How Do I Overcome Distractions On My CELPIP Exam Day?

How can other people get their CELPIP scores so easily and without preparation? While, I seem completely stuck.

No matter how hard I work on test day, I get so distracted by the sound of other test takers talking or typing that I can't focus on my own answers. What do I do? And finally, my listening skills are a nightmare. I can't keep up with the audio and miss so many details that I end up having to guess.

How can I get better? Welcome to the Speak English Fearlessly podcast. I'm Aaron. I'm a certified CELPIP trainer with 17 years experience teaching English.

If you have those questions too, then keep on listening because this episode is for you. This week I'm responding to a question from Balcroidly on Reddit.

He writes, took my cell pip today, but I felt incredibly disappointed at my performance.

I was easily distracted by any sounds nearby, including the typing sounds when people were doing the writing parts, not to mention the disturbance caused when others started their speaking tests. Listening was a nightmare.

At several points I missed some details that I had to guess the answer using those fragments of information that I could catch up with. I got stuck in quite a few questions that I struggled a lot to think which one to choose.

I can never understand why it is like everyone who moved from my home country to Canada and took the CELPIP will always say that CELPIP is so easy to get high scores without preparation. It's definitely a stress. Just can't help thinking why I can't handle this while everyone else can.

The first thing I think we should talk about is actually what you wrote about last why you're not able to get the results everyone else claims to get and without preparation. Here's the harsh truth. You can claim anything you want to about yourself and your accomplishments online, but those claims don't make them true.

What proof can they offer you that what they are saying is actually true? On this podcast, I claim that I am a certified CELPIP trainer and that I have over 17 years teaching experience.

But I can prove it if you ask me for it. I can show you my CELPIP teacher training certificate from Prometric, the organization that runs the celpip.

I can also show you my clients that I've worked with over the years and introduce you to them. They're real because what I'm claiming to be is real and I have proof to back up my claims.

Just because someone says they got 12 and everything on the CELPIP and without preparing for it doesn't mean it's true. I've seen hundreds of posts like this in Facebook groups and they all want something to get you to buy their secret template or leaked test results.

They sound something like this. Oh I'm so amazed. I'm so blessed. I got 12s on my CELPIP. I'm overjoyed with the result.

If you would like the templates that I use to get those scores, just send me an inbox. Or then there's this gem I've got leaked CELPIP test questions and answers for this month. Inbox me and I'll give them to you.

Man, Stay far away from these folks. They are preying on your need and desire to get something important as easily as possible. And they are scammers, plain and simple.

Now having said that, I know there are people out there who actually do manage to score well on the exam and don't need to put in much effort. But out of the general public, I'd say those folks are exceptions rather than the rule. So don't waste time comparing yourself to them.

95% of them are lying and are just trying to take advantage of you. Now, let's take a moment to talk about the no preparation part.

Based on what you've shared in your question, you've already discovered what happens when you don't prepare effectively.

You you easily get thrown off by noise and other distractions, you get hit by time management issues, and you find it hard to pay attention to the details that matter. And I'm not pointing this out to make you feel bad, not at all. But here's the thing.

A solid prep program will help you develop skills to take the exam, like note taking, time management, and practice opportunities that put you in in similar situations that you'll face on the test, like recording your answer instead of actually talking to another human being. That part alone has been the downfall of many test takers.

In short, a solid test prep program will help you get ready for those experiences so they won't trip you up on your exam day for your own practice.

Now that you've noticed that ambient noise, the noises that are happening all around you and listening for deep details, seems to be an obstacle for you, can you guess what I'll suggest for you to be doing? Immerse yourself in situations where you need to concentrate on speaking and listening while in a noisy location.

Put yourself in the hard spot so you not only get used to it, but you actually learn how to do what you need to do in spite of all the distractions. Well over 10 years ago, I read an article about deliberate practice that featured an interview with one of Tiger woods golf coaches.

He shared that one of their most important kinds of practice was going into the sand traps, often a golfer's worst case scenario, so that they could practice getting out of the trap as quickly as possible. Many amateur golfers avoid this kind of work and instead focus on practicing shots that assume everything will go according to plan on game day.

That's a huge mistake for you as a test taker. You should not assume you'll have a perfectly quiet room and shape your practice sessions accordingly.

In other words, don't avoid the noisy practice sessions. Look for them. Create them.

Spend time in them until you can create your speaking responses without distraction, regardless of how loud things are around you. I heard a quote once that kind of sums all this up. It goes like this and I quote sometimes you need to slow down to go fast.

And I think that's by a guy named Jeff Olson. Yes, taking a prep course will slow things down for you for a few weeks or maybe even months.

But if it helps you to build the skills you notice were missing on your last test, you'll likely be able to move forward much faster and with greater confidence. And I can't miss this opportunity to invite you to join the CELPIP Success School.

If you're looking for an effective program to help you focus on the skills you need to get ready for the exam while at the same time taking care care of your budget, then come and work with me. If you like my podcast, you'll love the CELPIP Success School.

You'll get friendly support and encouragement, weekly coaching calls, access to practical prep courses, and the chance to meet and connect with other newcomers to Canada who are working hard towards their CELPIP goals too.

