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  • Hi everyone. I'm Jade. What we're going to talk about today is comparing Cambridge exams

  • with the IELTS exam. These are exams that you might be thinking of taking as part of

  • your journey with learning English for various reasons. And we'll look at the different exams;

  • we'll look at the reasons to take Cambridge exams or IELTS exams. And then, we'll generally

  • compare what's in the two exam systems. So the Cambridge exams, we'll be talking about

  • these two. This one is the First Certificate of English, and that's around intermediate

  • level. And this is a harder exam. This is an advanced level exam also from Cambridge.

  • So there are four different levels in this Cambridge exam series. And this compares to

  • just one IELTS test that tests the same -- a much broader span, okay? So what does that

  • mean? If you take the IELTS test, and you're someone with an intermediate or a lower intermediate

  • level, the test will be really hard for you because it covers such a wide level of English

  • whereas if you take the right test for your level in the Cambridge exams, what you're

  • doing in the test is closer to what you already know. So that's a key difference between them.

  • Something else to say about IELTS as well is that there are two kinds of IELTS exams.

  • One is IELTS Academic, and that test is designed for people who want to go to university in

  • an English-speaking country or want to do a course that's going to be in English. And

  • the other IELTS test is IELTS General Training. And that one is different because you don't

  • have to do some of the writing questions which are based on university things. They're not

  • in this test. So it's just a little bit more practical.

  • So why take these tests in the first place? People take these tests for different reasons.

  • One reason, as I mentioned before, is if you want to go to university in England or maybe

  • in Australia. You will need to have a test result that shows your level of English. So

  • in that case, what test do you take? You either need to have the IELTS Academic test or you

  • need to do the CAE test. You can take either exam. This FCE exam is too low -- the level

  • is too low, so it's not useful for you if you want to go to university. In the UK, IELTS

  • is the most popular. But for American universities, a lot of people do a different test, but I'm

  • not talking about it today, which is the TOEFL test.

  • Then, what if your purpose for taking one of these tests is for work? Well, it depends,

  • really, on the job that you're doing. FCE would be okay if your purpose is work. I've

  • known people who come to England with the purpose of learning English and to have a

  • job here -- like a service job or work with an English family and look after their children

  • and things like that. And I've known them to usually choose to do the First Certificate

  • because you can go to a language school; you can learn enough English to get by and enough

  • English for your daily life and things like that. It's useful. So you can do that in those

  • kinds of jobs. You could also do IELTS General. I mean, IELTS

  • General will test you to a higher level. So it really depends on your job whether this

  • will be useful for you. Some people like to have it on their CV and show what score of

  • English they have. So for them, it's useful. And some people say for professions -- for

  • example, lawyers and doctors, things like that. They say the IELTS Academic is better

  • for these people. From my experience of the two tests, what I would say is that IELTS

  • Academic just has a different writing question in it, and that different writing question

  • is academic language. It's comparing graphs and things like that. So it really depends

  • what suits you and what you feel is necessary or needed for your job. To do IELTS Academic

  • but not intend to go to university or be using academic English would be a bit of a waste

  • of effort for you because you would need to learn how to write these graph questions and

  • this kind of extra work for you, which is probably never going to be useful in your

  • life. So yeah. Again, it depends. And then some people decide to take one of

  • these tests just for the sake of doing the test, for no other reason. They just, you

  • know -- learning may be a hobby for them, but they want to know how they are progressing,

  • so they decide they want to take a test. You could do, in that case, IELTS General because

  • it would give you a score that you know where you are, and you can maybe set a goal next

  • year to improve or something like that. And it would give you the general skills that

  • you needed to come and live and work in an English speaking country. So you could do

  • that. As a first step, one that's not as hard, and

  • the level is not as high, you could do the FCE exam. You could do that. Or if you have

  • really, really studied hard, and your English is quite advanced, then you could do the CAE

  • exam just for personal development. And last one I want to talk about is visa

  • requirements. If you're coming to an English-speaking country from some other country, and you want

  • to stay for a while, in that case, you will need to do IELTS or FCE. IELTS General Training

  • or Academic if you want to go to university, or FCE if it's the lower level.

  • So let's talk now about the similarities between the tests. These tests are -- they're well-known

  • tests. And that's because they are secure English language tests. If you go and do these

  • tests, you need to go to a test center, and you need to prove your identity. So these

  • are respected tests. People have heard of these tests. They're recognized, and they

  • count for something, basically. Each test tests the same skills: reading,

  • writing, listening, speaking. And the test structure itself also shares a lot of similarities.

  • That's what we'll talk about in a minute. And also -- there's a little word or letter

  • missing. "University." You can take this test, and it can be useful for university entrance.

  • So when we come back, we're just going to broadly compare the tests and the different

  • parts of the tests. We'll look more closely at that.

  • Let's generally compare what's in the two exams, now. So IELTS academic and IELTS General

  • Training, they have the same test structure. And in the test, there are four different

  • papers. There's a reading paper; it's 60 minutes, and there are three different parts. There's

  • a writing test; it's 60 minutes, and there are two parts. There's a listening test; it's

  • 30 minutes long, and there are four parts. And there's a speaking test, and that will

  • be between 11 and 14 minutes. And there are three parts in the speaking test.

