♪♪ I was thinking of not taking my CELBAN … after I read your advice

Updated 2021

Hi Kim!

I am a registered nurse form the Philippines. Me and my family have been living here in Canada for almost 5 years since we arrived in September. And yes, Winnipeg is our first stop. We are currently residing here in Winnipeg and we haven’t lived anywhere else in Canada. In additon to this, I just got my license as registered from the Philippines last August and am currently working on my english proficiency.

On the other hand, I have a CLB score of L: 9 R: 9 S: 9, and 8 on writing.

Actually, I have already purchased your Celban preparation. And I think it is helping me a lot. However, my schedule for CELBAN will be on May 21st and 22nd. So, it’s next week! I was thinking of not taking my CELBAN on the said date after I read your advice from other people. However, I can not reschedule my assessment for CELBAN because they can not give me the refund of assessment fee since my schedule for CELBAN is due in less than a week. For now, I’m doing the best I can in order to prepare for my upcoming CELBAN. I’m very positive that I will achieve the scores that I’m required to get. If ever I don’t pass, I will take it as an expereince and I will make sure that I’m prepared and confident the next time I will take the CELBAN – of course, with your help. Thank you very much Kim for helping us “New Canadians” achieve our goal in a smooth way.

Dear T,

What a sweet message to receive. Thank you for your statement,

“ I will make sure that I’m prepared and confident the next time I will take the CELBAN – of course, with your help. ”

I appreciate that you already have so much faith in what I do, and the resources I provide for IENs to prepare for the CELBAN through CELBANPrep!

I am also pleased to read that someone I have not met yet has read my blog, and taken into consideration the warnings I have been giving about taking the exam too early and without preparation.

It is remarkable to know that my message is being heard and people are being more cautious.

But under your circumstances, I understand if it is too late to do anything about it. And with your scores, you may very well succeed on your first attempt. I agree with your statement about taking the exam “as experience”.

My perspective is that it is OK to take the exam for the first time:

as an experiment to learn about the format,
so you can do the best you can, where you are today,
and get the feedback on strengths and weaknesses in the report you get for CELBAN writing and speaking.

It is when your weaknesses are identified that you will know what is lowing you down, standing in your way, or stopping you from obtaining your dream of life in Canada.

And, I applaud you; you have an action plan if you do not get the required score!

So, you will be able to perform with very little stress on you.

This is the best kind of scenario because the more stress you feel, the less confident you feel, the more impact there is on your score.

I also appreciate you taking the time to write and the feedback on the CELBAN material you have purchased. That is a good way to become more familiar with the format of the exam.

From your scores and your writing skills I would guess that you are one of the few people who can get a 10 in listening without too much effort.

Your message is so well written. It is obvious that you have advanced writing skills. I am confident you will do well on that part.

As for speaking, apply what you have learned these past 5 years, when dealing with Canadians.The “C” in CELBAN stands for Canadian, and so you MUST know and understand our culture.

You may not have realized how much you have learned about us, our culture and how we communicate.

So if something happens in the speaking portion of the CELBAN exam that you are not sure how to proceed: think as a Canadian, act as a Canadian rather than a Filipino.

It is the Canadian English Language Benchmark Assessment for Nurses, after all.

You are so very welcome, T, for “ helping [you] “New Canadians” achieve [your] goal in a smooth way.” For indeed, this is my goal! And I get to meet wonderful people like you, along the way!

When it comes to your exam this week, either way, please write back to me after you get your results. I will be curious to see how you do, and thinking about you in the mean time.

Sincerely,

Kim

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