Maybe I am too much into punishing myself, but this aside, I have enrolled myself to sit the CELI3 (il levelo B2) exam. I will take it in November in Washington DC. I am preparing myself and have the book from the Università per Stanieri di Perugia. Have any of you taken a CELI or CILS exam? Yes or No, does anyone have any tips or tricks for preparation for these exams or to use while taking them?

I have two months to get ready and all hints, tips, and opinions would be very helpful for me to hear.

I’m tring this subject here in the Education forum and if I strikeout I’ll try asking about the exams in Everything Else.

Grazie mille,

Duncan

I'm thinking about taking it too. Though I'm already here. Let me know how it went for you.

Wow hi I have the same thoughts too - the exam and the punishing bit. I'm also curious to know how the exams went for others, though it seems Duncan isn't active on the board any more.

A few days ago I just found the coming CILS exam will take place in June (as usual). When I went to a language school last year, by the end of it the teacher gave us a mock exam (C1). She said that when we answered the comprehension questions we had to put the exact words from the text (which is in contrast in school exams at home that we have to understand and use our own words). But since I haven't had any real exam, I don't know how true that is.

I am still around this forum but tend to lurk around more than write comments or questions.

I did sit the CELI3 exam last November and found that it is a rather advanced level exam. I noticed that the others taking it were non-native Italian teachers who wanted an official certification of their level. I did not pass it and I have many thoughts as to the reasons why, which I am using to prepare myself to sit it again in November of this year (I have too many work commitments in June to try it again then). I can tell you that before taking the exam I was very able to pass prior exams that are posted on the internet, as well as I could pass B2 and C1 (and some C2) grammar tests that are around the internet.

One opinion that I can give you is that the CILS (B2) is not as difficult of an exam, even though the material covered is similar. Another opinion of mine is that if you are in Italy and are using Italian as part of your everyday life, you will be much ahead of where I was because your mental speed (and your ear) will be so much faster – the clock was my biggest enemy during the exam.

I would be happy to pass on to you my views on the CELI3 exam, in great detail, if you’d like them. Let me know and I could write a rather long post here or I could email them directly to both of you.

Buona fortuna e mi piacerebbe aiutarvi,

Duncan

Hi Duncan, great that you're here. Seems you're the one answering your own question! If you have time could you pls post the details here for future ref of all other members. Thanks so much ed altrettanto...in bocca al lupo!

CELI3 (B2) Analysis

It sat for the CELI3 exam last November in Washington DC. As my work life permitted, I spent two months prior to it preparing myself. Unfortunately I did not pass it and have attempted to analyze the exam and my attempt so that I can have a path to passing it when I have the opportunity to sit for it a second time, most likely in November of this year.

I am an active businessman with university degrees in business and I have never failed an exam before. This said I should underscore that language has never been my strength. My reason for taking the CELI3 exam was to give my study of Italian a current destination. I am learning Italian to fulfill a lifetime desire of having fluency in a second language. With this as a goal, even though I did not pass it, I can say that preparing for the exam, focusing on it with tutors, and taking it, all vastly improved my abilities with Italian.

I believe that my first error was in enrolling to take the CELI3 before my ability with Italian was at a high enough level to attempt this exam. At the time I enrolled I had studied Italian for a bit less than 5 years and I could pass the B2 and C1 tests that are around the internet. I had a good grasp of Italian grammar and I could hold conversations on most topics without undue strain.

My method of preparation for the exam is what I would call a brut force system. This is a method that is very good for memory and mathematical exams and involves simulating over and over an exam. For this I took all of the prior exams and all of the published practice exams, as well as similar items within various books. As the time for the exam was nearing, I was able to pass these (obviously the ones that I had not practiced with before) within the required time allotments.

With the above as background I will now give some observations about CELI3. First there are sources of information that should be obtained. These are:

• “Come preararsi all’esame del CELI3” from Guerra Edizioni (88-7715-854-9) which is indispensable. It contains four practice exams and explanations about how the 5 parts are evaluated;

• The web site for the exam center (http://www.cvcl.it) is helpful and it contains many prior period exams;

• The book “Guida all’uso delle parole” by Tullio De Mauro (88-359-5369-3) has a final chapter (pages 161 to 202) that outlines critical Italian vocabulary; and

• A good quality book on TOEFL (an English exam for non native English speakers) that contains many test taking tricks. Unfortunately, I did not stumble on this source until after I took the exam. For CELI3 there is not a book that gives tips and tricks for taking it, so I think that one on TOEFL, which is similar to CEIL3, is the only solution for an English mother language candidate.

