A formal letter

Objective CAE, TEST 1, p. 32

A night out to remember – but perhaps for the wrong reasons.

Dear sir/madam,

On 9th March 2006 I joined a trip with people from Welcome Language school to London. One of the events we would attend, according to the booklet given to us, was the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which took place in the Majesty theatre two days after our arrival.

The musical was brilliant – I have never seen such talented actors and actresses performing before, but, according to your newspaper’s review, the event was not good at all. After talking to some people on the trip, I decided to write this letter. They all agree the performance was great.

As you may know, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was advertised as ‘The Show of the Century’ and in fact it is. Not only is it based on the masterpiece of modern William Peter Blatty newest novel, it also had the contribution of having such a gifted cast, which, there is no doubt, rehearsed a lot before performing on the stage. Furthermore, the show has had a high profile these days. Therefore, I think the person who wrote the review in your newspaper cannot have taken part of the audience.

Regarding the scenary, it was exactly as it was on the booklet. In fact, its beauty surpassed all my expectations. There is no doubt the booklet is a fine portrait of the show. It is really a must see.

What is more, the theatre, with its great structure and high profile sound system provided all the attenders with a great view from the stage, even to the ones who were sitting in the balcony. Not to mention the huge and great Talliesin Orchestra, which beautifully performed lovely songs. I barely could belive Enya was the lead singer. Seeing her was a dream coming true.

The price we paid was really worthy. Many people considered it inexpensive indeed.

I suggest you revise all the review. It contains lots of inaccuracies and considering your newspaper is respectful, you should not have published those lines.

Yours faithfully,
Marcelo Maciel de Almeida

P.S.: This piece of writing needs to be checked.

Exames – Should they be a thing of the past?

Exams have been used to test pupils for ages. Some people say it is not the best way to assess someone’s performance on a given subject, whereas others assume it is part of educational system and it cannot be abolished. In spite of the different speeches involving the theme, it seems that an efficient way of assenssing studets has not been found yet.

At the university, teachers often use seminars as part of evaluation. Seminars usually involve a group of students working together. You are supposed to have meetings with your classmates and discuss about the subject you are to talk about. I remember that, once I was a Languages and Literature student at Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, a member of the group said something like: “My part is about...”, when presenting his seminar . The teacher strictly condemned his attitutude. I strongly agree with the professor: If you are supposed to present something, you must be involved in all the process. You must be able to deal with the whole theme. Considering this aspect, we can realise that there is always someone in the group who does not do anything and, consequently, there is another who works harder to supply the gaps left by that person.

As a Portuguese teacher in a state school, I used a seminar to assess my eight-grade class, which, by the way, is known as one of the best classes from the school. The theme was about television and its negative points. A handout was given to help their work. I tried to reach out all the students. As a result, there were great presentations. There was even a group which recorded interviews with a video camera and a group which performed a play. I got amazed. On the other hand, there were students who took others for granted. I found out that, in fact, some members have not done anything. They were just reading some papers that one of their classmates wrote. Regarding this point, I think that individual exams are necessary.

I partially agree with the argument from someone who tells me those exams do not measure all the abilities from a student. In addiction to this, I tell him or her that it depends on the way the exam is approached. Nowadays the entry tests for Brazilian universties have changed a lot. Students are not supposed to memorise loads of information as in the past. Therefore, teachers have to emphasise the importance of reading. Nevertheless, there are those who insist on tradicional apporaches. As a teacher, I am always trying to draw my students out of themselves.

As negative points of exams I would mention that students are under the pressure of being always tested. Sometimes we have to go against the clock because the time is not enough to see all the content and an exam is set.

I have been doing my postgraduation in Discourse Analysis at Universidade Federal de Uberlândia. We are having tests in most of the subjects. Sometimes we are supposed to present seminars, and write essays. As I am doing something which appeaks me very much, I feel very comfortable either when having an exam or presenting a lecture to the class.On balance, I think exams are really important. Maybe a good idea would be balancing written exams with oral ones. If there are students who feel free to perform a play on the stage, why not assessing them through their performance? It is very important to notice the different skills a person has.

