What's your English level? Take the test!

Vanessa: The most common question that  

my students ask me is, "Vanessa, what's my English  level?" Maybe you've been learning English since  

you were 10 years old. You can read some newspaper  articles. You can understand some English songs.  

You can have some basic English conversations.  But when you try to turn on an English TV show  

or movie without subtitles, oh my goodness,  they speak so fast. Or maybe you try to have an  

English conversation on the phone with a client  at work, your heart starts to beat, boom, boom,  

boom, boom, boom, boom, really fast. Is this you? Hi, I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.  

And in my personal experience as an English  teacher for the past 10 years to millions  

of students around the world, I can tell  you that your English level matters less  

than your confidence and kindness when  you speak in English. Let me explain. 

Let's imagine this situation. You're visiting New  York City, and someone approaches you and says,  

"Excuse me, do you know which way is Central  Park?" You have two options. Number one,  

"I don't know." Or number two, "Sorry, I'm  a visitor. I think Central Park is there."  

So which one is better? Number two, of course,  right? But does number two have amazing vocabulary  

and clear native pronunciation? No, and no.  But does it matter? No, because they spoke with  

confidence and they were kind to the other person. Today, you are going to test yourself with  

listening, reading, writing, and speaking at  the beginner, some people call this A1 and A2,  

intermediate, B1, B 2, and advanced C1 or C2  levels. So as you test yourself today with the  

beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels in  this English test, I want you to remember that,  

really, confidence and kindness are key. Like always, I've created a free PDF  

worksheet for you to download. This is  essential for today's lesson. I highly  

recommend downloading this free PDF so that  you can review all of today's questions,  

all of the correct answers, and some tips that  I've added to this worksheet to help you improve  

your English skills altogether. You can click  on the link in the description to download that  

free PDF worksheet for this English test today. All right, let's get started with the beginner  

level questions. The first category is  listening. You're going to listen to a  

quick clip and then you're going to answer two  questions about it. Let's listen two times. 

Excuse me, can you help me find the modern art  

museum? Dan: 

Yeah, no problem. Go to the end of the street,  and at the pet store, turn left. You'll see the  

museum straight ahead. Vanessa: 

Excuse me, can you help me  find the modern art museum? 

Dan: Yeah, no problem. Go  

to the end of the street, and at the pet store,  turn left. You'll see the museum straight ahead. 

Vanessa: Listening question number one,  

what does she want to find? The classical art  museum, the modern art museum, or the pet store?  

The correct answer is the modern art museum. Question number two, where should she go at the  

pet store? Turn left, turn right, or go straight  ahead? The correct answer is A, turn left. 

Let's go on to the reading section. You are  going to see a quick reading section appear  

on the screen. I would like you to read this  in your head or read it out loud. You are not  

going to hear my voice reading this, but  you'll have a few seconds to read over it,  

and then you'll answer two questions  based on this reading section. Let's read. 

Where did Vanessa meet Sylvia? At  a concert at school, at a park?  

The answer is at a park. What does Sylvia  want to do? She wants to give back the ticket,  

she wants to go to a concert, or  she wants to meet at the park?  

She wants to give back the ticket. Let's go on to the beginner writing  

section. I want you to choose which is the  best word to fill in the blank. You can either  

write it down or you can just choose one of  the answers on the screen. The question is,  

my sister is a quiet person. She  isn't shy, talkative, or funny?  

The answer is she isn't talkative. This  is the opposite of quiet. That's your clue  

here. My sister is quiet, she isn't...  Which one is the opposite? Talkative. 

Let's go to the next question. I love all  types of food... Desserts. Especially,  

almost, or sometimes? One of these  words is the best fit in this sentence.  

I love all types of food, especially desserts. Let's go on to the beginner speaking  

section. I want to know how would you  respond to me if I said this to you,  

"I'm so sorry for being late." Would you say,  "My bad," "That's tough," or "It's no problem"?  

