deen the breen Posted July 20, 2013 Report Share Posted July 20, 2013 I would like to enroll for an international English Test . I googled for it and I got tons of information. The most important ones seem to be TOEFL, IELTS and Cambridge Exams (First, Advanced, Proficiency).I am living in Switzerland. I have no idea which test would be the best for me. Does anybody know about the differences of those exams? also i need to know, which exam makes the most sense for me as a guy from Switzerland (not all the english diplomas are "recognized" here I think) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtommy79 Posted July 25, 2013 Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 If you are planning any academic studies i.e university, then you should go for IELTS since it is accepted by most universities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deen the breen Posted July 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2013 hey dtommy79, thanks for the reply. By saying «most of the universites» do you mean worldwide or which country(ies) are you talking about? :frozen: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linguaholic Posted July 26, 2013 Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 In most cases, TOEFL or IELTS are fine, as both exams are accepted and meet the entry requirements for academic settings.If you are more about British English, you might want to take the IELTS exam as it is more focused on British English vocabulary than TOEFL.Also, the TOEFL test usually takes about 4 hours, which is rater long. The IELTS test is short..is usually about 3 hours.Let's clear the meaning of the abbreviations as well :TOEFL stands for Test of English as a foreign language and IELTS stands for International English Language Testing System. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deen the breen Posted July 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 ok, that is useful....but how does the IELTS and the TOEFL compare to the Cambridge FCE (First), CAE (Adanvced) and CPE (Proficiency) ?? :sweating: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linguaholic Posted July 26, 2013 Report Share Posted July 26, 2013 i did some research about the difference of cambridge, IELTS and TOEFL and I found an interesting pdf document. I will attach it here. Please have a look at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deen the breen Posted August 3, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 3, 2013 thxxx a lot linguaholic for this document. that explains a lot. I will just need to start studying now xD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitkat0124 Posted August 25, 2013 Report Share Posted August 25, 2013 I took IELTS exam (academic) for employment reason. I think the exam you need will depend of what is your reason of taking the exam. Is it for employment or for evaluation in a university. In IELTS it can be academic or general. I think if you will take the exam for further education, you can take TOEFL or IElTS. To be honest I'm not really familiar with Cambridge Exam, because I haven't try it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p0gy0 Posted September 3, 2013 Report Share Posted September 3, 2013 I took IELTS exam (academic) for employment reason. I think the exam you need will depend of what is your reason of taking the exam. Is it for employment or for evaluation in a university. In IELTS it can be academic or general. I think if you will take the exam for further education, you can take TOEFL or IElTS. To be honest I'm not really familiar with Cambridge Exam, because I haven't try it.Hi Kitkat0124, I am planning to take the IELTS exam for employment. Should I not take the General exam since it's "general", it can be used both for employment and other stuff? Care if I ask you your IELTS score? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitkat0124 Posted September 12, 2013 Report Share Posted September 12, 2013 Hi Pogyo, I think it depends on what kind of work, I'm not really sure but for professional level they want the Academic type. In my my case, I'm required to take the academic type. I got 7 in all categories. (speaking, reading,listening and writing) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakster Posted September 19, 2013 Report Share Posted September 19, 2013 For the purposes of finding work, what's generally more recommended? TOEFLS or IELTS? I'm thinking of taking one of them but I'm afraid of taking one and then finding out that most companies are looking for the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitkat0124 Posted September 20, 2013 Report Share Posted September 20, 2013 For the purposes of finding work, what's generally more recommended? TOEFLS or IELTS? I'm thinking of taking one of them but I'm afraid of taking one and then finding out that most companies are looking for the other.I can't really tell what you really need to take. You know what my brother and I are in the same field of work but his course required him to take the TOEFL and TSE, The TSE is stands for Test of Spoken English. It's a separate exam for speaking only. TOEFL in paper based is just for writing, listening and reading. So you also need to take the TSE. To complete the four categories. While I'm required to do the IElTS. Actually I can also take the toefl and tse, but for me, IELTS is easier. One exam, with combination of all the categories. While in my course I can take any of the exam. His course can't do that. Anyway to cut it short it all depends of your course. But I guess it is safe if you will take the Toefl and tse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiesIrae Posted September 23, 2013 Report Share Posted September 23, 2013 This thread's been pretty informative. I remember I took the TOEFL way back, when I was around 16 years old, I think? I don't remember much about it, just that it was pretty easy. It basically just tests your understanding of English. I wonder if I have to take any new tests before I move to the US. I used to work in a call center that answered to DirecTV customers, maybe that counts as something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitkat0124 Posted September 24, 2013 Report Share Posted September 24, 2013 I think you need to take the exam again. Ielts is valid for two years. So I took the exam again to renew my visascreen. I worked in the US for more than 2 yrs but I still need to do it again. Check the validity of you TOEFL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiesIrae Posted September 26, 2013 Report Share Posted September 26, 2013 Thanks! I'm not that concerned though. I don't really think they'd take points off anyway for not having perfect American English accent. At least it's on my list of things to do now. Heh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitkat0124 Posted September 27, 2013 Report Share Posted September 27, 2013 Welcome. I think they are more concern with the grammar than the accent. Goodluck with your exam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyDigitalpoint Posted October 2, 2013 Report Share Posted October 2, 2013 Actually TOEFL is the most sought-after examination because for almost any job application where English proficiency is necessary.By enrolling in TOEFL you play safe and eventually you can get other certifications, but of course, problem is many times is pricing involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitkat0124 Posted October 4, 2013 Report Share Posted October 4, 2013 Actually TOEFL is the most sought-after examination because for almost any job application where English proficiency is necessary.By enrolling in TOEFL you play safe and eventually you can get other certifications, but of course, problem is many times is pricing involved.I agree with you that it is safer to take TOEFL than IELTS. In my case I can take any of the two and I selected IELTS. There are some jobs and universities that preferred TOEFL than IELTS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxsaumitraxx Posted November 9, 2013 Report Share Posted November 9, 2013 I'm also thinking to take TOEFL this month. The main differences between TOEFL and IELTS are--IELTS uses different accents (British accent,Australian accent) in the understanding section, where you have to listen to a conversation.On the other hand TOEFL only uses US accent.So you should take TOEFL if you watch a lot of hollywood movies(like me) and listen to English songs.-The other main difference is the speaking part.In IELTS you will be interviewed by the examiner face-to-face. And they ask questions like "What do you like to have as a birthday present" and similar questions like that.In TOEFL you have to speak in the mic and have to record your speech after the beep. They generally give academic topics like "Asexual reproduction in Bees" and topics like that.So, I guess I made the differences pretty clear. Don't know about you but I'm going to take TOEFL Best of luck for your exam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebel Posted November 9, 2013 Report Share Posted November 9, 2013 I personally have the Cambridge one. From what I know and heard about it, it's recognized almost everywhere in Europe. I didn't have a hard time on the test, it's one of those exams where you could go only with your language knowledge. They include no academic topics or have any special preparation. (Most of the exercises at least, some do require special solving 'tactics'.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qaximor Posted January 16, 2014 Report Share Posted January 16, 2014 I'd say go with IELTS. I tried it and got a 6.5 without putting a lot of effort on it. I think you will do great in IELTS. Most universities want 5.5 and 5.5 is a really low mark. Just score really good in Reading and Listning and Speaking and do your best at writing. Writing part is the most annoying and hardest because you have to write perfectly and you don't have a lot of time to put your ideas in order. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.