599 words

P.S.: This piece of writing needs to be checked.

How to succeed in learning a foreign language

Task 9: CAE Objective, Test 4, p. 113: 3- competition entry – Can you help others to study well? Win a prize by sharing your experiences!
What have you learnt about how to study languages effectively? Write and tell us how it’s done!
What advice would you want to give new students about what they should and should not do in order to study well throughout the year and to get good marks in exams? You should explain how your own experiences have informed the advice you give.

How to succeed in learning a foreign language

It is known that some people learn a foreign language more easily than others. Researches carried out in Applied Linguistics show that this is due to many facts. One of them is the relationship you establish with the language you intend to learn. So, before learning it try to answer the following questions: Why am I learning this language?, What does learning a language mean?

You may think learning a language is knowing its structure, its grammar. Others will define it as the ability to communicate with native people. The former definition is called, in linguistics, language learning, whereas the second, language acquisition. Why not combining both of them?

Many people might have told you not to think in your mother tongue, but how to avoid the interference? Well, I am pointing some facts based on my experience as a languages student.

I have been learning English for about ten years. I used to study Spanish and French. The first thing I tell you is that if you want to be able to communicate well, speaking must be a regular exercise. As I haven’t practised it regularly, my French is not good at all. I usually speak Spanish with some colleagues, but the language I use most, apart from my mother tongue, is English.

Don’t panic when you don’t understand what your teacher says. A good teacher knows what the best way of approaching his students’ problems is. My mother, when learning English, used to translate every single word in the texts she was reading. Definetely, this is not good. Try to get the meaning through the context. Afterwards, look up the words you don’t understand in a monolingual dictionary. Keep a file with the new words you learn.
Listening is regarded as one of the most difficult abilities. So, why don’t you listen to songs on the target language? Try to transcribe what you are listening to. Penfriends may help you develop writing skills. Despite the fact they are unusual nowadays, a penfriend is a way of exchanging stamps and postcards. Moreover, you can use technology to help you. That’s why MSN became so popular. With a microphone and good will you can even improve your pronunciation and fluency.

378 words

Machines sell movies while you wait for your cash

Task 8: CAE Objective – page 80, Writing folder 5

Machines sell movies while you wait for your cash

A new way of advertising
As you may know, Wells Fargo Bank has developed a new way of advertisement. While you are waiting for your cash in front of bank tellers, you can either watch pieces of up-dated videos or regular advertisements about several subjects such as gadgets.
What’s up?
In the past, people went to a bank and while they were waiting for the cash, there were some advertisements about services the bank provided. Nowadays, with the escalation of advertisements, tellers have been showing us what to watch, what to wear, what to buy. This idea seems to be attractive, however it is also an invasion of privacy. If you are supposed to be aware of new videos or new gadgets, there are booklets with this information. Moreover, there are already lots of ads on TV.
Drawbacks
Knowing that all companies rely heavily on advertisements, it would be better if these ads were used in billboards near the bank. Imagine yourself waiting a long time in a crowded line and you have to wait more because of the machine faults. Now you have to put up with ads you are not interested in. Certainly those addicted to films will spend a long time in front of the new technology, like a coach potato!
I envisage the caos these ads will cause in banks. There are laws which support bank clients not to wait for a long time in queues. What are they trying to do? The service will, undoubtly, be delayed. I would hazard a guess that many people will be arguing and fighting while waiting for others to check this extra information.
In a nutshell...
I am laying my cards on the table – I can’t see any advantages in those ads. It’s a disrespect to the clients. A bank is not an apropriate place for manipulating people. What’s more we are already overloaded with ads. They are everywhere.

