A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

I took an online test from The EF Standard English Test (EF SET). As I already knew - but didn´t have an official certificate for that -, I have a much better reading comprehension, and need to work on my listening and speaking skills - which I´m doing -. Here are the details:


EF Set Average Score (Listening+Reading): 66 - C1 Advanced.

In detail:
Reading Score: 83 C2 Proficient

Your command of English allows you to read virtually any kind of text (factual, literary, technical) and accurately recognize and categorize style and tone. You can understand complex technical writing on unfamiliar subjects on a wide range of topics.

* Can read with ease virtually all forms of written language, including abstract, structurally or linguistically complex texts such as manuals, specialized articles and literary works.

* Can understand a wide range of long and complex texts, appreciating subtle distinctions of style, and implicit meaning.

* Can understand in detail complex texts likely to be encountered in social, professional or academic life, identifying finer points of detail including attitudes and implied opinions.


Listening Score: 49 B1 Intermediate

You understand most of what you hear in English on television, radio or the internet; your English vocabulary allows you to comprehend job-related language and most of what people say about feelings and events.

* Can deal with most situations likely to arise whilst travelling in an area where the language is spoken.

* Can understand the main points of clear standard speech on familiar matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc.

* Can understand the main point of many radio or TV programs on current affairs or topics of personal interest when the delivery is relatively slow and clear.




So, I have to keep on working on it.

From many of your posts, I can tell your English is better than some Americans'.

Lol, its probably better than most Americans

On a serious note, Sabas' English writing is excellent, and has never shown any indication that he's not a native English speaker.

Sabas, I know what you're going through with the listening score, as I have the same problems with German... they speak so fast, unless I ask them to slow down, I'm only catching every third word, and piecing stuff together.

All in all, you're extremely close to fluent verbally, so just keep at it, and you'll get there...

I encounter the same issues with French. I can understand the politicians and other formal speakers for the most part, but when I cross that line into La Belle Province (Quebec), the slang and colloquialisms leave me asking everyone to slow down so I can keep up.

Milkman wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 9:04 am I encounter the same issues with French. I can understand the politicians and other formal speakers for the most part, but when I cross that line into La Belle Province (Quebec), the slang and colloquialisms leave me asking everyone to slow down so I can keep up.

To be fair the French have issue understanding or recognizing quebecois too

LancerTheGreat wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 11:06 am

Milkman wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 9:04 am I encounter the same issues with French. I can understand the politicians and other formal speakers for the most part, but when I cross that line into La Belle Province (Quebec), the slang and colloquialisms leave me asking everyone to slow down so I can keep up.

To be fair the French have issue understanding or recognizing quebecois too

Same with Louisiana Cajuns. I used to watch a lot of French TV via satellite & when they had Quebecois or Cajun French spoken they would add French subtitles.

I've lived in the Western North Carolina Mountains all my life and have a heavy southern accent but some folks in the very rural areas are hard for me to understand I can't imagine how hard it would be for anyone from other parts of the USA let alone the world to understand them.
Here's a real example.
"hain'tcashing wasalls sadine" translation to I ain't catching what y'all are saying
Not making fun of or joking this is exactly how a lot of people from these Appalachian Mountains talk.

redman wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 12:40 pm I've lived in the Western North Carolina Mountains all my life and have a heavy southern accent but some folks in the very rural areas are hard for me to understand I can't imagine how hard it would be for anyone from other parts of the USA let alone the world to understand them.
Here's a real example.
"hain'tcashing wasalls sadine" translation to I ain't catching what y'all are saying
Not making fun of or joking this is exactly how a lot of people from these Appalachian Mountains talk.

I was born & grew up in the area where GA-TN-NC meet (my parents house was about a mile from that point.)
I was getting new glasses when I was about 10 years old.
A little old lady wearing a sunbonnet comes in, slaps her glasses down on the counter and says "thezhayr thangs hurtzmeyars!"

