Cambridge Speaking Examiner Training - Upper Main Suite (FCE, CAE & CPE)

With 3 years of teaching experience under my belt, I like to think I'm starting to get the hang of this whole teaching malarkey, although still far from being the finished article. There's always room for improvement, and I'm keen to extend my skill sets in my work environment. Fortunately for me, I had the privilege of being invited down to Tokyo to do some speaking examiner training for the Cambridge English exams, with none other than Jim George at the helm. If you aren't aware, he knows a thing or two about these exams, to put it mildly. Plus he's my employer. No pressure then!

It began with an on-line induction, a brief introduction to Cambridge English Language Assessment and getting to grips with new terms, acronyms and examiner roles. A gentle nudge into the realm of speaking examiners. The real deal started on Sunday morning, with a few of us hopefuls milling around outside, waiting to get in as we'd arrived early. Not the promising start I was hoping for.

There was a big emphasis on collaboration throughout the day, especially when it came to assessment. There are always going to be disagreements but the idea was to overcome them to work towards a unified decision. More importantly however, was that our conclusion had to be in right ball park as the final grades awarded by Cambridge. Otherwise we were going home empty handed.

Having worked at a Cambridge Examining Centre for some time, I was already familiar with some aspects of the Cambridge English exams, and a vague idea of the roles of the interlocutor and assessor. With the aid of my peers, I was able to try my hand at being an interlocutor; between juggling sticking to the script, settling candidate nerves, keeping an eye on the time and assessing the candidate simultaneously,  amongst others, no easy feat. We were able to pick up on each other's weaknesses, point each other in the right direction and provide reassurance if something did go wrong.

Arguably the more challenging position however, is the role of the assessor. The main focus of the Cambridge Exams is to see what the candidates CAN do, with a strict assessment criteria to adhere to. It was daunting to begin with, and honestly the first set of results I was a fair way off. Being able to discuss and share thoughts with my peers got me on the right track, and each round of assessment added to my experience.

As the day progressed, I became more familiar with the materials and my confidence grew. Interacting with the other potential examiners did wonders for my own development, putting our decisions under the microscope and getting into the nitty-gritty of the responsibilities of a speaking examiner.

Now that I've got a taste for examiner training, I'm itching to get involved with future sessions for the YLE exams and completing the set with the lower main suite (KET & PET), and becoming a fully certified Cambridge Speaking Examiner.

A full on day, exhausting in fact, yet a truly rewarding experience. Plenty of things to take away, mull over and go over with a fine-tooth comb. Thanks to all those who participated, and Shinohara-san for organizing, and made it such a memorable occasion. Let's hope that our paths cross in the not so distant future.

Examining soon at a Centre near you?!

Want to be a better teacher? Become a Speaking Examiner...

Delighted to report that Luna's most recent Speaking Examiner training events in Tokyo were a resounding success. This makes sure we are able to have a good rotation of top-class examiners for the coming sessions and beyond, at all adult levels (we are offering all levels of Cambridge English Language Assessment exams for adults - KET, PET, FCE, CAE, & CPE - this autumn, at various locations which can be found via our exams-specific website ).

Experienced teachers prepared to listen & learn

Big slap on the back to the team, giving up two Sundays in succession to tackle some very demanding professional development, and a fairly demanding trainer to boot!

Thanks always to Trevor at King's Road, for hosting us & rearranging classes.. Actually pretty pleased he didn't thump me, after nominating him for the A.L.S. ice bucket challenge!

Certification for all examiners will be taking place on October 19th in Tokyo. Anyone considering becoming an examiner should contact Jim directly.

Our recent training sessions - slideshow

Think you will enjoy this slideshow review of the training Luna has conducted over the last three months, in Tokyo & Nagoya. 



Think you have what it takes to become a Cambridge English speaking examiner? Get in touch.

Examinations dates & venues for May, June, July

We are very excited to announce that we are offering ALL adult levels of Cambridge ESOL examinations in the first half of 2013.

Any and all enquiries should be made to Yukari, our Centre Examinations Manager here
All entries can be made online here , where you will also find schedules, fees etc

May 11th: Certificate of Proficiency in English (C.P.E./"Proficiency") at Luna - Matsumoto (map)

• Deadline for CPE entries is March 31st 

May 18th: morning. Preliminary English Test (P.E.T.) in Tokyo (map) and at Luna - Matsumoto (map)

and

May 18th: afternoon. Key English Test (K.E.T.) in Tokyo (map) and at Luna - Matsumoto (map)

•  Deadline for KET & PET entries is April 13th 

  June 8th: First Certificate in English (F.C.E./"First") in Tokyo (map) and in Nagoya (map)

•  Deadline for FCE entries is April 21st

 July 13th: Certificate in Advanced English (C.A.E./"Advanced") in Tokyo (map)

• Deadline for CAE entries is June 9th

 We are very grateful to our friends at King's Road School of English for their help and support.

Examiner training dates announced

I am delighted to be able to announce that we have been able to confirm all dates & venues for training at all levels of Cambridge ESOL examinations this autumn. Training will be conducted by Jim, in his capacity as 'Team Leader' for Luna International (JP004).