320 words

Vocabulary
- avarice: (n) extreme desire for wealth; greed. avaricious (adj)
- chronicle: a written record of events in the order in which they happened: the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle • Her latest novel is a chronicle of life in a Devon village.
- defy: 1- to refuse to obey or show respect for sb in authority, a law, a rule, etc: I wouldn’t have dared to defy my teachers. • Hundreds of people today defied the ban on political gatherings. 2- ~ belief, explanation, description, etc. to be impossible or almost impossible to believe, explain, describe, etc: a political move that defies explanation • The beauty of the scene defies description. 3- to successfully resist sb/sth to a very unusual degree: The baby boy defied all the odds and survived (= stayed alive when it seemed certain that he would die). defiance (n); defiant (adj).
- envisage: to imagine what will happen in the future: [VN] What level of profit do you envisage? • [V -ing] I don’t envisage working with him again. • [VN -ing] I can’t envisage her coping with this job. • [VN that] It is envisaged that the talks will take place in the spring. [also V that, V wh-]
- gall: rude behaviour showing a lack of respect that is surprising because the person doing it is not embarrassed.
- quirk : (n) 1- an aspect of sb’s personality or behaviour that is a little strange: Everyone has their own little quirks and mannerisms. • his quirks of humour / taste. 2- a strange thing that happens, especially accidentally: By a strange quirk of fate they had booked into the same hotel. • an unpredictable quirk of history. quirky (adj): a quirky sense of humour
- retort: to reply quickly to a comment, in an angry, offended or humorous way.
- retrieve: 1- ~ sth (from sb/sth) (formal) to bring or get sth back, especially from a place where it should not be.
- spear: a weapon with a long wooden handle and a sharp metal point used for fighting, hunting and fishing in the past.
- teller: 1- a person whose job is to receive and pay out money in a bank; 2- a machine that does this automatically. 3- a person whose job is to count votes, especially in a parliament.
- wired:1- connected to a system of computers: Many colleges now have high-tech libraries and wired dormitories.

The Brazilian Othelo of Machado de Assis (review of a Brazilian book)

Hellen Caldwell once wrote, in Folha de São Paulo, English people should be envious about the Brazilian writer Machado de Assis for his ability in creating a Brazilian Othelo in his masterpiece Dom Casmurro. The masterpiece deals with the fragile relationship between two friends – Bentinho and Escobar - on a love triangle (Bentinho-Capitu-Escobar).

Why should you, Portuguese learners, read this masterpiece? Let us analyse this question referring to the importance of it in Brazilian Literature.

Despite the fact Dom Casmurro belongs to Brazilian Realism, it is a very up to date book and, I believe, it is equivalent to Shakespeare for English people.

The unreliable narrator and the fictional memoir are long-standing[1] literary traditions. Narrated by Bentinho, this memoir looks back over a life filled with the suspicion of betrayal: Bentinho is convinced that his wife had an affair with his best friend, and that his son was the result of it. Though, he has no real evidence to support this belief, Bentinho becomes so obsessed with it that, in the end, he commits crimes far worse than the suspected adultery to avenge himself. The memoir itself is a kind of justification for his actions; Bento, now alone, recreates the environment of his childhood and attempts to rewrite the facts of his life - in essence, reconstructing the past.
The Brazilian book dialogues with the English Othelo’s Shakespeare, that is, Bentinho involves in similar situations to the ones portrayed in Othelo. For instance, there is one in which Bentinho is watching Shakespeare’s play in the cinema. As you can see, the plot itself evokes Shakespeare.

I think this is surely the best option for you, Portuguese learners who’ve reached a high standard, but are not totally fluently. Maybe you are going to find the language a little bit unusual nowadays, but Ática has published, this year, an abridged version, which makes it easier for reading.

There are some successful Brazilian books abroad, such as the ones written by Paulo Coelho, but I would not refer to them. I would rather you read Dom Casmurro, and check yourself why this is a must read.

360 words

[1] that has existed or lasted for a long time.

An informal letter

Dear Fiona,

I am very glad to hear from you again, my dear friend! How are you doing? What about your parents? I’m pretty fine as usual. I missed you a lot.

I may be arriving in Inverness on 15th April, one week before your birthday so we’ll have plenty of time to organize the party. The previous party was a success, but I didn’t know someone stole your father’s George III Silver Teapot – this is disgusting! I suggest you send invitations just to the ones you really know to join this next party.

