Canada is the land of dreams for many as it offers a better life to all the people who migrate from other nations. Due to this the number of people choosing to immigrate to Canada is increasing annually. It is often seen that Canada Study visa consultants in Chandigarh or other parts of the country ask the Canadian visa aspirants to prepare for the English proficiency tests so that they can apply for the visa as it is one of the eligibility criteria for both, the application to the university and the application to the embassy.
Why English Language Proficiency test is made compulsory?
To survive in any country it is essential that you are able to communicate well with the natives of that country because it is needed in day to day life even for basic activities like buying grocery from a store or asking for directions to reach a particular destination or understand the instructions of teachers or supervisors to study or work efficiently.
Also, sometimes when one is not able to use a language well, it can lead to conflicts with the locals who can result into bad and unwanted experiences and no one wishes to have that. For example; if a person uses a word which has different meaning in his own country but has a completely different and negative meaning in the foreign county then it will obviously offend the local people resulting in negative atmosphere there. That is why it is important that the immigrants have a certain usage level of the local language.
To ensure that the immigrants do not face any challenge while living in their country, the governments of various English speaking countries have made it mandatory for them to prove their language proficiency by taking the approved tests like IELTS or PTE or others before they grant visa to them.
Popular English Test for Canada:
IELTS: All the Canada student visa consultants in Chandigarh advise their clients to go for IELTS due to its wide acceptance in Canada.
- It stands for International English Language Testing System and is the most accepted English language skills test in all the English speaking nations including Canada. It has four modules – Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing. These modules are based on the usage of a language as we need it for expressing ourselves (Speaking & Writing) and comprehending (Reading & Listening).
- All the Canadian universities accept IELTS scores (Overall 6.0). The embassy also prefers this with the visa application.
- It was launched by the Cambridge English Assessment and British Council in 1989. Initially it was only a paper based test but nowadays aspirants can take the computer delivered IELTS also.
- The tests are corrected by the well trained examiners.
- All the modules are attempted the same day but speaking test is conducted 3-4 days before or after the LRW test. It is a one on one interview round with the examiner.
- For the test the test taker needs to go to the designated test centre and is allowed to take the test after complete verification.
- The result is announced after 13 days in case of the paper based test and 3-4 days for the computer delivered IELTS. They are awarded as bands from 0-9.
- The scores hold valid for two years from the date of the test.
PTE:
- Pearson Test of English is also the English language test and has the same four modules as IELTS.
- It is used to get the offer letter from the university as well as to apply for the visa in the embassy.
- It is a completely computerized test of English which is conducted online. There is no paper based mode for PTE like IELTS.
- The scoring system here is completely done by the computer and there is no human intervention in that. This is the reason some of the institutes do not accept it but it is claimed by Pearson that the scoring system is made considering the responses and correction styles of a large number of the human examiners to get the absolutely correct scoring from the system.
- The whole test is taken at the same time and it lasts for two hours.
- The test taker needs to go to the test centre approved by Pearson to take the test. There is PTE home as well which is allowed in certain cases.
- The results are available within 5 working days officially. The test takers are scored in points ranging from 10-90.
- The scores are valid for 2 years since the date of exam.
Duolingo:
- DET is also one of the popular tests to assess the English language proficiency and includes all the four modules like IELTS and PTE.
- It cannot be used to apply for the student visa in the embassy. It is only used to secure a seat at an educational institution as sometimes students miss the seats in a specific intake because they took long to prepare and clear IELTS or PTE.
- It is a completely online test and is quite similar to PTE but is for a shorter duration of 1 hour.
- The scoring also happens online same as PTE.
- There are no test centers for this test, it is taken from home.
- The results are declared within 3-4days, the scoring ranges from 10 – 160.
- The results are valid for 2 years just like IELTS and PTE.
All the Study visa Consultants in Chandigarh advise aspirants to take Duolingo to secure their seat in the university and then prepare well to take the IELTS or PTE so that they do not lose the opportunity to go abroad in the preferred intake.