees included) to pass that exam without any previous
test-specific prep. ::)
[/quote]
I'm not surprised, Irena. Not that I know anything at all about
Russian, let alone yours, but I'm far from sure I'd be able to
pass a C2 Goethe exam (that's for German, in case anybody
doesn't know) with flying colours. So, you have to wonder, don't
you, what on earth that kind of exam is good for - except for
teaching other C2 students, I suppose. Sigh.
#Post#: 18155--------------------------------------------------
Re: OOPT on italki is it a serious test?
By: Nikola Date: July 18, 2019, 6:33 am
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I took the Cambridge CPE (they changed the name, it's called C2
Proficiency now). It took all day. It's amazingly thorough and
they constantly try to trick you so it's very mentally tiring.
It almost felt like taking a sophisticated IQ test or trying to
get a job with MI5. I can imagine how someone whose thinking
skills aren't the best would fail simply because they wouldn't
be able to make the right conclusions, regardless of their
language skills. I really enjoyed it, though. Maybe I'm weird. I
mean, there's no need for "maybe" in that sentence.
Anyway, I think that having the paper is better than not having
it, especially if you don't have any other similar certificate
or a degree you could use to prove you can speak a particular
language at a very decent level. Besides, you can buy a degree
in some countries. I don't think you can buy a Cambridge
Certificate.
#Post#: 18157--------------------------------------------------
Re: OOPT on italki is it a serious test?
By: Irena Date: July 18, 2019, 6:48 am
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[quote author=Alharacas link=topic=1243.msg18153#msg18153
date=1563446750]
[quote author=Irena link=topic=1243.msg18152#msg18152
date=1563446122]
My Russian exam (which I took about a year ago; C1 level) took a
huge amount of test specific prep, especially for speaking and
writing. I challenge anyone (native speakers with advanced
degrees included) to pass that exam without any previous
test-specific prep. ::)
[/quote]
I'm not surprised, Irena. Not that I know anything at all about
Russian, let alone yours, but I'm far from sure I'd be able to
pass a C2 Goethe exam (that's for German, in case anybody
doesn't know) with flying colours. So, you have to wonder, don't
you, what on earth that kind of exam is good for - except for
teaching other C2 students, I suppose. Sigh.
[/quote]
Well, I guess that such a certificate does guarantee that you
have a very high level in the language in question. The fact
that plenty of people with a very high level in the language
couldn't pass the exam for various non-linguistic reasons is a
different matter.
#Post#: 18158--------------------------------------------------
Re: OOPT on italki is it a serious test?
By: Truman Overby Date: July 18, 2019, 7:24 am
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How anyone achieves native speaker results on the italki OOPT is
a mystery to me.
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