Well, as usual your house was crowded with friends of friends, and I guess this is the main problem. Anyway, do you remember that tattooed guy who came with Ross, he is quite weird, don’t you think so? Maybe I’m judging him by his appearance, wearing leather jacket and silverish necklaces and bracelets, but he seems to be as keen on silver as your parents. What do you tell me about Marris’ sister, Rachel? No sooner had she arrived at the party, she was entering your parents’ living room. I know there’s a toilet over there, but everyone was using the one for guests, next to the backyard.

You shoud be more careful – think about this invitation idea I had - Just those with the invitations join the party. By the way, Guess what? Some days ago I was reading Oxford Mail and I saw this George III Silver Teapot being advertised. It has already been used, but according to them, it’s in perfect condition, and as they need to sell it very quickly you can take advantage of a bargain. They are selling it for £ 1500.

What a lovely surprise! You and Michael are getting engaged to be married! When did you start dating him? Was it just after the party? Well, honestly I don’t know who could have taken the teapot, but if I was supposed to point someone out, I would mention either Rachel, Marris’ sister, or the guy who came with Ross.

I hope you are doing what I suggested. Don’t forget it.

My best wishes,
Marcelo

356 words

Who bothers to read these days?

Reading helps improve writing

Undoubtedly, we have never been overloaded with information as nowadays. News on TV and magazines provide us with much information. Sometimes we even feel we are losing our grips because of so many subjects to keep in our minds. The problem is that people have been replacing good books for either poor programs on TV or tabloids talking about the private lives of celebrities.

Despite the fact there is a wide choice of programs cable channels, such as sitcoms, news, good films, researches carried out show that people have been much more interested in reality shows. Big Brother is a good example – millions of people switch on their TV to see a group of people who joined a contest, exhibiting their intimacy, in order to win a good amount of money. What is more, the audience makes phone calls to choose the winner, spending money on these calls or spending their time chatting to contestants. What’s happened to the habit of reading?

There is no doubt technology brought many advantages to our lives. We are connected from our home to the whole world through the Internet, which made it possible to talk to relatives who live far from us, chat with virtual friends, research using the PC. Nevertheless[1], there were many drawbacks. Students, for instance, take the advantage of the Internet to copy texts rather than using it as a good tool. What I mean, they do not even quote what they take from the net. As a result, teachers are asking pupils to write instead of typing.

Students are asked to read books when they are studying Literature, however, you can find a summary of them, or even an analysis ready to be parroted when a research is assigned.

A book enriches our lives, especially if it is a good one. When we study Literature we have the opportunity to know the society from different periods and we can relate the different periods with ours. In a nutshell, we get aware of our background and our heritage[2].

I miss the time I used to read classical novels. When I was at university I had the opportunity to read from Brazilian writers to foreign ones. My favourite writers are still the same - Machado de Assis, Edgar Allan Poe and Franz Kafka are some of them. I had a great influence of my Literature Theory teacher. We read great novels and whenever was possible we watched a film based on this book. Thus, you can see that it is impossible to transpose fiction to TV screen. The quality will depend on the director’s point of view.

Researches have shown that reading helps improve writing. Students who read a lot usually write well. Therefore, it is necessary that the habit of reading is brought back.

468 words

[1] nevertheless: (adv) in spite of sth that you have just mentioned: There is little chance that we will succeed in changing the law. Nevertheless, it is important that we try.
[2] the history, traditions and qualities that a country or society has had for many years and that are considered an important part of its character.

Orkutmania

Orkutmania
by Marcelo Maciel de Almeida
(http://www.orkut.com/Profile.aspx?uid=3925289186367986160)

