This Saturday, I'll be taking the IELTS test at the British Council.
At frickin 8am.
On a Saturday.
At the cost of RM495.
Just to prove proficiency in English.
Never mind that I:-
1) got an A1 for 1119, way back before they made it so much easier;
2) got a C3 for SPM Literature, despite only attending half a year's classes for a 2-year subject (that was in 1991, current day, super-15-straight-As-scoring students need not bother comparing. It was much harder back then. Most things were. Really);
3) got an A for General Paper during A-Levels in Singapore;
4) was declared best speaker in a University law moot where every other "lawyer" was Caucasian; and
5) got distinctions in essay-assessed University subjects like Criminology and Ethics of Medicine.
And since by the utterly vainglorious spew above I've tempted karma to bite my ass, I'll probably be tested on my knowledge of pronouns, adverbs, past participles and such other grammatical arcana.
My lack of knowledge, more like.
wanpahtan
Actually, I wouldn't be such a bitch if the test wasn't being held at frickin 8am. And cost that much.
nabeh
So.
Has anyone taken IELTS? Do I need to study?? What's a past participle????
---
Why is my monitor blanking out when I try to play a game of Civilisation IV???
Had the same problem with Age of Empires III, but that was solved by changing the screen resolution.
My PC specs more than meet the minimum requirement. I think I'm running an Athlon, something in the gHz, 512 MB RAM and a Radeon 9200 SE graphic card.
So why lidat?????
cipet
bagero
mahkaikutthiu
Anybody?
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25 comments:
Because:
1) one's proficiency in english can deteriorate over time. like how we no longer use caps in casual writing. like how we've actually been trained not to start a sentence with 'but' but do so now with wild abandon. like how i am now thoroughly and shamefully confused over the use of "practice" and "practise", despite never having had this problem before. tu-lah what happens to people that use words as "super kehungersan".
nonetheless, and all other trophies aside, tis ridiculous that you need to do such a test, when you obviously got through a degree course in a uni IN OZ without difficulty.
and because i love you (name calling notwithstanding), i have checked, and no, you will not be tested on grammar per se. seems to me like it's the equivalent of the comprehension, essay writing and aural (oral?) parts in 1119. see
2) no reason. the gods-against-game-playing-at-the-cost-of-ignoring-one's-partner are just smiling on me, that's all :)
crap. that's "words such as 'super kehungersan'".
and the link is http://www.ielts.org/mediacentre/latestieltsdevelopments/article168.aspx
Oh my tender porkchop, your name is making me super kehungersan.
And starting a sentence with "And" is also a nono.
1119 got oral test meh? I don't remember. Wah, I got A1 even without taking the oral test? Champ. I.
eh, donch have meh? maybe i remembered wrongly. was it only BM that had an ujian lisan?
and yes, i am aware that starting with an 'and' is incorrect... but i'm not the one taking the test! =B
Damn those exams! I took an entrance exam in this nursing school. I ended up correcting 6 of their questions in Math. Ugh!
Don't worry about the IELTS.. should be a snap.
Paul
Never taken IELTS, since I came here straight after I finish my degree Down Under, but my brother took it and breezed right through. As far as I remember, he didn't mention anything about grammar and all those official words that really don't mean anything to me either (this coming from someone who's possibly going to be taking up a course in TESL...). It's like snowdrop said: comprehension, essay and the like.
Oh, the days when 1119 was so much harder! ;) Kids have no idea how easy they have it nowadays, and their english is still atrocious!
8am on a Saturday eh?
On the bright side, you only have to sit it once. And give up on a Saturday sleep in.
Funnily lar you two, with your sarcastic remarks and all.
and a good weekend to you and snowie LOL
Siao. If you need to sit for IELTS then I'd need to sit for a bloody SPM England paper all over again. Yup, it was hard in those days.
What in the world do you need to do that for anyway, hah? I took my 1119 that time too (Yes, before it was made so fricking easy. Tee hee hee. You told the world which year you took SPM. Tee hee hee) and used that to enter uni, do PR crap, etc, etc, and other shit. No problem at all woh.
BTW, 1119 got no oral lah. Just go in there and write till you're sweating blood.
Aiya, am sure u will breeze thru the test lar...unless you havent really woke up from your sleep yet by the time u sit in the exam hall!
And knowing u, u better NOT oversleep & be late to be at the exam hall. Rushing doesnt help the nerves, or the brain to work well, even on the simplest thing.
GOod luck!