I am not sure it this may help our friend Sabas, as he is well on his way, but I did read that if you want to learn a new language, it is useful to listen to a lot of it, even if you have no idea what is being said.
Something about the sounds, inflections, cadence, leave an imprint in your brain, over time.
I am trying, or should be, with Italian, as I can sit on a bench with an old-timer and light chit-chat, but can"t follow a broadcast.

LancerTheGreat wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 11:06 am To be fair the French have issue understanding or recognizing quebecois too

My ex father-in-law, who lived in Quebec, once traveled to Paris. He went to a restaurant for breakfast one morning and ordered "pain grille", but the waiter had no idea what he meant, so he told the server it was called "toast" en Anglais, and asked what it was called in Paris.... to which the waiter replied "Le toast".

It also cracks me up that cigarette packages, like most things here, must have the warning label in English and French, so they have a warning that says "Le cigarettes cause le cancer". LOL. That seems like my dad trying to speak French!

Much of the French in Quebec is very old fashioned and verbose, and many people there speak using a lot of slang and cuss words, which can make it hard to follow along.

I love Quebec, however, the people are great and the food is great... there are many many places that take a European approach to food, and even in affordable, everyday type restaurants you will find delicious fresh food. So, if you do visit Quebec (and you should), please..... don't eat poutine the whole time you're there.

@sabasgr68 should be commended for writing so well in English considering all of the ungood examplifications we sets for him.

@BatUtilityBelt @bleys21 @Milkman @LancerTheGreat @mickey @redman @PoodlesAgain

Hey, gentlemen, I overcame my fears and recorded a reply. I left out some things I wanted to say, but that´s the thing with me, I get a little nervous when speaking, but that´s the only way to learn to speak. Made some mistakes, of course, but I could use your feedback. First thing, I know I have to loosen myself, to speak in a more natural way, like I do in spanish. I´ll get there. I concentrate too much in what I want to say and I get a little tense.

So, give it a listen when you have time - almost 12 minutes long! -.

Here´s the link (I downloaded it and EQed it a little bit, it sounded too muddy):



Enjoy it, I guess...

@sabasgr68 Please do not be nervous here, you are among friends here!
@PoodlesAgain is a native French speaker, methinks his advice was based on his experiences learning English.

Oh, and what the old lady was trying to say was: "These here things hurt my ears." So your understanding was very close.

mickey wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 7:36 pm @sabasgr68 Please do not be nervous here, you are among friends here!
@PoodlesAgain is a native French speaker, methinks his advice was based on his experiences learning English.

Oh, and what the old lady was trying to say was: "These here things hurt my ears." So your understanding was very close.

Yes, I know. Well, I took the first step, the worst has passed!

Is he a native French speaker? Interesting. It´s a good advice, yes. I need at least one year there with you, guys. 12 months, 12 states/regions.

LOL well, I wasn´t that lost about what the lady said

Yeah, as Mickey said, when first here, I listened to a lot of NPR (national radio, sort of) and acquired a lot of good vocabulary that way!
There are also weird sounds in some languages that are unknown to others and you mouth/vocal cords need retuning. The famous French "u' is one, or the soft "r'. I am sure Spanish has many has well.

Fun tibit:
I once worked with a coworker from Hungary.
Dude developed a great technique: speaking with someone in English, and running into an English word block mid-sentence, he would substitute with the Hungarian equivalent and continue on.
That was beautiful and highly effective.

Your spoken English is obviously functional, and far better than my horrible Spanish. You are very easy to comprehend. It also appears to be better than many people I have worked with from other parts of the planet. For most people, that is the bar - can you communicate well enough to get work done with confidence? I have a sister who worked as a translator in a handful of languages. She says the best way is to immerse yourself in the language you are learning - surround yourself with people only speaking that language. She also says you know you are there when you dream in the target language.

PoodlesAgain wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 7:49 pm Yeah, as Mickey said, when first here, I listened to a lot of NPR (national radio, sort of) and acquired a lot of good vocabulary that way!
There are also weird sounds in some languages that are unknown to others and you mouth/vocal cords need retuning. The famous French "u' is one, or the soft "r'. I am sure Spanish has many has well.