  • How does this compare to CAE? In the CAE exam, there are five papers. So I'm sure some of

  • you are already decided you're not doing CAE now because it's one extra paper. Well, hold

  • on a sec. The reading test is 75 minutes, and there are four parts. The writing test

  • is 90 minutes, and there are two parts. There's a use of English test that's 60 minutes, and

  • it's four parts. This is testing your vocabulary and also your grammar in various different

  • exercises. And then, there's a speaking test which is 15 minutes, and it's four parts.

  • So the main difference is that CAE, when you put it all together, is longer, and some of

  • the parts of the test are longer as well. And also, in CAE, there are more questions

  • in the different parts of the test. But it's going to change in 2015, and they're going

  • to put the reading test together with the use of English test. So then, there will be

  • just four parts -- just four tests. Four test? Four parts of the test, same as IELTS. And

  • it will be shorter. So they're changing it to be a bit more like the IELTS. So yeah.

  • It just generally means the test structure is similar.

  • Let's talk about key differences in the test. Well, the main differences are in certain

  • areas of the test. So we've got the writing test. Let's talk about that. In IELTS Academic

  • -- that's the one you do if you want to go to university -- you need to write -- there

  • are two parts. One question is a discursive essay, so you need to show the pros and cons

  • of something or the advantages and disadvantages of something and give opinions. So that's

  • one part. And the second part is a question where you compare some graphs, something like

  • that. Or you look at a table and you write something about the information in the table.

  • That's IELTS Academic. In IELTS General Training, you don't get this

  • graph question. It's not there. But instead, you need to write a practical letter. Sometimes

  • it could be, like, a letter to your landlord about something, something like that. Practical

  • writing task, and you still do the discursive essay about giving an opinion, comparing a

  • system or an idea or something like that. And then how does this compare to CAE? In

  • the CAE exam, you do a discursive essay, the same kind of thing. But it's a little bit

  • different because you have the short text to read first. You don't get a short text

  • to read in IELTS; you just get the question. Then, the second part of the writing test,

  • it's less predictable because, again, you read something, and then you respond by writing

  • a review or an article or a letter or maybe, like, some marketing kind of writing about

  • something. So what it's testing is your ability to use different styles of English and different

  • register -- like, different registers, formal language, informal language. So it's a bit

  • more challenging, but also you could say more interesting as a writing task. It's more varied.

  • So they're the biggest differences here. And also, writing is longer for the CAE because,

  • as you can imagine, you need to read something, and you need to create potentially an original

  • piece of writing, whereas in IELTS General Training, for example, it's writing a letter.

  • And if you practise that a lot of times, you'll know what you're doing. So IELTS General Training

  • is more predictable than CAE. Anyway. The other differences are in the speaking

  • test. So when you do the CAE exam, it's the examiner; it's you; and it's somebody else.

  • You've got a partner. And when you're assessed, it's not just your performance and how you

  • answer the questions; it's how you interact with your partner; it's how you include your

  • partner -- ask your partner questions and move the discussion between you, how the interaction

  • between you flows, you could say. As well as parts of the test where you just speak

  • by yourself. And that's different to IELTS because in the IELTS speaking test, it's just

  • the examiner and then you, and you speak just together.

  • Now, some people will have a preference for just doing the test by themselves because

  • it's like, well, "I've prepared", you know? And you're probably thinking, "What if I have

  • a partner who's, like, rubbish or something? What do I say?" But you're not negatively

  • marked if your partner doesn't perform well. Your mark is based on you being a good partner

  • who's sharing opportunities for talk, basically. Yeah, and some people will prefer to do an

  • exam with a partner because maybe they feel it takes less pressure off you as an individual.

  • So you can decide what you think sounds better for you.

  • And also, CAE is different because to answer your questions, you get pictures, and you

  • have to compare pictures and things like that. So the way you're asked questions in the CAE

  • is a little bit different to IELTS as well. So as a general survey of the tests, I would

  • say choose a test based on your purpose. So maybe you want to go back and watch the beginning

  • of the video again just to remind yourself of your purpose. But then, know that actually,

  • in the structure of the tests, they're not actually that different, especially once we

  • get to the exam update to CAE in 2015. And just as a final point, IELTS has a really

  • broad span, so it could be hard for you if you are not yet at a high level. Other than

  • that, they're both respected and well-regarded tests, so yes. Okay. I'm finished. I wish

  • you luck in your exam, whatever exam you choose to take. I hope you get a high score. So I'm

  • going to finish this video now. Thank you. Oh, just thinking, is there going to be a

  • quiz for -- there's going to be a quiz for these exams on the website, so go to www.engvid.com.

  • And if you like my video, please subscribe. I make videos about learning English here

  • on this channel; also on my personal channel because I've got two channels. And that's

  • what we're going to talk about today. Thank you and see you later.

Hi everyone. I'm Jade. What we're going to talk about today is comparing Cambridge exams

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