Second, the more time that one can be in Italy immediately before taking the exam the better the chances will be at passing it. The exam requires rapid ability with the language and regular and full exposure would help immensely. Training the ear to know immediately what sounds correct will assist with the time pressure of the exam. I can say that my greatest problem with all parts of the exam was the clock – I just did not feel that I had enough time to perform well.

Third, it must be understood that CELI3 is not an Italian grammar exam. The candidate must know the language’s grammar because it is implicit throughout the exam. With this in mind a regular Italian textbook (even an advanced university level one) will not greatly help. There are however some books from Edilingua (www.edilingua.it) that are parallel to CELI3.

Fourth, CELI3, even though it is a level B2 exam, is an advanced level exam. In my opinion it is at a higher level than the CILS B2 exam.

Next, a tutor that knows CELI3 would be very helpful. I worked with some excellent teachers, who greatly helped me, but none of them had much prior experience with CELI3.

Finally, in my opinion one general key to passing CELI3 is having a deep Italian vocabulary, at least in the direction of Italian to English. Many synonyms for common and uncommon words are used throughout the exam. Note though that CELI3 does not use an excess of idiomatic phrases, however they are in the material.

Now let me speak to each of the five parts of CELI3 – A to D and Oral.

Note that Part A and B are given together with a time limit of 2 hours and 15 minutes. Realistically, part A must be completed in an hour or less to allow time for Part B.

Part A contains three sections: A1 with 2 articles that are read that range from 400 to 700 words each and 9 related multiple choice questions; A2 with two shorter articles with 10 statements that the candidate identifies to which article each statement pertains; and A3 with an article with 5 questions that the candidate must respond to with written sentences. In each of these sections the answers are in the articles and one should not rely on outside knowledge about the subjects. In general the incorrect answers to the multiple choice questions in A1 can be divided into: ones with information not mentioned; ones that are too extreme (always-never); right answer to wrong question; or ones beyond the information. The key is to deduce the wrong responses. Section A2 is straight forward. Section A3 does not have responses that can be taken word for word from the text, rather inference is important. A very important item to understand about Part A is that its points are scaled. It has a total of 49 points but the Part is limited to a maximum of 40 points, thus the raw points must be reduced by 19% (so a sore of 30 points scales to 24.5 points for the full exam). Also one must know that in sections A1 and A2 a wrong answer (as apposed to a blank answer) gives a negative point. With this in mind one can see that to obtain a good score on these sections one must be correct on 8 of the 9 multiple choice questions and 9 of the 10 in section A2. As a broad statement I would say that for sections A1 and A2, focused and repeated practice would be good preparation (for practice in addition to prior exams and “Come prepararsi all’essame del CELI3”, one could purchase the book “Progetto Italiano 3” from Edilingua). For section A3, a good tutor that will review and comment on responses would be useful because the prior exams do not include examples of correct answers.

Part B1 requires writing a page that expresses an opinion about one of two subjects. This opinion must be between 120 and 180 words. Part B2 requires writing a letter on one of three subjects. This letter must be in the form of a letter and be between 80 and 100 words. Note that the word limits are said to be strictly enforced, and one will receive zero points if the range of words is not adhered to. Each writing assignment has a total of 20 points. The writings are graded on four equal areas: word use and spelling; structure and grammar; social-cultural; and logical organization. My greatest limit in these is spelling (more than 3 spelling errors and the candidate looses almost all points in the structure and grammar area), but spelling is a weakness of mine also in English. Additionally a large problem for me was writing long-hand, which today I almost never do – I write almost entirely with a computer.

