Learning English on your own without the guidance of a teacher can be a daunting task. You may wonder where to start, what knowledge you need to supplement, and how to know if you are making progress. Often, taking tests is the best way to measure progress. The presence of many online tools below certainly makes self-study and tracking your English practice process easier and faster.
1. Reading skill test
The first tool to support Reading assessment is the smart test system built by Oxford University Press. In the first part of the test, a series of words (in context) are used to assess the user's reading comprehension level. The words will have an increasing level of difficulty. In addition, you will also be tested on your reading comprehension through an all-English page. The test allows users to choose easy, medium, or difficult levels. After making a selection, the reading will be displayed according to the user's level.
These learner-oriented exercises are not like traditional tests because they are not graded. Instead, they are used as a tool to help you discover your own English reading level. You can repeat the exercises as many times as you like to check your progress.
2. Build a personal test
If you are focusing on specific grammar points, you can actually build your own test to assess your current ability. Headway, one of the general English courses, allows you to build your own test. You can choose to test grammar topics such as: Conditionals, Modal Verbs, Time Expressions and Verbs.
There are twenty topics for you to choose from, each topic has ten questions including five multiple choice questions and five essay questions. Complete all the questions, you will receive the corresponding score. In case of wrong answers, the test will display the correct answer for learners to compare. In addition, the course also includes exercises to review grammar, vocabulary and common communication English , build short dialogues and practice compound nouns.
Làm thế nào để nói tiếng Anh thật tự tin? - sách hướng dẫn miễn phí - Mọi thứ bạn cần để giúp con mình tự tin khi nói tiếng Anh
Tải sách hướng dẫn
3. Take the practice test
The Oxford Practice Grammar online book series allows you to download free practice tests with answers. The tests are divided into 3 levels: basic, intermediate and advanced, helping users choose the level that best suits their ability.
The basic test covers past, present and future tenses as well as other topics such as adjectives and pronouns. However, if you are at a higher level, you can test yourself on medium-difficulty topics such as Reported Speech, Past and Present Tenses, Modal Verbs and Word Order. At the advanced level, the tests will revolve around grammar points such as Prepositions, Adverbial Clauses, Determiners and Quantifiers.
All tests have answers so you can assess your English level. The suggested topics are also a good way to help you identify the grammar path you need to take at each level. This way, you can really focus on your grammar and improve your level while studying at home!
4. Take the Oxford Test of English practice test
The final way to test your English proficiency is to take the Oxford practice test. The practice test lasts 2 hours and allows you to review each of the 4 skills: Listening - Speaking - Reading - Writing. In which:
- The Listening test is divided into four parts, to be completed within 30 minutes.
- In the Speaking test, you will answer questions and submit a recording. The time limit for this part of the test is 15 minutes.
- The Reading test is divided into four sections. Each section is designed to test your reading skills in a different way. For example, you will be asked to read for main ideas and complete gap-filling tasks. You will have approximately 35 minutes to answer all questions.
- In the Writing test, you will be asked to write a response email and choose to write an essay or a review. You will have 45 minutes to complete the test.
Taking Oxford practice tests not only helps you assess your ability, but is also a good opportunity to learn about the actual test structure.
Above is a summary of ways to take English tests at home to help you conveniently review and evaluate your English ability. Hopefully, through these tests, you will build an effective English improvement roadmap. In addition, you can try some other online English learning channels right here .