The beginning
Orkut is an Internet social network service run by Google, named afer its creator, Orkut Büyükkökten, a Turkish software engineer. It was launched on January 22nd, 2004, and it was designed to help users meet new friends and keep in touch.
What it makes it a good tool?
The good point about Orkut, I reckon, is the fact you can find friends you haven’t seen for ages. I found classmates I had at high school and at university. However, in my page, there are loads of people I’ve never seen in my life. In the past I used to accept everybody who added me. For some time, I really thought about quantity and, maybe, popularity, but nowadys I understand this isn’t what I intend for my Orkut page.
There are several communities to be joined in Orkut. You can even create your own community and dedicate it to someone else. What I found amazing is the fact there are many ELT communities.
As a teacher, Orkut has become a useful tool. Sometimes I want to send scraps to my pupils reminding them about tests and homework, for instance. It also became a powerful tool so that I can be aware of friends’ birthdays, and as I have an awful memory when it comes to dates...
Controversy
Some of Orkut’s drawbacks is the fact you may have your private life invaded by its members. Once a friend of mine mentioned this point, but I told her I had no problems with this. I see it as a way of expanding my social life, despite the fact I know there is a remote chance of meeting people I don’t know.
It has been reported that some users have been creating fake profiles. What is more, there are some offensive contents in some profiles, such as nudity and even pedophilia. That’s why I think it must be strictly regulated. Nevertheless, you are able to ban such offensive contents.
Nowadays you are able to see recent visitors who checked your page. I found the implementation of this system really useful.
Brazilian Popularity[1]
Orkut community has been watching a large surge[2] of Brazilian users registering on its service. This is a known and curious fact. The number of Brazilian Orkut users has reached approximately 72.72% of the total users, followed by the United States, with about 10.92%. Due to the number of Brazilian users and communities in the Portuguese language, users from other parts of the world got upset with the service, when it established Portuguese as the first "alternate default[3] language," (as English was the primary default language) prompting many community owners to enforce an English-only posting policy.
A Turnaround[4]
During U2's Vertigo show in Brazil, which was broadcast by TV to 80 million people, Bono invited a Brazilian girl, Katilce Miranda, onto the stage. This is a very common act in their shows, but the girl's Orkut profile skyrocketed[5] her to a celebrity status in Orkut. On the week after the show, she received about 3 million scrapbook entries, and more than a thousand communities about her were created.
On 3 March 2006 the profile was deleted with around 3.7 million scraps. In an interview to Transamérica radio on the morning of 4 March 2006, Katilce said that she was not responsible for removing the profile, but rather stated that "it was Orkut". Recent rumours say that Katilce was invited by Rede Globo to become an actress, most likely to act in soap operas.


590 words

[1] From this part of the article to the end, there is a quotation from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orkut
[2] a sudden increase in the amount or number of sth; a large amount of sth.
[3] if sth happens by default, it happens because you have not made any other decision or choices which would make things happen differently
[4] * a situation in which sth changes from bad to good. * a complete change in sb’s opinion, behaviour, etc.
[5] to rise quickly to a very high level.

Cama de Gato - Rather shocking, but effective

Task 3 – Writing Folder 7, p. 111 – An international arts magazine is preparing a feature on TV programmers that viewers find particulary original or unusual...

Cama de Gato - Rather shocking, but effective

Cama de Gato, written and produced by Alexandre Stockler, is the film I intend to show my students in high school. I don’t know how to classify it. I would say it is a kind of black humour mixed with comedy and drama.
I think Cama de Gato was a perfect metaphor chosen by Mr. Stockler to entitle his work, released in 2002. It’s an outstanding proposal to discuss problems in our society, such as violence and drugs. Happenings occur in a way that the main characters’ lives are caught in a trap, involving the first and the following crimes commited by three teenagers – Cristiano, Francisco and Gabriel.
On the all-star cast you’ll find Caio Blat (Gabriel) living a character he has never faced before – a guy who harasses his girlfriend sexually together with his friends Cristiano and Francisco. It’s a rape scene without cuts. After this event, the teenagers lives are turned into “hell”.
Despite the fact I got really shocked when watching the film, what made me amazed was the fact that problems which, at a first glance we would say are typical of a low social status class, in fact are related, in the film, to a high class. Thus, I would say the film is an outstanding proposal to denude false values so common in our current society, discussing ethics. It’s a warning for parents, teachers – all of us!
What makes the film brilliant is, in my opinion, the comments by the director, Alexandre Stockler. He brought the film to high schools and universities in a way that parents could critically talk about the proposal rather than undervalue it because of the shocking scenes. The film portrays things that may happen among teenagers in a fragmented postmodern society, which seems to be much more worried about “having” than “being”. Some teenagers real statements about the fiction were a bitter[1] disappointment to me, but, all in all, it’s worth[2] seeing!

