Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: CAE this week

So, would someone who did CAE this week like to tell us how it went?

 So, would someone who did CAE this week like to tell us how it went?
Perhaps he would NOT. (faccina)
FB

 So, would someone who did CAE this week like to tell us how it went?
Who on earth are you referring to?
:-))))))
So, let's start.
On Wednesday morning I had the first three papers (5 hours in total!). The 
reading test was really long, particularly the last part, where I was 
supposed to answer, say, 20 questions. I didn't manage to read again this 
final exercise in time, but at least I completed all gaps and trasferred 
everything on the answer sheet.
The writing paper consisted in two tasks: the first, compulsory, was a 
report (thank God), and for the second I chose a formal letter, because I 
didn't have enough time to write something more challenging, like an 
article. I spent too much time on the first text, cutting out several 
sentences, in order not to exceed in the number of words requested (250, 
which are _really_ few).
As for "English in Use", I found a couple of tricky questions in the first 
exercise, the multiple choize cloze, but all in all it was feasible. The 
only regret I have is that I wasn't sure about the spelling of "destructive" 
and when in the error correction part I found "distructive", after thinking 
quite a few minutes about it, I marked that line as correct. Also, I had no 
clue about the noun derived by "alert" in the following exercise (word 
formation). I wrote "alertment", which actually does not exist in English. 
( I should've written "alertness".)
Yesterday morning I had both speaking and listening. Together with a 
30-something local engineer I took the speaking test, which wasn't difficult 
at all. I mean, he, just like the other candidates (we were only 4 in 
total), didn't speak as fluently as I do. :-))))))    And I'm not that 
fluent as it might seem. I just spoke faster than the others and, frankly, 
had a far better pronunciation than any of them. So, all those Skype 
conferences turned out to be useful, didn't they? :-))
As many other people told me about, the listening test is almost never held 
in the most appropriate way. I for one had the stereo too close to my desk, 
and though at the beginning, when a short message was played in order to set 
the volume of the tape, everything seemed to be ok, as soon as the first 
speaker began his speech about some baobabs, the sound was a bit too loud 
for where I was sitting. I managed nonetheless to listen to all the four 
parts, but it was definitely not the best way such an exam could be held.
The paper itself was not easy at all. The first speaker had a (sorry, FB) 
bloody posh accent, and even if, concentrating a lot on what he was saying, 
I could understand him, I didn't manage to get the very expression I was 
supposed to fill in a blank with. The second recording was easier to follow 
than the first one, but at some point, I don't know why, I got distracted, 
and couldn't complete a gap (I guessed, but I don't expect my answer to be 
correct). The third part was a multiple choice exercise, and though it was 
really tricky, I managed to answer all questions. The final part of the 
paper, a multiple matching exercise, was indeed difficult. Not because of 
any particular accent (well, there was also a Scottish speaker, but I could 
easily understand him), but because,  the exercise being divided in two 
tasks, there wasn't enough time, at least for me, to read through the second 
list of reasons why each speaker enjoyed listening to music/poems/stories, 
and in the meantime listen to the recording. So I ended up guessing 3-4 of 
these answers.
In September I'll know the results, hoping to have performed at least 
decently.
The grades are thus attributed:
60-74% -> C
75-79% -> B
80-100% -> A
If I were just about to take the exam, I'd say it's not so difficult to get 
an A, but you have to deal  with such a wide range of vocabulary, in 
particular in the third paper (English in Use), that you never know what 
you'll be given. Also, with hindsight I'd say that even though watching 
films and tv series is fundamental to the general understanding of an 
English native speaker, in the listening test you are not only supposed to 
understand what is being said, but you also have to be familiar with 
typology of tasks provided. Also, most of the speakers are British, so it's 
better to focus the attention on British English rather than on American 
English, even though it might happen that one recording is in A.E. In my 
test everything was in British English, though I hoped there'd be at least 
one American speaker.
As for the the time limit, the invigilators don't usually permit any extra 
allowance. Therefore everything, including the transferring of the answers 
on the answer sheet,  must be carried out within the time limit.
Also, should anyone think about the possibility of cheating, there's no 
chance to do it. Every desk is well distant from the other, and especially 
in the reading paper, you'd better do your own test instead of wasting time 
trying to copy from the others'. But, as I said, there's really no such 
possibility.
What else can I say?
Well, I think that's all for now.
Tschüss,
Enrico il Pentolaio, at last on holiday. :-)))
--
"People say sometimes that Beauty is only superficial. That may be so. But 
at least it is not as superficial as Thought is. To me, Beauty is the wonder 
of wonders. It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The 
true mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible." (Oscar Wilde, 
The Picture of Dorian Gray) 

