CAE. How to prepare for the Cambridge Exam

I´m square-eyed. I watch lots of British telly and I really do think it helped me when I was preparing to sit the CAE exam. I am pro television, not only is it good listening practice but seeing a wide variety of shows enables you to learn different types of vocabulary + collocations, idioms and so on.

Question: How expensive is it to prepare for the CAE exam? Because I´ve seen some books in the bookshop and the prices are high.

Answer: Taking the Certificate in Advanced English exam doesn´t necessarily mean spending lots of money on course books and cds or cd-roms. The good news is there is plenty of free material available on the web. Click here to see list.

In addition to this there are many forums and Facebook groups you can join to interact with other students around the world and have some speaking practice, for example.

Question: How can I improve my reading?

Answer: When it comes to reading, which by the way helps you to improve your grammar and vocabulary as well, I suggest selecting a wide variety of sources, let´s say academic books, novels, magazines and blogs. This way you will get familiar with different styles: formal and informal; and you will learn different types of vocabulary.

Question, a third one: Are you saying that in order to pass the exam all we need to do is watch TV and read books and magazines?

Answer: No. Travelling, interacting with native speakers, watching tv in English, listening to music, reading books...all these things will help you to improve your English skills but there is something missing... You need to do Past Papers.

Doing past papers is an excellent way to practise. If you are at school/ university you will probably find some ESOL past papers in your library but if not, you can always try the Cambridge University Web page for some free samples.