331 words
[1] bitter: 3- [usually before noun] making you feel very unhappy; caused by great unhappiness: to weep / shed bitter tears • Losing the match was a bitter disappointment for the team. • I’ve learnt from bitter experience not to trust what he says.
[2] worth: (adj) 1- having a value in money, etc: Our house is worth about £100 000. • How much is this painting worth? • to be worth a bomb / packet / fortune (= a lot of money) • It isn’t worth much. • If you answer this question correctly, it’s worth five points. 2- ~ sth / doing sth used to recommend the action mentioned because you think it may be useful, enjoyable, etc: The museum is certainly worth a visit. • This idea is well worth considering. • It’s worth making an appointment before you go.
worthwhile: (adj) ~ (to do sth) ~ (doing sth) important, enjoyable, interesting, etc.; worth spending time, money or effort on: a worthwhile cause / discussion / job • The smile on her face made it all worthwhile. • High prices in the UK make it worthwhile for buyers to look abroad. • It is worthwhile to include really high-quality illustrations. • It didn’t seem worthwhile writing it all out again. • We all felt we had done something worthwhile for the local community.

Amarantine – Ater a 5-year hiatus, Enya returns (a CD review)

Released this year, Amarantine is Enya’s seventh solo album, succeeding her masterpiece A Day Without Rain, which stayed a phenomenal two years on the Billboard chart.

Born Eithne Ní Bhraonáin, on 17 May 1961, in Dore, Gweedore, Co. Donegal, Eire, Enya, a classically trained pianist, was formerly[1] a member of Clannad before embarking on[2] a solo career that blossomed[3] unexpectedly with her 1988 UK chart-topper, "Orinoco Flow".

Enya is well known for mixing English with Gaelic, Latin, French and Spanish. In Amarantine, her lyricist Roman Ryan created a new language called Loxian. According to Enya, the language was born because the previous ones weren’t enough to express what she intended to. However, I reckon[4] this remark[5] comes after Tolkien’s languages used by Enya in The Lord of the Rings soundtrack. Therefore, I believe this is a marketing strategy.

According to Amarantine’s booklet, the language is portrayed in the book Water Shows the Hidden Heart by Mrs. Ryan. The lyrics are translated to English, but the alphabet in which it’s based is really weird – it looks Arabian to me.

There are three songs in Loxian – Less than a pearl, which I tried to transcribe phonetically; The River Sings, which reminds me of Ebudae song and the amazing Water Shows the Hidden Heart. When I listened to this last piece for the first time, I thought there were some latin words such as “umbra”, meaning shadow if I’m not mistaken.

Enya continues being my favourite singer since I bought her first album in 2000. It was The Celts. I’d heard this song many times before I bought the album, but I thought it was a choir. So, how could I explain to the shop assistant it was Enya? I could even play those songs in the piano by ear, but I’m a terrible singer.
Amarantine is the result of Enya’s hard work and perfectionism. The ethereal songs are perfect to wind down after the drudgery[6] of nowadays life. The only problem is the 45-minute length, which makes me anxious to get her next albums, videos and pictures. Definetelly, I’m an Enyaholic.

356 words
[1] formerly: previously.
[2] embark on / upon sth: to start to do sth new or difficult
[3] blossom: 2- ~ (into sth) to become more healthy, confident or successful: She has visibly blossomed over the last few months. • Their friendship blossomed into love.
[4] reckon: 1- (informal) to think sth or have an opinion about sth.
[5] remark: (n) the quality of being important or interesting enough to be noticed.
[6] drudgery: (n) [U] hard boring work: domestic drudgery

A SURVEY

Task 1 – You have recently carried out a survey to find out what students think of the restaurant in the college where you are studying. Write a report for the principal, saying what you discovered and making recommendations.