:(.. my comments not coming.. this is 3rd attempt.
agree w LFS that u will breeze thru.. but dun oversleep!!
all if not most exams start at 8am.. *HATE*..
and so bloody exp the fee.. *gosh*..
good luck!
You're on Civilization IV already??? I just got III... Damn this non-Mac world!!!
Abaniko - Welcome, and hope your efforts gave you extra credit!
Paul - Should be. But cannot be more action than I already am, mah.
Bertha - Another course? My, you're a career academic. :) My cousin is teaching English to students from China at a language centre here and she has absolutely no relevant experience. She's reading up on the rules of grammar everyday before her classes!
Derek - How to have good weekend when Saturday's being wasted! Sob.
"Only once. Only once. Only once. Ohmmmmm..."
Doesnt work lah.
Geekchic - NOT FAIR!!! They accepted your 1119 for PR?? Guess DIMIA's changed their policy. These days they require everyone to sit IELTS. Hence.
LFS - Sob! Can't afford to be late, or they won't even let me in for the test! How rude.
Biow - Blogger's like that. Siao siao sometimes. Best is to copy your comment before pressing post. If it doesnt show, go back to main page and see if your name appears in Recent Comments before posting again.
Thanks. That's my fear...oversleeping and burning my RM495!!!
Najah - Wah, you're really in zaman dulukala. Didn't like Civ III.
I can run the CIV IV tutorial without the monitor glitch...it looks brilliant!!! Don't waste time on Civ III lah..
where is British Council? will jam? what time u need to wake up so that u can reach there on time?
When you get to the exam hall, sit down, pick up your pen - and write down the link to this blog. That should tell them all they need to know (and then some).
Tee hee - I took my 1119 one year after you leh! I oso got A1! And I certainly wasn't asked to give oral! -sulks-
spot - I was tempted to do just that, but over here, I'm going to need to show them something. :p So, if I want to stay....*sigh*
p/s: I'm sure you'll breeeze through, but all the best anyway! I wouldn't be alive at 8 in the morning, what more to say to sit for a test?! :p
I kept reading the first part. You taking IELTS? YOU?
Babe, did something freeze over and CNN not report it?
so, how was it? :D
how did the IELTS go?
I'm sure u breezed right through it. ^_^
Jay - What a good idea. Shoulda, instead of the crap I wrote for the Writing Tasks <-- So kindy sounding.
Bertha - Thanks, I was barely alive myself! Which makes it very difficult to concentrate on the task at hand.
Box - Heh. I need it for my Australian permanent residency application. Having an Aussie degree is no longer sufficient.
Biow & Vish - I didn't have much difficulty, except for 2 Reading/aka comprehension questions, but that was more to do with the fact that I was sleepy.
But seriously. The test could be quite difficult for a lot of the people who were taking it that day. Lots of Chinese nationals who could barely understand the instructions to get to their seats. I overheard a Malay fella say that it was his 5th time taking it.
At RM495 a pop, Cambridge must be making a bundle from these things.
The comprehension passages were about the history of timekeeping, bullying in schools and salinity problems in Australia. zzzzzzzzzzzz...... my concentration sucks.
Results in two weeks.
Alamaks. Late to comment.
RM495? GOOD GAWD!
Back in my day (1995, ahem), I didn't even bother to take the 1119 exam. Partly because it would cost RM150 for the test. And RM80 a month for 1119 tuition (almost ALL my classmates went for this). So darn expensive!
Noooo way was I gonna get suckered. I got an A1 for SPM anyway, did a twinning programme and went to Oz for my final year.
We didn't have to take the IELTS, but my batch had to go for a one-month language preparatory course. Those who took 1119 or IELTS were not exempted. How crap was that?.
Now I'm in a job that requires some degree of competency in the language. But fortunately, writing sentences beginning with 'But' or 'And' is acceptable in copywriting. And I'm not complaining. Proper proper so hard to read hor? Haha!
I'm sure you'll breeze through it, Spottie! YOU of all people! Why you taking the test wor?
wandernut - hor!
1119 is/was more often than not, a vanity project. Me vain.
Took IELTS for migration purposes.
p/s - envy you and box. damn copywriters.
Ah!! You Civ freak too?! LOL Do you still have the problem running the game? Sorry I'm replying SO late.
Will - 'Bout time! Can't be a freak if CANNOT BLOODY RUN IT RIGHT??? Grrr.
As far as I know, only you play it (other than Najah, but she's still in Zaman Dahulu Kala with Civ III). :)
Your machine can play it ah? Hmm...maybe I should email you.
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