Fun tibit:
I once worked with a coworker from Hungary.
Dude developed a great technique: speaking with someone in English, and running into an English word block mid-sentence, he would substitute with the Hungarian equivalent and continue on.
That was beautiful and highly effective.

That´s a great idea. It´s better than only listening to movies and songs - what I´ve done for the most part -; although it ´ll help a lot, you´ll only cover a small area of the language in question, English in my case.
Yes, every language has its weird sounding letters and words, and yes, Spanish has some that English speaker never use.

That was funny. I believe I´ll start implementing it, and I think it´ll help with the "freezing" moments!

BatUtilityBelt wrote: ↑Thu Mar 24, 2022 7:55 pm Your spoken English is obviously functional, and far better than my horrible Spanish. You are very easy to comprehend. It also appears to be better than many people I have worked with from other parts of the planet. For most people, that is the bar - can you communicate well enough to get work done with confidence? I have a sister who worked as a translator in a handful of languages. She says the best way is to immerse yourself in the language you are learning - surround yourself with people only speaking that language. She also says you know you are there when you dream in the target language.

Thanks again for the feedback.

What your sister says would be the best way. And having a decent grammar background will get you there sooner, I think.

Well, I´ll let you know if I start dreaming in English. That´ll be awesome!

@sabasgr68 If you go to https://www.npr.org you can stream the audio broadcasts that @PoodlesAgain was talking about.

For those wondering what those letters mean in a wider context of abilities:

https://www.coe.int/en/web/common-europ ... obal-scale

Thanks, Mickey, I´ll listen to it while I´m in the computer.

@Milkman Hey, Clint, the picture on my computer when I turned it on this morning was the Petty Harbour-Maddox Cove; what a beautiful place (this is a tangent comment on the subject of this thread).

@sabasgr68 I just finished listening to your response, I thought you were actually very well spoken, very clear and quite easy to understand.

But I'm a huge fan of linguistics, language is just so unique and interesting it's exciting, I can't tell you impressed I am with the progress you've made on a second language, that's just one of the most awesome things a person could do.

Oh and about the pauses to find the right word, it happens to me speaking English natively. Sometimes I'll just have to describe or define it to get it to pop into my head or get a friend to tell me the word I was trying to think of.

But congratulations on the progress!

I have had my share of "fun" with French over my 22 years as a federal public servant here in Canada, including 6 months full-time French training, which serves me great as an English speechwriter....but I digress.

Last time I did the reading and writing tests, I got my levels with minimal practice. If I put my nose to the grindstone, I could probably move up a level, or even two on the reading test if I got lucky un petit peut. The oral test is a different story.

Sabras, the may be damning with faint praise, but your English is better than my French.

Sabas, I'm really impressed with your English - I speak a couple other languages in a very half-assed way, so anyone who can really express themselves in a second language gets a lot of respect from me. I participate in a forum for English learners, and it has taught me a lot about English. English is a strange language; very easy in some ways (we have no genders, very limited declension, almost no cases) and very difficult in others (our spelling and pronunciation are a nightmare, we have a lot of very odd constructions, and we are HYPER-specific about article and tense usage).

glasshand wrote: ↑Tue Apr 05, 2022 11:17 pm ... English is a strange language; very easy in some ways (we have no genders, very limited declension, almost no cases) and very difficult in others (our spelling and pronunciation are a nightmare, we have a lot of very odd constructions...

As an ESL person, the best analogy I could come up for American English is a snap-together erector set. Perfect for tech work, BTW.
That is, relative ease in building something coherent, compared to the rapid rise in complexity of French or German languages.

Separately, I used to work with (American English) technical writers on user guides and instruction manuals, and there is an art to simple and effective English. Easy to read, understand, and also translate in other languages. Think about it next time you open a user manual.

PoodlesAgain wrote: ↑Wed Apr 06, 2022 8:48 am As an ESL person, the best analogy I could come up for American English is a snap-together erector set. Perfect for tech work, BTW.
That is, relative ease in building something coherent, compared to the rapid rise in complexity of French or German languages.

I've heard people say, and I think I agree, that it's easy to make yourself understood in English but difficult to sound like a native.