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FAQS FOR CCL COURSE (CREDENTIALED COMMUNITY LANGUAGE TEST)
- I had PTE 79, can I pass CCL at the first attempt?
To successfully prepare for and pass CCL, you must possess 3 important skills – a) Source Language Proficiency b) Target Language Proficiency c) Note Taking Skill.
You must be proficient in the combination of all 3 skills; having good English Language Competency is not enough. The CCL exam requires you to be good at your language, have proper note taking skills, and have good short term memory so you may be able to remember the main ideas of the information presented to you.
- How long does it take me to prepare for CCL?
Usually, if you are competent in your language (IELTS > 6.5 in Listening and Speaking) and you possess good note-taking skills, 2-3 months will be more than enough for you to prepare for the exam and practice using audio files. You may take 6 or 8 week CCL preparatory courses. After which, we recommend that you allocate approximately 2 more weeks before your exam date to give you ample time to digest the lessons and practice further.
- What should I do to prepare for my CCL Test?
To prepare for your CCL Test, you should practice as many audio files of mock tests and transcripts as you can. This will allow you to familiarise yourself with the speed and the sounds of the audio files so you will be prepared to give you answers within 3-5 seconds. You must also have good note taking skills to ensure that you do not miss out on small details, aside from the key points in the given sentences (nouns and verbs). If you are not yet confident in your language competency, you must seek the help of trainers so you may work on improving your weaknesses.
- How many audio file should I practice?
Ideally, you should practice around 4 transcripts a day one month before the exam date. If you don’t have enough time, 1 to 2 transcripts will suffice. Regardless of the number of transcripts you practice on, what is important is the habit of practicing every day so you may be prepared for the rhythm, speed, and vocabulary so you can react and interpret these without delays.
- Should I memorise a lot of transcripts for the exam?
There is no guarantee that transcripts will be repeated in the exam so we do not recommend students to memorise these word-per-word. These are merely guides and serve as practice materials. The only way for you to come up with good interpretations would be to understand the words being used and possess the necessary skills to interpret these accurately.
- Do I need to be good at Note taking?
Yes, note-taking is an important skill you must develop before taking the CCL exam. Use any method that you are most comfortable with since this will yield the best and fastest results. The use of symbols will also be beneficial. We do not recommend that you learn a brand new note taking system since this might slow you down or confuse you when you are reading your notes during the interpretation.
- I have very high language competency, why do I still don’t pass the test?
Taking CCL Test is different from interpreting a simple conversation for your friend or colleague where you simply translate the overall idea of a message. In a CCL test, accuracy is of great importance. What may seem like minor elements such as prepositions, conjunctions, articles, and joining words will be marked meticulously in the exam, making it important that you interpret these accurately.
- How accurate should my translation be?
As mentioned above, the level of accuracy in translating is crucial in a CCL Exam. Of course, it is not expected that you translate word-per-word like Google Translate. You must be able to interpret the ideas grammatically and semantically correct. In addition to this, the target language version must be as close to its equivalent source text as possible, and this is higher than the usual level we observe in normal speech.