A survey was carried out to find out what UFU students think of RU, our local restaurant. The main aim of this survey is to improve some features of the place, including the food. An amount of eighty students were interviewed.

The first question of the survey was related to the quality of food. According to the result of the survey, the majority of the students find the food satisfactory and inexpensive; on the other hand, this same amount pointed out there is not a wide variety, mainly regarding lack of vegeterian food. What is more, students are complaining the menu is the same every week. Therefore, lots of students are leaving the college to eat at Fon Pin, a Chinese restaturant at Center Shopping.

The standard of cooking is considered good, but nobody can put up with the coffee served. They mentioned the instant coffee is disgusting. Students pointed out that a proper coffee-making machine would be a good investment.

Few students complained about the opening hours. Arts students mentioned, however, it could be open until 3.00 p.m. because they have a very short time to eat, once their drama class finishes at 1.30 p.m. On the other hand the place was scored as very uncomfortable. There are few tables indoors, which makes it impossible to accomodate everybody on busy days.

Prices charged were considered reasonably fair, but if the services are improved, they are willing to pay more.
On the whole, the place is considered clean and the staff was described as polite, but there were some students who mentioned that extra staff should be hired on busy days.

I hope you take into consideration the points mentioned in this report so they can be discussed at the meeting to improve RU services.

295 words

WHAT IS CAE? - AN INTRODUCTION

CAE is the second highest level Cambridge ESOL exam, at level C1 of the Council of Europe's Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Choose CAE if you are reaching a standard of English that is adequate for most purposes, including social and professional situations, and in higher education.
Although the level of language skills required is not as high as for CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English), CAE recognises the ability to communicate with confidence in English and deal with most aspects of everyday life.

Why take CAE?
CAE is ideal if you want to work or study abroad or to develop a career which requires language skills (e.g. business, medicine, engineering). It is also useful preparation if you are working towards CPE (Certificate of Proficiency in English).
On passing the exam, you'll receive a certificate awarded by University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations. Your CAE certificate is recognised by universities and employers throughout the world.
You will also receive a statement of results, showing how you performed in each of the five papers.
Studying for CAE helps you to improve your language skills and use them in a wide range of contexts. The exams are based on realistic tasks, and indicate the ability to use the language in practical situations. If you are successful, you'll be able to participate in meetings and discussions, expressing opinions clearly, and be able to understand and produce texts of various types, including business letters and reports. You'll also be more than capable of following university courses taught in English.

What does the exam involve?
CAE has five papers:
Reading
Writing
English in use
Listening
Speaking

The written papers are returned to Cambridge for marking and assessment. The Speaking Test is conducted by two locally based examiners who examine candidates face to face. All examiners are accredited by Cambridge ESOL.

Reading (Paper 1), 1 hour 15 minutes
This paper assesses your ability to read and understand a number of texts taken from books, newspapers and magazines. You are expected to be able to show understanding of gist, main points, detail, text structure or specific information, deduce meaning or recognise opinion and attitude.

Writing (Paper 2), 2 hours
This paper assesses your ability to write non-specialised text types such as letters, articles, reports and reviews for a given purpose and target reader, covering a range of topics. Responses are of about 250 words in length.

English in Use (Paper 3), 1 hour 30 minutes
In this paper, you are expected to demonstrate knowledge and control of the language system by completing various tasks at text and sentence level, based on authentic texts. This will include gap-filling, error correction, word formation, register transfer and text completion exercises.

Listening (Paper 4), 45 minutes (approx.)
This paper assesses your ability to understand the meaning of spoken English and to extract detailed and specific information from the spoken text and to understand speakers' attitudes and opinions. The texts are taken from a variety of text types including interviews, discussions, lectures and conversations.

Speaking (Paper 5), 15 minutes
The Speaking Test assesses your ability to interact in conversational English in a range of contexts. It contains four parts, including an interview section, individual long turns, a collaborative task and a discussion. You are provided with stimulus materials such as photographs and drawings You will normally take the Speaking Test in pairs.

Source: http://www.cambridgeesol.org/exams/cae.htm