UNKNOWN TALKS- EPISODE 5- My Cambridge B1 exam experience (storytime)

                 MY CAMBRIDGE B1 EXAM EXPERIENCE

Hello people! I am back with a new episode of "UNKNOWN TALKS"! Before we start I want to thank you guys for reading what I am writing here on my blog. My latest post, the one with our society was really appreciated and I am glad it was this way! 

So, the story with my B1 exam started one year ago, when I started training for it. It was my first ever Cambridge exam. As time went by, I was getting better and better at doing those practice tests and exercises. I want to add that I was training with a private tutor, and no that is not a fad, it is just extra help. I have one of the best English tutors in the world. She knows me since I was ten years old, not knowing the smallest bit of English and she made me speak and write English at an amazing level. I have been doing extra English classes for almost three years, and she made me love English! Back to our story, I was supposed to have the exam somewhere in January. It changed my plan a little bit, but I was happy I had more time.

I wasn't scared of the whole exam. I was scared of reading and speaking. If you don't know, there are four parts to the test- Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking. In fact, the ones I was scared of, were the easiest. Two days before the exam, I was feeling nothing except pressure. I had my exam on a Saturday and I remember how my mom took me on a shopping spree and went out to eat noodles, so I would calm down. The pressure started the night before the exam when I had to get ready, make my bag, choose the clothes I was going to wear, take the information I must have to enter the exam, and other stuff. One week before the exam, Twinkle Star (where I bought my exam) sent me the confirmation of entry, timetable, ID number, secret number, and the site I was going to get my results from. The secret number and ID number are necessary for you to get the results.  As I was getting closer, the pressure was getting harder and harder. The pressure didn't come from anybody but me because I am a perfectionist. 

It was the morning of the exam. The first part, the reading one, started at 9 am. I was sweating and shaking. They gave us to complete a paper with different questions, our age, name, why did we want to have this exam, how did we prepare for it, and other questions. It was for the statistics. Now, I had my exam at a private school, and they had "TWINKLE STAR" printed on the pencils they gave us. The school looked amazing, seriously, what was I expecting for a private school? 

When they opened that big box with the tests I died. I was dead. During the first ten minutes of the reading part, I couldn't read, and the sentences weren't making sense. The exam was 45 minutes long and it was enough time because I ended it ten minutes before the time was up.     The reading part was easy, nothing too complicated. There were kind of in the middle. My tutor was giving me the hardest practice tests and that helped me a lot! We had a 10 minutes break and then the writing part started. We had an extra paper for drafts before putting it into the answer sheet. I finished the first essay and wrote it on the answer sheet, space before the paragraph! I noticed after I finished it. I asked for a new paper but they had them numbered. I was dead, officially dead! I had some problems with the second essay as I didn't have enough words. There must be 100 words (minimum 95-90 - maximum 110-105). I was writing the first sentence of the second essay on the answer shit when I heard- "Ten minutes left!" I had 100 words to write in the first place! Not to mention, I didn't even have the words counted and my writing wasn't very pretty. I started crying while writing at maximum speed. Hopefully, I had 2 minutes left to count and re-read my essay. I had no space left on the writing sheet to add any words, so that was good. The writing part started at 9.55 am and ended at 10.40 am.

The listening part, well, that is another ride. It started at 10.50 am and ended at 11.25 am. Not much to say about it, I was still panicking and I wasn't hearing very good. Not to mention, I had a boy next to me who had the complete different answers as I did, and it made me worry. Overall, listening and writing traumatized the hell out of me but it was an experience and I learned a lot of important lessons for my future exam. 

The speaking part was amazing. I didn't lose myself but the guy I was collaborating with didn't know any English, I couldn't even understand him sometimes. Now, let me share with you one of his "wide sentences". 

The lady asked- What do you prefer, the nighttime or the daytime?

He answered-  The nighttime because I am a teen and you know...

He was 17 and I was so proud of myself! He had short answers and you couldn't even understand him sometimes. For me, the speaking part went amazing and flawless. It was the shortest part of my B1 exam, it only took 14 minutes.

My parents were waiting for me and the only thing I did when I came home was- 1. Cry, 2. Eat lunch, and then cry even more. My parents were laughing at me, saying that I was stressed too much. The sweet thing they did, that made me feel a little better after all that happened was an Aloe Vera. I call her Veralla.

 

I had my exam 5 weeks ago, and they said that my result will be released on the 12th of August. Now, I am going to pass it? I think so like I am expecting to. I am for sure going to tell you guys and show you a picture of my results. The B1 certificate is usually sent in 2 or 3 weeks after you get the results. I am excited to see the results because to pass B1 you must have over 140 points at each part.

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Have a nice day! Peace :)