Hello Reader,

I was digging through a reddit thread the other day that was between someone who claimed to be native English speaker, who took the exam and passed it on their first try with an average score of 11. Their only "lower" scored area: reading at a 9. They quickly began to promote a well known CELPIP prep YouTube channel that I won't mention, but if you've been at this for a while, you've likely heard of them.

The deeper the thread went the more this certain channel was getting promoted by the writer. Kind of made me feel suspicious....like maybe this 'native speaker' worked for them maybe even WAS them.

Anyway, the point: one of the commenters who engaged with this post shared that they kept getting stuck with their speaking skills. (The native speaker author of the post scored a 12.)

The reason for getting stuck? Feeling nervous. The nerves made them speak louder. Speaking louder got them in trouble with the staff of the exam centre: 'Please speak quieter sir, you're disrupting the other test takers.'

And that breaks their confidence.

Has this ever happened to you? Getting a 'talking to' from exam centre staff because you're speaking too loudly?

If you do struggle with nerves on any part of the exam, then first of all know this: you're normal!

But what can you do to combat those nerves instead of having them beat you ?

Here are two ideas to get you started:

Use your English more. Shoot! I bet you didn't want to read that, right? But this is what 17+ years of teaching English and learning Spanish as my second language has taught me: you tame your fears and nerves by using the language you're trying to learn more often. The more you use it, the more your confidence grows. The more your confidence grows, the quieter your fears become.

The opposite is also true! The more you refrain from using your English, the louder your fear and low self-confidence gets, and the slower your progress becomes.

My second idea: Practice in the noise, not in perfect silence. You need to get used to practicing in noisy environments, not perfectly quiet ones. Reason? Test centres can be loud and distracting. Here's a podcast episode that might help: How To Beat Clock Anxiety On The CELPIP. (I don't only talk about clock anxiety!)

Over to you: what's worked for you to help you beat distractions on test day? Hit reply and let me know.

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📖 Free Mini-course: If the speaking section of the CELPIP is driving you crazy, then you'll love this! I made a free 5 part mini audio course to help you avoid the top 5 most common mistakes I've actually seen test takers make on the speaking section of the CELPIP. Avoid these mistakes, and you'll notice a stronger score. Period. You can grab yours here.​

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🎙️Let's talk! If you've been working at getting ready for the CELPIP - be it your first or 7th try (or more!) then I would love to talk with you to learn more about your journey so far. No sales pitches. No pressure of any kind. I just want to listen to you and what you've been going through to get ready for the CELPIP. Research to help me learn more about how I can help you. Period. Would you like to talk? Book a time that works for you right here- I would LOVE to talk with you. ​

Have a great weekend!

Aaron