In order to obtain the coveted document proving that your language proficiency meets the requirements of an educational institution or employer, certification is necessary, that is, this knowledge must be proven. And for this, you need to pass an exam—not the one given at school or university, but the so-called international one, recognized worldwide or at least in certain countries. Such exams have been developed for all more or less common languages of the world. Although no, not quite: also for uncommon ones. For Luxembourgish, for example, Portuguese or Hungarian... But the vast majority still prefer to take English. Or, at worst, German, French, Spanish, Italian.
Raise your level
Regardless of the language, exams can be divided into several categories. The first, probably the most important, is universal exams. Those whose passing certificate is suitable for work, study, and life in any country where the language is spoken. The second is specialized exams, confirming knowledge of the language necessary for professional activity. Specialization can be either narrow (medicine, law, technology, aviation, etc.) or fairly broad (for example, “business communication”). The third category is intermediate exams; passing them does not grant the right to any serious activity abroad, but is an excellent means of self-assessment.
In most countries, there is an official scale of language proficiency levels developed by a serious organization called ALTE. There are five levels in total: Elementary, Lower Intermediate, Upper Intermediate, Lower Advanced, and Upper Advanced. It should be noted that some language schools structure teaching according to a greater or lesser number of levels, and the names may not fully coincide with the official ones. But the system of international exams is built precisely on the ALTE scale. At the same time, it should be remembered: for serious work and study, only certificates of the fourth or fifth levels are recognized. All the others are the very intermediate ones, which are worth taking only “for oneself” or in cases where without a certificate of a lower level you are not allowed to take a higher-level exam (such is, for example, the situation with the French language).
The greatest variety of exams exists for the English language. Different countries, many examination boards, differences in British and American variants of English, and finally, a huge number of people wishing to take this particular language—all this contributes to the fact that the number of English exams is not just large—it continues to grow. With German, it is simpler to figure out—here the tone is set by the Goethe Institute, whose developed tests are, with German punctuality, “shelved” by level and purpose. With French and Spanish, it is even simpler: one universal exam for everyone (though also “shelved” by levels)—DALF and DELE, respectively. With such a certificate, you can, as they say, go anywhere—both enter a university and get a job. You just need to remember that it must be a certificate of the highest level, not an intermediate one.
English for everyone
But with English, you will have to seriously figure things out so as not to get into trouble. Imagine that you are offered a choice of taking: IELTS, TOEFL, KET, FCE, CAE, TOEIC, BEC, TORE, ISE, CELPIP, ESOL, ISPRL... Well, is that enough gibberish? And yet these are far from all the abbreviations behind which English exams hide. You need to know what lies behind each set of letters. Because employers and admissions committees are demanding and capricious people, and if they decide to hire or admit only those who have passed, say, TOEFL, then that is how it will be. And with other certificates, despite all their universality, you will not get the coveted place.
The aforementioned TOEFL is preferred in the USA and Canada, which is understandable: it is an exam in American English, developed by the American examination board ETS. In Britain, Ireland, and Australia, IELTS is more common, as well as the “older ones” from the Cambridge family: CAE, CPE, and partly FCE. All these exams are popular both worldwide and in their home country. Much less known here are the British London exams—the creation of the largest British examination board EdExceL and ESOL, developed by no less authoritative British “examiners”—the City & Guilds chamber. By the way, it is believed that ESOL is the most flexible and closest to the modern state of the language. The fact is that so far we have few places where you can prepare and take these exams, which does not diminish the weight of the certificates obtained as a result.
There is no limit to perfection
You may ask, what are these mysterious “selpips” and “isprls”? These are new tests, introduced literally a couple of years ago. They were not invented out of a good life. The worldwide hype around international language exams led to various fraudsters starting to “warm their hands” on it. Scandals with fake certificates took place in a number of English-speaking countries. For example, in the USA they caught a gang of enterprising “businessmen” who specialized in taking TOEFL professionally (that is, for money) on behalf of various dunces. In Australia, an underground print shop was discovered that produced fake IELTS certificates, TOEFL score cards, and stamps of the Department of Immigration. At one of the universities in New Zealand, it turned out that almost a quarter of foreign students practically cannot write in English—despite the fact that their IELTS results supposedly amounted to 6.0...
In this regard, employers and universities began to question the reliability of language proficiency documents presented to them. And in order to protect themselves from an invasion of fraudsters with fake "credentials", and at the same time bring the knowledge of potential immigrants, students and other foreigners closer to the realities of a particular country, examination boards in some places began to develop tests for local purposes.
For example, CELPIP is a new exam in Canadian English. In all likelihood, it will soon replace all other certificates for immigrants to Canada. Meanwhile, ISLPR was created in Australia and serves as an alternative to IELTS for admission to the country's universities and educational institutions of the TAFE system. The examination board of London's Trinity College can also boast a new product: the ISE exam, which tests all four language skills (speaking, listening, reading, writing). The TIE, an interactive English test invented in Ireland, is also increasingly winning the sympathies of foreigners.
For business communication
Language exams for business communication are probably second in popularity after universal ones. They are taken by businessmen, managers, office workers, sales specialists, secretaries, and those entering business schools. Among our compatriots, the most popular is the Cambridge "range" of BEC 1, 2 and 3. Needless to say, only the higher levels are counted when entering universities and applying for jobs.
But BEC is far from the only hope for those who want to join international business. There are also exams conducted by the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LLCIEB), but they can still only be taken in Britain.
2.5 million people in the world annually take the TOEIC business English exam. It is a sibling of TOEFL - the creator of both tests is the American council ETS. It includes, however, only reading and listening, while the recently introduced, also "ETS's" TORE tests spoken language in a professional context.
By the way, it is by no means because of the lack of a "speaking" section that the favorite business English exam among us is not TOEIC but Cambridge BEC. Rather, it is because they serve somewhat different purposes: the first is intended for employees from abroad already working in English-speaking countries who want to improve their qualifications, the second for those who want to increase their chances of getting a prestigious job. It is clear that for now we have far more of the latter than the former.
Undoubtedly, the number of language exams will continue to grow, and new ones will be added to the well-known ones – both universal and regional. It is important to keep track of all this diversity and, with the help of educational consultants, choose not what is on everyone's lips but what is really worth taking in a particular situation.