Testing a test .. Native speakers needed

[sudanese]

As i am going to take the IELTS test sometime soon , to assess my level of English , i tried to do some practice exams . when i did the listening part it seemed as if my writing speed , and ability to pay attention to minute details , and to be literally precise are what was tested , rather then my comprehension of spoken English.

I got good scores , mostly about 7.5 ( out of 9 ) which is not very bad . By definition a native speaker of English is expected to get 9 . I just want to check out wether this is valid , i mean i think there might be factors other than mastering language that affect the result of this exam ..

Here is a link to a practice test , would you spend 30 minutes doing this test and tell me your score please ?

After you have finished with the test have a look at the model answers section , this test is corrected by a software , a very dogmatic one : the model answer may be 12 - 10 , but if you write 12- 10 ( i.e you don't print a space after 12 and before the ( - ) ) it won't give you the mark . so subtract these answers from the total number of wrong answers ( not from the score )

you can count your mistakes , and after subtracting software errors , provide the total number of mistakes ( out of 40 ) , or use the score converter on the same website

Note : spelling mistakes , words with similar meaning , and any thing other than a change in format is considered wrong ....


edit : you mustn't pause the recording !

here is the link :
IELTS Free Practice Tests


participation in this curious ( unofficial ) inquiry is much appreciated ..

[sudanese]

I must have brought up a very annoying topic ! 47 views and no reply :frown:

[XRIMO]

lol, I tried, but I absolutely hate those tests. They are ridiculous. I mean they restrict your answers to 2 words and/or a number, but you have an answer like 1 and half days, so what the hell do they want you to write as an answer. Then, they give you some impossibly difficult word to spell like Kaorohwhatever lodge... was it necessary to give such a bloody difficult word that no one in their right mind could spell without them explaining it (way too fast for anyone to actually catch too).

I had to do something similar when I was learning Greek a couple years ago. The instructer would player recorded conversations for us to listen to and answer questions. But dear lord, they speak way too fast for anyone to catch what they are saying. They really need to understand the importance of talking normally and not trying to trip people by giving them stuff that native speakers would have trouble with.

[Afro Samurai]

Lol sudanese.Why is this test important to you anyhow?My experience has taught me that individuals that don't have English as their home language have a far superior command of the language than English first language counterparts.With the exception of spelling though.

[sudanese]

They really need to understand the importance of talking normally and not trying to trip people by giving them stuff that native speakers would have trouble with.

That was my point , i managed to understand what the whole conversation was about , but that seemed not what they were looking for !
i know someone whose English is quite worse than mine who got a similar score in the same test i tried ! ...

[James]

Hi sudanese, please appriciate that there is more than one english language, what we americans pass off as english and what the english use as english, Jim

[sudanese]

Lol sudanese.Why is this test important to you anyhow?My experience has taught me that individuals that don't have English as their home language have a far superior command of the language than English first language counterparts.With the exception of spelling though.

i need the test for something related to work

I am not really sure whether learners of English as a second language have a superior command of the language , i mean i don't think this is the general rule, unless probably you compare exceptionally good learners of English-who have a natural talent in languages - with below average speakers of English . i think this is true for every language .

[marshlander]

I spent about an hour on this and I'm amazed you can keep awake for it. I did the first listening test and clicked the wrong button at the end so didn't get a score, although I suspect it would be a higher one than I scored for the second test. On the second test I only got a score of 7.0, but that was mainly because by the end of section 4 I was losing the will to live and made lots of errors in that section. The descriptions of the work of the university departments were not that clear. In real life I'd have asked for clarification.

This seems to be a test for Canada, but it sounds like they are using actors mainly from New Zealand (or maybe Australia ...)?

Good luck, Sudanese! :eek:

[fudger]

your English is far better than most of us on here so I wouldn't worry about the test.

[marshlander]

Unfortunately, if Sudanese is required to take a specific test for his work he needs to worry a little about it. I consider myself to have a reasonable grasp of English yet still managed to cock up one of the sections rather well.

By the way, fudger, how the devil are you? Haven't seen you for a while.