4 razones por las que no debes estar nervioso frente a un Proficiency Exam

Proficiency Exam in English is absolutely necessary in multilingual and multinational linguistic context. Many students are completely scared of taking it. We are going to try to empathize with them - so we are going to try to counter-argue with these 4 reasons why you should not be nervous.

Think about the reward after successfully completing the exams

You are not taking an English proficiency test "just because you feel like it." There is probably a strong reason why you are preparing for it. You may be preparing him to live abroad or to apply for his dream job. And while you might think that is exactly the source of the pressure  - there is no reason why it should be.

This is reverse psychology, actually. You should see these exams as  a small obstacle to achieving what you want in life . Think of the exam as one of the first steps in a new phase of your life. If you do your exam right, you will continue to do what you want for a number of years. Even if it is difficult, it is nothing more than a necessary evil - like a vaccination before traveling to an exotic country.

If you are prepared, there is no reason to be nervous

Unless you haven't prepared for the exam, there is no reason for you to be nervous. English exams always follow the same structure and present the same type of questions. So if you took a few mock exams, there is nothing to fear.

It is important, of course, to  prepare for all parts of the exam . You should not buy a book with examples and do only the written part of it, for example. These exams always have a speaking and listening part that you must prepare for. If you can, ask a teacher or a native speaker to correct your essays, the writing part cannot be limited to the answers to the keys in the book. Also,  if you don't show your work to anyone, you could be perpetuating mistakes.

If your results in all the exercises are satisfactory afterwards, it is very likely that you can get the grade you want. There is no reason to be nervous, you have this!

We have already written about some of  the most common English tests and their structure . Read more about the IELTS, the TOEFL, the Oxford Test of English, the ELPAC, the STANAG 6001 and the English Exams for Competitions. If you need more information about each of them, please contact us.

You can always retake your Proficiency Exam in English

If the above two reasons didn't convince you, this one will. What if something goes wrong? What happens if you forget everything you have worked for? What if you have the worst stomach pain of your life in the middle of the exam?
All of this is highly unlikely and you know it. BUT, if any of them happen,  you can always retake the English proficiency exams and improve your grade.

IELTS – puedes tomar otro IELTS tan pronto como reciba sus resultados. Estudios realizados por el British Council en sí sugieren que las mejoras más pequeñas fueron en la sección de escritura (es difícil mejorar su escritura sustancialmente en un corto período de tiempo), seguido por hablar,escuchar y leer, que se puede entrenar extensivamente a través de ejercicios y pruebas de práctica, son más fáciles de mejorar.

TOEFL –  puedes tomar tantas pruebas como desee, pero sólo una vez cada 12 días. Así que serás capaz de tomar 2 pruebas en un mes determinado y 3 excepcionalmente. Si intenta hacer más de una prueba en 12, su cita será cancelada y no habrá reembolso.

OTE – El Oxford Test of English introduce un nuevo sistema. Hay una puntuación para cada habilidad y puedes volver a tomar sólo una parte específica, lo que significa que, después de haber vuelto a tomar el ejemplo anterior, puedes volver a tomar sólo la sección de speaking (por ejemplo). Su boletín de calificaciones se actualizará en consecuencia.

Si estás nervioso, las cosas no van tan bien

La última razón para no estar nervioso: ¡si estás nervioso, las cosas no van tan bien! Es un hecho comprobado que cuando estamos nerviosos:

• concentration decreases,  which could be translated as failing things that otherwise ; We are unable to focus for long periods of time, whereas tests can take 2 hours 30 minutes (IELTS) to 4 hours (TOEFL). We take  more time to do each task , which is a problem in a time-limited exam.
• Some people are hungry, thirsty, or have an uncontrollable need to go to the bathroom, which is not convenient when they only have 1 or 2 breaks during the test.
• You can read more about this in our article how to prepare for your exams, where we have discussed ways to control your nervousness while preparing for exams.

Other  exams can also be retaken , although less frequently. Some tests happen once a year, and you may have to wait longer to sit down for the test again.