🗓️ Cambridge exam preparation: free 24-25 calendar to get organised
- claraalonsomar
- 25 sept 2024
- 3 Min. de lectura
Whether you are a student preparing to take one of the Cambridge English exams, or a teacher in charge of exam preparation classes, this free 2024-2025 calendar will help you get better organised and achieve the desired results.
"Where shall I start?"This is a question many of you might ask yourselves when faced with exam preparation. "Should I simply practise with past exam papers?", "Should I follow a certain textbook?." Truth is... there is really no correct answer to such questions because it depends on where each individual student stands when making the decision to take the exam.
Some might have lived in an English-speaking country for some time, others might have attended lessons at a language school in a non-English-speaking country all their lives, others might have attended a bilingual school. So, of course, the time and effort it would take these different students to get ready may vary.
What I can tell you is that, in any case, you should look to a teacher for professional guidance. Then, decide together which type of course would be the best choice for you in view of your current level and available time. Will you go for an intense course? Will you go for a regular course, attending lessons throughout a complete school year? Will you go for private tutoring? Once you've chosen who's going to help you along the way and how much time you'll devote to exam preparation, I suggest you follow these steps.
1) Download the available Information for Candidates booklet on Cambridge Assessment English's website and make sure you read it thoroughly: Exams and tests | Cambridge English
2) Do a diagnostic test. That means, you should start by assessing where you are at. This will give you a better idea what your strengths and weaknesses are and where you should put your efforts in your exam preparation journey.
3) Get organised! This will depend pretty much on how much time you have. In any case, apart from the planning your teacher will have done, set your own mini objectives, such as: "I'll make sure I practise 1 exam task per skill -Listening, Reading, Speaking, Writing- per week."Use my free calendar to note this down and to visualize whether you're practising all four skills each week.
4) Use the notes section in the calendar to write down new vocabulary and grammar. Choose no more than 7 words or structures a week. Try to use them again and again, by writing your own examples, and incorporating them into you Speaking and Writing tasks. This repetition will help you make them part of your repertoire.
5) Make sure you work on at least 4 complete practice tests before the day of the exam, solving tasks respecting the amount of time per section you'll be given that day. This will give you a better sense of timing. Make sure you record all the results in the same document - I suggest an Excel sheet - to track your own progress.
Last but not least, enjoy the process! I know this sounds hard because assessment can play tricks on your nerves, but trust me, exam preparation is a very good way to advance in your knowledge of the language. It's like your graduation from English class... the icing on the cake after so many years devoted to the language. And having a certificate could open many doors for you in the future - even some you can't even fathom now.
Hope you find all these tips beneficial and please comment below if you have doubts or questions about this, or if you put all this into practice and would like to share your own experience.
PS: since I love Literature, I've included inspirational quotes in the calendar, which I hope will cheer you up along the way.
CLICK HERE TO GET IT!
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