 Perhaps he would NOT. (faccina)
That's not true. :-PP
Tschüss,
Enrico il Pentolaio.


 typology of tasks provided.
Absolutely. This is where doing lots of past papers helps, of course.
Some
of the tasks are pretty odd. I wouldn't want to do CPE or IELTS cold,
and I'm a native speaker.

 What else can I say?
CPE in December? Or next June, perhaps.

 CPE in December? Or next June, perhaps.
Eh eh, well, first I'd like to know my results. Then I might consider buying 
the coursebook for CPE and throughout next year all the additional past 
paper books.
Do you have any suggestion about what edition I'd better choose? As I said 
some time ago, I used Longman coursebook and exam maximiser to prepare for 
CAE, and perhaps, had I had the answer key to both books, I woud have been a 
bit more satisfied.
On 
play.com
 there's plenty of choice:
http://snipurl.com/rwfc
Tschüss,
Enrico il Pentolaio.


 and I'm a native speaker.
Oh by the way, last week, while having a look at the newsgroup list of 
links, I came across a page about you stating you were the moderator of some 
English old discussion group. Is that thing still going on?
Tschüss,
Enrico il Pentolaio.


 paper books.
"the" coursebook? I'd agree about past paper books (start with the
latest volume
since it will be the most current syllabus, in case it matters). I'm
not sure
I'd bother with "textbook" type stuff: past papers were the only
not-for-native-speakers
stuff I used for CELI 5 and CILS 4 I think, and CPE is at least as hard
as those.
Do you have a good monolingual English dictionary? I imagine so. Past
papers,
lots of reading (virtually anything, but include some stuff like The
Times) and listening
(anything, but include something like Radio 4).

 (anything, but include something like Radio 4).
Yeah, that may well be of use.
Thanks for the tip, and see you soon!


 I can't subscribe to every newspaper on the market!
I said "something like". Any fairly serious paper would do.

 I said "something like". Any fairly serious paper would do.
Yes, right. I was joking, anyway.
;-))


 :-o
Yes. It wasn't too hard, but it was harder than CPE would be for me,
and
there were things I just didn't know.

 and there were things I just didn't know.
Like "cable laying"?
:-)


 Like "cable laying"?
Indeed.

 administration" ?
Boh. MBA = Master of Business Administration. Ma ad A-level
e BA in UK, mi pare che il nome sia solitamente "Business Studies"

 Indeed.
Oh well, I can find myself in trouble even with easier stuff. For instance, 
I always thought "on the edge" meant "on the top", figuring out the exact 
meaning of that fairly common expression just after the exam last week.
:-/


 
http://snipurl.com/ryvh
Yes. My feeling is that it's beyond even Proficiency standard in
difficulty,
for the most part, but I'm sure you'd find useful things in it. You
could
also look for "improve your vocab" type stuff for native speakers. (I
have some stuff like this in Italian published by Vallardi and I'm not
sure if the target audience is advanced foreign learners or pretty dim
native speakers.)
Also: When you do past papers, do them against the clock.

 Also: When you do past papers, do them against the clock.
Of course I do! (meaning that I did so also for the past exam)
:-))


 :-))
You said you had time trouble on the reading paper, so I had to wonder.

 You said you had time trouble on the reading paper, so I had to wonder.
I had some trouble with it, because it was quite long, not because I didn't 
manage to organise my work. I've read a lot of comments on the internet 
about my exam, and they all pointed out that the reading was indeed longer 
than any other mock paper.
;-)


 That must be rare indeed.
Yes. I've almost never seen/heard it used in real life. I doubt
even Proficiency would force you to use it.

 :-/
The sentence "Everything went wrong" is correct for "wrong" can be a 
noun, verb, adjective, or adverb, but "smooth" is never an adverb.
Kiuhnm

 verb, adjective, or adverb, but "smooth" is never an adverb.
Ah ok, non mi ero neanche posto il problema, dato che mi era stato insegnato 
di dire "smooth".
Va be', anche oggi ho imparato qualcosa di nuovo.
