Dear Kim

Hi,

Yes I am  and I am from the Philippines. We came here with my family as immigrant last July 26 last year. So, we’re only 1year 3months in Canada. I’ve taken IELTS,CLB but not yet of CELBAN. The last time I took the Ielts was last feb here in Canada. It was too bad because I got a score of 6. I took also one in the Phil last June before we came here in Canada and I got OBS of 6.5 which is higher than the recent one. Is CLBPT and CLB the same? Yes, I took already twice of CLB. The first time I had it was last Sept.17 wherein I had scores of 6,7,7,8 (listening, speaking, reading, writing). The second one was in VCC where my scores were 6,7,8,7. G

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Dear G,
I really appreciate you telling me your history and your scores. It really gives me a good idea of where you are. Scores on exams are often like that, actually decreasing over time. The good news is that the CELBAN is much easier than the IELTS, and that your scores are relatively high, if you are getting 7’s and 8’s. There is great reason to hope.

But I need to caution you.

I have seen many people from the Philippines who have such scores become overconfident, thinking they can take the CELBAN without preparation. Often the overconfidence results in failing the exam and loosing one or even two chances to take the exam.

Did you know you can only take the CELBAN three times?

Overconfidence can have detrimental effects.

I am confident that by engaging with CELBANPrep – when it comes to grammar/speaking/writing – you will overcome the barriers you might face:

1. the unfamiliar format of the CELBAN exam and
2. the implications of the Canadian culture in this exam.

I believe that CELBANPrep will help you to remove both of these barriers so that you can find this success more readily in reading, speaking and writing. What concerns me is your listening score.

Listening, on the CELBAN, is the highest score required at a 10.

To pass the CELBAN you need listening at a university level, which means listening to academic and medical information and understanding what is happening. And you need to understand the Canadian context when it comes to non-verbal communication. So listening actually requires your eyes on this exam!

It will take time, practice and dedication to being your listening skills up. Overconfidence, taking the exam without preparation and improving your listening skills will have detrimental effects.

You need to raise your score to a consistent 7 or 8 before even starting to prepare for the CELBAN. This will require you spending a minimum of 30 minutes a day for several months.

In the mean time you can also be working on your advance grammar to improve your score in  speaking and writing.

Make sure you explore CELBANPrep! Having worked with thousands of Internationally Educated Nurses, like you, for over ten years, I have created a lot of resources that will help you along the way!

I know this is not what you wanted to hear, but I believe that sharing information early will prevent pain in the future.

Sincerely,

Kim