Sunday, October 19, 2008

The 'New' Cambridge Advanced English Test

This fall we are training a large number of students for the new Cambridge exams. As usual, I am teaching the CAE everyday, which means that I cover all five papers (reading, writing, English in use, listening, and speaking). After seven years of helping students pass the 'old' CAE, it is nice to have a fresh challenge.

If you go to the Cambridge test site, you can get a very thorough overview of changes to the exam. Having had a chance to look at the two practice exam books, I can say that I like the alterations overall, especially the fact that the CAE is about one hour shorter.

I'm sure that our students were happy on Friday that our first practice test didn't go beyond 3 p.m. Some of them planned to head up to L.A. right after the exam. That was the 'carrot' they dangled in front of themselves to get through the all-day event. Hope they had a chance to unwind before we get back down to business tomorrow. ;-)