CELPIP - Part 1: Listening

The The Canadian English Language Proficiency Index Program (CELPIP), by Paragon Testing Enterprises, is an English language test for people wanting to become permanent residents in Canada and Canadian citizens.

In this series of blog posts, we'll look at ways you can prepare for CELPIP



NOTE: I do recommend reading the CELPIP study tips. These are basic, test-taking techniques and strategies that will help you. First, it's very important to -

 Practice, Practice, Practice, Practice!

 Remember "The Four Ps": practice prevents poor performance.

Certainly, take The CELPIP General Sample test for free. You can still practice using test conditions as there's a time limit to answer each question. There's also a CELPIP channel on YouTube.

If you'd like to "warm-up" you can also do practice sessions for other common English proficiency tests on examenglish.com. You can practice:

*IELTS - International English Language Testing System

*TOEFL - Test of English as a Foreign Language

*TOEIC - Test of English for International Communication

*Cambridge English (ESOL)

This blog has done a few posts on TOEIC strategies as well.

The more you practice, the more relaxed you will be when you do the test.

Listening

The listening section has a practice task and is in six parts:

	Part 1: Listening to Problem Solving
	Part 2: Listening to a Daily Life Conversation
	Part 3: Listening for Information
	Part 4: Listening to a News Item
	Part 5: Listening to a Discussion
	Part 6: Listening to Viewpoints

You'll have to listen for specific information, main ideas, describe summaries. Questions will also ask you to make educated guesses about what the speaker may do next, or unspoken points (What does the speaker mean by...?) 

Again, you can take the listening practice tests on  Exam English  (TOEFL listening practice ) (IELTS listening practice). 

Another great resource for ESL learners is YouTube. I'm a big fan of EngVid. When you go on to YouTube, do a search for "engvid listening skills", and you'll find many videos on how to improve your English listening skills. 

DVDs, and streaming services likeNetflix, have English closed captions (CC) or subtitles. 

 

Mad Men (copyright, AMC)

• Choose a scene from a tv show or movie, write a few questions about it, (What are they talking about? Why is the man angry, etc).
•  Listen to the scene for one or two minutes, first with subtitles off  and answer your questions.
•  Watch the scene with the English subtitles on, and check your answers.

   Don't translate into your first language. It's important, for any English language test, to think in English.

Don't use YouTube's closed captions. YouTube (like Google Translate) isn't good with non-English names, slang, or accented English.

The best resource for ESL learners are people who speak English: native speakers, fluent non-native speakers, or even those whose English skills are similar to yours. You will hear different accents, new expressions and vocabulary, and exchange ideas on English language training. 

If you're in Canada, and want to meet people, there's services like Meetup. Choose the Canadian city you're living in (ESL Meetups in Toronto), do a search on ESL, and choose the group that you'd like to join.

As long as you're using English regularly, your listening, speaking, grammar, reading and communications skills will get better and better. You'll have a better chance at getting a good CELPIP score.

CELPIP - Free Practice Test: Listening