The correct answer is, that's no problem. How would you respond if I told you that I just  

came back from a fishing trip in Alaska? Would  you say, "Oh no," "How cool," or "That's good"?  

What would you say? The best answer is how cool. Congratulations, you have completed the beginner  

level questions. Let's level it up and go  to the intermediate questions. The first  

section is listening. You're going to listen  to a longer dialogue between my husband, Dan,  

and I. In this conversation, Dan is pretending  to be a professional who is giving some listening  

skills advice. Listen carefully to this clip.  We will only listen to it one time. Of course,  

this is a video. You can always go back and repeat  it, but for the sake of this video, we will only  

watch it or listen to it one time and then you'll  answer two listening questions. Let's listen. 

It's nice to meet you, Dan. I'm looking  forward to your advice about how to improve  

my listening skills. I have to confess,  it's not something I'm very good at. 

Dan: I'm glad to be here. Well,  

I often hear that listening to fast conversations  is really scary for language learners. 

Vanessa: That's definitely the case for me,  

especially in a stressful situation. Dan: 

Well, there are two strategies. One is just to nod  your head and try to get out of the situation as  

fast as possible. Vanessa: 

I've done that before. Dan: 

But when you really want to know what the other  person said, the second strategy is trying to  

summarize what you think they said. Vanessa: 

How can I do that? Dan: 

You can start with a question like, so the  first step is to, or I should go to the office,  

and what was the name of the building? Vanessa: 

Oh, thanks. That's some good advice. The first listening question is,  

Vanessa confesses that she's not  good at math, dancing, or listening?  

The correct answer is Vanessa confesses  that she's not good at listening. 

Dan gives two strategies for what to do when you  don't understand what someone said. What is the  

second strategy? Is it scream and run away? Is  it summarize what the other person said? Or is  

it smile and nod your head? The correct answer  is try to summarize what the other person said. 

Let's go on to the intermediate reading section.  Like before, you will have a few seconds to  

read over a section and then we'll answer two  questions based on what you read. Let's read. 

What does Vanessa want to do? Does she want  to invite Dan to Central Park in New York,  

or collaborate or work with Dan on some lessons,  or tell Dan to stop stealing her students?  

The correct answer is she wants to  collaborate or work with Dan on some lessons. 

How does Dan engage his English students?  He uses different forms of social media,  

he makes them read a lot of books,  or he draws cartoons for them?  

He uses different forms of social media. Let's go to the intermediate writing section.  

I want you to fill in the blank with the best  possible word choice. I tried the dessert,  

but I came to the... That I don't like those  flavors together. Answer, conclusion, or opinion?  

Be careful. These words all have a very similar  meaning, but there is only one correct answer.  

I came to the conclusion that I don't like these  flavors together. This is a fixed phrase, to come  

to the conclusion. It always sticks together. Let's look at the next one. I want to go eat  

sushi. Do you have a... For a restaurant?  Recommendation, advice, or decision? Again,  

these words are very similar, but  there's only one correct answer.  

Do you have a recommendation for a restaurant? All right, let's go to the next section. The  

final intermediate section is speaking. How would  you respond to me if I said to you, "Do you have  

a second? I have a favor to ask."? Would you say,  "Sure, what's up?", or would you say, "I'm good,  

how are you?", or would you say, "Sounds good,  see you tomorrow"? What would your response be?  

The correct answer is, sure, what's up? How would you respond to me if I told you,  

"Did you hear the news? I won the award." Would  you say, "I'm so sorry," or would you say,  

"Congratulations, that's great," or would  you say, "Can I do anything to help?"?  

The correct answer is  congratulations. That's great. 

And what else is great is that we have finished  the intermediate section, so let's go on to the  

advanced questions. We're leveling it up and we're  going to start with the listening section. In this  

advanced listening section, you will be listening  to two people in a business meeting using quite  

high level advanced vocabulary and grammatical  structures, so listen carefully and then you'll  

answer two questions about it. Let's listen. Dan: 

Thanks for coming to this project meeting.  I know that everyone has been hunkering  

down for the past few weeks, but so far, the  key stakeholders are really pleased with how  

it's going. This project will really benefit our  overall value proposition and company as a whole. 

