Be prepared for your Cambridge Exam in Australia.

This is the last week of school before our seasonal holidays. Commencing back on Tuesday 3rd January we welcome our new intake of Cambridge Exam FCE and CAE Preparation students. We hope these top tips will help prepare you for your arrival. For those who have already enrolled, we look forward to welcoming you to BROWNS in the New Year. If you haven’t registered yet then you have just 1 week left to secure your seat and our 2016 tuition fees. Contact one of our amazing Student Advisors now to find out more information – click here.

Following last Monday’s Top Tip #3 Answer the question and #4 Difficult is good. Easy is boring, this week we bring to you our Top Tips #5 & 6.

Tip #5: Be prepared to feel frustrated

Feeling frustrated during the Cambridge course is not a prediction; it’s a guarantee. This is especially true after the first full mock test and you see your scores for each paper. You will probably get low (if not, the lowest) scores in the first week of the course. Most students don’t usually get more than 40% in the first test. Within the next few weeks, you will experience feelings of frustration because your scores will plummet to the lowest they have ever been and you might feel as though you don’t know anything anymore. But don’t despair! Things NEED to get worse before they get better. The start of the course will be overwhelming, but as you progress and put in a lot of hard work, you will begin to see a lot of improvement in all of your skills. Once you get used to the intensity of the course, and you’ve got a steady routine, things will get a lot better. The secret is to never give up and keep up your motivation, even if you feel that you aren’t improving as much as you want. Sometimes you can’t notice the improvement in yourself!

Tip #6: Be prepared to sacrifice several weekends

If you think that weekends during the Cambridge course will provide you with 48 hours of fun and relaxation, then you are definitely in the wrong course. You will have homework every day, and writing homework every Friday (which you need to submit the following Monday). That is on top of all the work you have to do in class and in addition to all the writing you will be doing every week. You have to use your weekends to revise grammar points that you still find confusing, or rewrite a part of an essay, or review unfamiliar vocabulary, or even meet up with your speaking partner to practise your conversations for the test. Be prepared to sacrifice a lot of hours to studying and revising if you want to be successful in the course. Think of it this way: it’s an investment that is worth every minute of your precious time. Fully committing your time and energy to the course will guarantee improvement in your skills. Truth!

Written by Victor Corpuz

(BROWNS FCE teacher)

 

Next intake: 3 January 2017

Skip the busy Boxing Day sales and check out our Blog next Monday to read about our FREE Tip #7: Learn how to study independently outside the class and Tip #8: Be responsible and organised.

Until then, Seasons Greetings from the BROWNS Family.