You can join by going to celpipsuccess.com listener that's celpipsuccess.com listener because you're a listener to this podcast, you can get a 70% discount.

To take advantage of it, just go to celpipsuccess.com listener now let's talk about Belcroid Lee's second question about listening for details and missing them. Just as a reminder, he wrote and I quote that listening was a nightmare.

At several points I missed some details that I had to guess the answer to using fragments of information that I could catch up with. I got stuck in quite a few questions that I struggled a lot to think which one to choose. The listening section of the exam can definitely be tough.

The conversations you'll hear come at a regular native speaker level speed and are usually quite long. That means you need to spend time upping your note taking skills. Forget about trying to remember everything everyone says.

I promise you, you probably can't do it, no matter how much of a listening pro you might consider yourself to be. To help you build your note taking skills, I'd like to share my favorite and most effective practice routine with you.

I've talked about it often on this podcast, but it's so powerful it's worth sharing it with you again. And like I just said, it's my favorite. It's called the Five W's. Here's how to use it. 1.

Pick a Canadian audio source to listen to Canadian because that's the accent you'll hear on the exam. You need to be exposing yourself to Canadian content exclusively as you are preparing for the exam.

And I highly recommend listening to the CBC and their hourly news programs as a great place to start. Each news report usually has a story segment that lasts about two minutes. These are great little workouts for your ears.

Number two as you listen to a news story, write down using pen and paper, not your phone because you won't have that on the exam. Remember, use pen and paper and write the five W's of the story you're listening the who, the what, the when, the where, and the why.

And this is important. Don't stop the audio on test day. You won't have that option, so don't give it to yourself too often. When you're practicing, listen without stopping.

Number three Note Taking Tips when it comes to taking notes on the celpip, I want you to forget about full sentences, proper grammar, proper spelling, and even neatness. As long as you can figure out what you wrote, it's valid and the audio will be running so fast you won't have time to think in full sentences.

Proper grammar or proper spelling. Just get basic ideas down. If you take too long writing down a point, you're going to miss others that are coming. So practice quick writing. 4.

Repeat daily. And even better, aim for a few 2 to 5 minute listening practice sessions like this a day.

Frequent and consistent practice matters way more than one extra long session just once a week. Number five Retell and record the story using your amazing notes.

Try and retell the story you just heard and record your answer in your cell phone's voice memo app. Then compare your answer to the real story and see if you missed any key details. And remember a key detail is one of those five W's.

The who, the what, the when, the where, and the why. This system works for those who engage in it often.

I've shared this before, but I've had students go from sixes to nines with this kind of practice and it just takes few months of consistent practice. You can do this too. And as far as needing to guess your response and hopefully you won't need to very often.

But if you do, if you do need to guess an answer, you won't lose points for incorrect ones, but you also can't get points if you leave it unanswered. So guess if you have to.

Obviously, try your very best to eliminate any obvious incorrect opt so that you can increase your chances of picking the right one. But if you have to guess yes, don't leave it without being answered. I hope that this has helped you belcroidly. Now let's do a little check in.

I'm going to do this with you every so often because I think it's so important to notice a few things about your ongoing journey to get ready for the CELPIP and to improve your English skills in general.

This exercise, as I've shared in previous episodes, comes from an article I read over on Entrepreneur Online and I'll link to it in my show notes again if you want to check it out yourself. In the article, author Alicia hall shares how she used a three step meeting prep strategy.

Before meeting with her boss, she wrote him or her an email which detailed 1 her accomplishments from the previous week, 2 what she was working on right now, and 3 an innovative idea or 2 that she would like to try next. Here's why I am encouraging you to do this with me. You're not writing for your boss, but for yourself.

And here are your goals by writing about what you've accomplished as you've practiced your English and prepared for the CELPIP, you'll actually start to notice your progress. Even if it's just a little. Every little step counts, but so often we fail to notice them.

Instead, we end up paying way more attention to what didn't work or our failures. So let's take a moment. What did you accomplish this last week with your English and CELPIP prep skills? Write them down.

How about what you're doing right now? This will help you to stay focused.

Write down a few things you are working on this week to get ready for the exam or that will help you to build your English skills in general. Reminding ourselves of what we're trying to focus on is vital for making progress because man, it's so freaking easy to get sidetracked, isn't it?

Or distracted. Refer back to your list daily to make sure you're staying on target. And finally, innovate.

Always be attempting something just outside of your comfort zone in English so that you are always growing. Growth happens when you're attempting something new.

Write at least one thing down that you will attempt this week and take notes about how it goes when you actually go for it. And by the way, failure is valid. It doesn't have to succeed to be a success.

Just stepping into something new, attempting it for the first time is a big step forward. Just keep doing it. I hope you give this a try. I'm sharing it with you because I'm continuing to do it myself and have found it to be very helpful.

Well, my friend, that's the end of this week's podcast.

I hope that you've enjoyed it and I hope that it has helped you as you are working towards your CELPIP goals and as you're working towards improving your English in general. Please come back again next Tuesday for another edition. Have a wonderful week. Bye.