Vanessa: Thanks, Dan. It's been a good experience  

collaborating together. I must say that it has  been difficult to fit things in considering we're  

also working on our usual monthly projects too. Dan: 

Thanks for sharing that. Yes, I know everyone  has a lot on their plates at the moment,  

but let's talk about what we need  to do and by when so that we can  

finish up. Vanessa: 

That sounds good. Dan: 

First, we need to tackle the timeline so  that we can finish everything on time. 

Vanessa: Why does Vanessa say that it's been difficult to  

fit in the new project? Because the stakeholders  aren't pleased, because they're also working  

on their usual monthly projects, or because  collaborating with the team is taking too long?  

The correct answer is because they're also  working on their usual monthly projects. 

What is the first task that they will discuss  in this meeting? What the value proposition is,  

who will be working on the project,  or what the project timeline will be?  

The correct answer is what  the project timeline will be. 

Let's go onto the advanced reading section. You  are going to be reading quite an advanced article,  

and I'll give you a few minutes to read  through this and then we'll answer two  

questions together. Are you ready to  get your reading cap on? Let's go read. 

What does Steven Pinker think is not really  important for human wellbeing? Is it safety,  

peace, knowledge and health? Economic inequality?  Or reason and science are under attack?  

He thinks that economic  inequality is not important  

for human wellbeing. Very interesting idea. Let's go to the next question. What does  

Stephen Pinker think we are in danger of?  Damage to democracy and world cooperation,  

global warming and natural disasters,  or worldwide health and inequality?  

He thinks A, damage to  democracy and world cooperation. 

Okay, let's go to the next section, which is the  advanced writing section. I want you to fill in  

the blank with the best possible word. I called  the company to complain about their product. My  

husband didn't want to do it because he doesn't  like meeting, confrontation, or disagreement?  

The correct answer is he doesn't like  confrontation. This is especially when  

you are talking to someone verbally about a  problem. He doesn't like to confront other  

people about problems. Instead, maybe he will  just avoid them. He doesn't like confrontation. 

The next writing question is, Nikola  Tesla and Thomas Edison were very...  

They gave us modern electricity. Is it  invention, problem solving, or innovative?  

They were very innovative. This means they  created a lot of inventions. It's the word  

we use to talk about people who create a  lot of inventions. They were innovative. 

Let's go on to our final section, which  is the advanced speaking section. How  

would you respond to me if I said to you,  "I'm afraid I made a mistake. I forgot  

to send you the email confirming  our travel plans." Would you say,  

"These things happen", "I'm so sorry  about that," or "I feel better now"?  

The best answer is these things happen. This  is a great phrase to use when you want to make  

someone else feel better when they made a  mistake. Don't worry, these things happen. 

What would you say to me if I said to you, "Thank  you so much for covering my shift while I was away  

last weekend." Would you say, "I hope that's  okay," "Not a problem," or "When can I help?"  

The correct answer is not a  problem. Wonderful phrase to use. 

Congratulations on finishing this English  test. Let me know in the comments what your  

score was. And remember, no matter what your  score was, go into the world and use English  

with confidence and kindness. And don't forget  to download the free PDF worksheet that goes  

with this English test. It includes all of  the test questions, all of the test answers,  

correct answers as well, and some tips to help  you choose the correct answers the next time  

that you take in English level test. You  can click on the link in the description  

to download that free PDF worksheet today.  Well, thanks so much for learning English  

with me and I'll see you again next Friday for  a new lesson here on my YouTube channel. Bye. 

But wait, do you want more? I recommend  watching this video next where you will  

test your advanced vocabulary skills. 3.9  million English students have already taken  

this test. Will you be number four million?  I don't know. We'll see you there. Bye.