To prepare for Part B, having a tutor that will review practice writing is essential. Practice writing regularly. Use a pencil. Count the words written and eliminate those that are not important. Write short direct sentences and avoid complex sentence constructions. This last comment is another difficult area for me because I tend to write in a complex manor which requires using the congiuntivo regularly. I am attempting to write more as a child when writing in Italian, which will make my sentences simpler. An added bit of trouble for me is being ready to quickly frame a response to a banal subject. I find this difficult because my regular writing requires research and precision. Given the time limit I estimate that each writing example must be written in about 20 minutes to allow for counting the words and for making revisions. In total both writings must be completed in one hour or a bit more so as to finish them along with Part A within the 2 hours and 15 minute time limit.

Part C is comprised of three sections and lasts for only 45 minutes. C1 has two articles with a total of about 300 to 350 words between them with 23 words missing. The candidate must fill in the missing words. The missing words can be any type of word (nouns, preposition, verb, adjective, adverb, etc). As opposed to the CLIS, there is not a list of the missing words. Here the key is to have a good level of vocabulary and grammar so that the words to enter are obvious. C2 is written long hand and requires conjoining three or four separate sentences into one. Here practice that a tutor can review is helpful. C3 requires writing a word in a sentence that uses the same root word as a given word. For example verbs are changed to nouns, adverbs, or adjectives. Note also that Part C’s grade is scaled. It has a total of 42 points that count towards 20 points of the total exam, thus the final points for the part are about half of those earned on the part.

Part D has three articles that are listened to by the candidates. Some articles are from radio broadcasts and others were recorded for CELI3. Section D1 has two of these and ten multiple choice questions. Section D2 has an article that that the candidate listens to and completes ten sentences that are missing up to three words. Part D was quite difficult for me, in part because I prepared by practicing by listening to articles using headphones. During the exam a CD player is at the front of the room and the CD is played for everyone at one time. Practicing without headphones would be very helpful in simulating the exam. This Part is similar to Part A in that all of the information needed to respond to the questions is in the articles, however this part moves much faster than Part A and there is not much time to read and consider the responses. Also as in Part A, an incorrect answer receives a negative score of one. Continuous practice and regular exposure to Italian radio news programs (interestingly, the style of Italian TV is quite different and thus perhaps not as useful for this exercise) would assist in passing this part of the exam.

The Oral part of CELI3 has three items: a photo that the candidate describes and responds to questions about; a short article that is read and opinions about it are expressed; and a role play conversation. In my preparation for this part I interacted with a tutor and practiced each item. This was of limited use because the oral part takes place with three examiners all of whom were new to me (I was told later that this is a common method in Italy, but as an American I had never participated in an exam of this style). I could note as well that there is not a booklet of the three items; rather there are various ones of each that an examiner selects from at random. Also the items do not contain the questions that the examiner asks, which is different than what is provided for preparation. The oral part is formal with the examiners using Lei forms and the candidate should respond in this form (for example using arrivederLa at the end). One examiner interacts with the candidate and asks the questions. One examiner grades the interaction, and the third is silent. At the conclusion the three examiners agree to the grades for the four areas of the part: vocabulary, syntax and grammar, pronunciation and rhythm, and ability to express one’s self. The oral part happens at the end of the other parts of the exam and by this time I was very tired. I also become rather nervous which inhibited me from speaking well. Preparation for the oral part requires a tutor and perhaps some sessions with others present to simulate the exam.

I hope all of the above is helpful and clearly is only my opinion. It would be very useful to me if someone would voice different views, to point out my (gross) errors so to speak.

Bravissimo Duncan! Much appreciation for your time and effort. I'm thinking of taking the exam in Dec instead to prepare myself better. In the meantime I'll take some exam-free short courses to enrich my vocab in different professional genres. Again, good luck to all of us!

That's really interesting and the exams show a lot in common with the ones for English language learners (FCE, TOEFL, IELTS). Looks like the Common European Framework has led to some cross-fertilisation of ideas. If I remember correctly for example, IELTS has a section like part A where you determine whether a statement is true, false or 'not given'. Describing a photograph is used in FCE. For all these particular types of questions an exam technique book for the English exams would help for taking an Italian one, as pointed out.

Personally I shall continue to bumble along and learn by the apperitivo-osmosis method. I do occasionally use the congiuntivo, for example, but it's not something I've learned. Perhaps I should take a notebook around with me: I'm always asking questions in the changing rooms for football as everybody talks at once and with so much slang that I lose the thread!

Thank you for this highly informative and detailed posting. I am going to try the B-level before moving to C (probably another year).