Young Learners - Starters, Movers and Flyers:

• Okayama - Sept 23
• Osaka - Oct 8
• Tokyo - Oct 16

Lower Main Suite - KET (Key - A2) and PET (Preliminary - B1):

• Okayama - Sept 24
• Osaka - Oct 9
• Tokyo - Oct 15

Upper Main Suite - FCE (First - B2), CAE (Advanced - C1) and CPE (Proficiency - C2)

• Tokyo - Sept 17
• Nagoya - Sept 18

In order to qualify to participate,  experienced English teachers should be in full time employment and be a university graduate/EFL certified. You should be available to examine, be reliable and display sound interpersonal skills. Non-native speakers are welcome to apply, but do need to demonstrate a good working use of English appropriate for the level to be trained for. Anyone interested in taking part should get in touch with Jim by email and request a Nomination form by submitting their CV.

CPE on Sunday

Some people you know are always going to transform your day from run of the mill to a moment you can dine out on for years to come. Anthony in Singapore is one, Owen another. Grant Trew was a late addition to the training team this weekend but I was chuckling quietly to myself at the news. Something GT said during training for KET & PET last year in Kobe had me paralysed for half an hour; so this morning with a crack the German coast guard which cracked me up & made it pretty near impossible to keep a straight face for the next ten minutes!

Come to mention it, Paul Delaney has his moments too. Almost exactly my age, from my neck of the woods and extremely droll. No stand up gags but pithy one liners with excellent timing - no hesitation and plenty of relevance!

Our session today was intended to cover CPE - Certificate of Proficiency in English. To pass this Cambridge ESOL level (CEFR C2), candidates really do have to be exceptionally strong in all aspects of English, so much so that most of us agreed that your average native-speaker off the street would struggle to be successful in this test. I'll leave it for another day as to why there are not a lot of CPE candidates in this country...it took a whole day today to make sure we have a dozen OEs properly competent at this level. Time well spent? Absolutely. Hard work for everyone - oh yes. Chances like this come along every day of the week? Nope.

Thank you Oana, Grant, Paul, Tom, Malcolm, Tana, Joan, Andrew, Oliver, Eamonn for your perseverance & hard work.

Luna link = big up Tana, please. The first person to work for the school who will achieve OE status for all levels of exams that we offer apart from Jim. No mean feat at all, and something she (and we) need to be very proud of indeed.

Today is Thursday - must be CPE

This is my third day invigilating and supervising Cambridge ESOL exams in Tokyo. Once again we are grateful for the facilities available to us at ILC.

Image via Wikipedia

On Tuesday I was curious to realise that all the FCE candidates were very careful drivers - all had gold licences! I was trying to figure out how old everyone was, but I still get confused on Showa & Heisei years. Don't you? I was not at all impressed when the nationalist nutters started blaring their 'patriotic' music & insults at the Prime Minister and the Diet...it's rude to shout, especially when some people have got better things to do, like taking a serious examination. I the evening, I had a nice meal with an old colleague in a Turkish restaurant. I think the Raki was a bit strong, but the food was great!

Wednesday is CAE day, and I recognised several candidates from last year. We had a chat after their written papers had finished to figure out if they were optimistic about passing this time. Obviously, I can't comment, but it is a nice way to warm up and get in the mood for the speaking test - not easy if you have been silently concentrating, reading and writing all day.
One candidate had travelled all the way from Okayama to sit the exam. That's dedication! I had an interesting evening banging heads on the low ceiling of a Spanish restaurant with my hard-working examiners. Fantastic spare ribs and cold cerveza.

So Thursday is CPE day - the really really creme de la creme of English examinations! I take my hat off to anyone attempting this level, and suggest a lot of native speakers would not pass. How many people actually write with paper and pen much these days? The writing paper alone have candidates scribbling like fury for two whole hours. Once our admin is all taken care of, I hope to test the Wychwood ales in the Hobgoblin locally, and maybe an Old Speckled Hen or two as well. No, I shan't be on my own. Meeting up with another old friend of mine to chat about IT solutions for Web 2.0 learning. I really hope he doesn't buy any Tequila!

I wonder if my regular students missed me this week? Thanks Magnus & Jai for covering.

How old do you have to be?!

Yesterday (Dec 13th) saw Luna international JP004 (our Cambridge ESOL Centre number) holding what one of the candidates called "The hardest English exam in the world"...C.P.E. I'm not sure if that is entirely true, but it's certainly not an exam you could pass by accident. It requires essentially native-speaker fluency in English - and in 5 papers a lot of language to process & produce under considerable time pressure. Anybody who can pass this exam joins a very elite club.

Actually, if anyone has passed this exam and has the relevant teaching qualifications & experience, I'd be prepared to hire them at Luna.

After three days then, we've looked after almost 60 candidates taking the Upper Main Suite of Cambridge ESOL's very good exams; delivered papers in Reading, Writing, Use of English, Listening & Speaking; we've had four pairs of very experienced Oral Examiners deliver the speaking tests - and they have been monitored for quality control; we've been inspected twice in a week, also to maintain quality & security.

I am proud that my school has risen to this considerable challenge, and that the dream I had over a decade ago finally came to fruition. My NHK students will have to forgive my absence tonight (and thanks Travis for teaching my class this evening) please?! I did enjoy a beer on the last Azusa home, reflecting on what we can achieve next year - going to be exciting I think.