A language learners’ forum

Proficiency, placement and practice tests

I did not check all the tests.

Multilingual

DIALANG is a language diagnosis system developed by many European higher education institutions. It reports your level of skill against the Common European Framework (CEF) for language learning. DIALANG is not an exam. DIALANG does not issue certificates. Dialang language tests are available in Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Icelandic, Irish-gaelic, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish.

Dialang web version
http://dialangweb.lancaster.ac.uk/

Instructions

A placement test (10-15 minutes)
This is used to choose a test which is not too easy or too difficult for you.
A self assessment test (optional) (10-15 minutes)
This encourages you to reflect on your own language skills, which helps you to learn more effectively.
Language tests
Listening (15-20 minutes)
Reading (15-20 minutes)
Writing (15-20 minutes)
Structure (15-20 minutes)
Vocabulary (15-20 minutes)

Online Diagnostic Assessment (ODA) System http://oda.dliflc.edu
Online Diagnostic Assessment is a tool developed by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) to help you, the foreign language learner, evaluate and manage your learning.

Eurocenters Free Language Test
https://www.eurocentres.com/en/free-language-test

Transparent. com
https://www.transparent.com/language-re ... tests.html

Practice tests in several languages
https://www.50languages.com/tests/
http://www.goethe-verlag.com/tests/
http://eclexam.eu/sample-tests/
TELC "Mock Examinations are available as free downloads at http://www.telc.net"

Vocabulary - multilingual
Well worth checking out

"Test your receptive and productive vocabulary in different languages. What percentage of the 5000 most frequent words have you mastered?
http://www.itt-leipzig.de/static/startseiteeng.html

Quick placement/vocabulary tests
http://www.languagecoursesuk.co.uk/language-level-test/
http://www.sprachcaffe.com/espanol/test-nivel-online.htm
https://www.ezglot.com/vocabulary-test.php?r=s
https://www.alpadia.com/es/pruebas-online.htm
https://www.esl-idiomas.com/es/adultos/pruebas-en-linea/index.htm
http://www.transparent.com/language-resources/languages.html
(Choose your language and find your way around to the online proficiency test under "Fun Stuff")
http://www.cambridgeinstitute.net/en/tests-de-nivel-ingles/test-nivel-espanol-i
https://www.ezglot.com/vocabulary-test.php?r=s
http://a4esl.org
https://www.arealme.com/vocabulary-size-test/en/

"Versant Test of Spanish, French, and Arabic ($25)
Versant Tests are fully automated and can easily be taken over a phone. A detailed score report is available minutes after the test is completed.

Highly correlated with the OPI and other human-scored tests of oral proficiency, Versant Test scores generated by the patented Ordinate® testing system are virtually indistinguishable from expert human scoring, ensuring confidence in the results."

https://www.pearsonhighered.com/versant/

English

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/test-your-english/
http://www.examenglish.com/leveltest/index.html
http://www.languagelevel.com/index_sp.php

Vocabulary

http://vocabulary.ugent.be/
http://testyourvocab.com/
Summary of results: http://testyourvocab.com/blog/
http://www.merriam-webster.com/word-games/vocabulary-quiz
http://my.vocabularysize.com/
http://www.examenglish.com/TOEFL/toefl_vocabulary.htm

Single Languages

Spanish

Instituto Cervantes
http://ave.cervantes.es/prueba_nivel/registro/test_de_clasificacion.php

don Quijote
http://www.donquijote.org/spanishlanguage/test/

The American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP)

https://www.nationalspanishexam.org/index.php/exam-preparation/past-examinations

Other
http://www.spanish-test.net/index.htm
http://oxfordhousebcn.com/niveles/prueba-de-nivel/castellano/
http://www.auladiez.com/testdenivel/

Diplomas of Spanish as a Foreign Language (DELE)
About DELE - sample exams

http://www.dele.org/

Vocabulary
Prueba de vocabulario
¿Cuántas palabras del español conoces?
http://vocabulario.bcbl.eu/

French

http://www.lepointdufle.net/tests-de-francais.htm
http://www.francaisfacile.com/test-de-niveau-francais.php
Alliance Française http://www.afusa.org/
Choose your chapter>placement test>submit to the Alliance chapter for instructor evaluation.

German

Goethe Institut online placement test
https://www.goethe.de/de/spr/kup/tsd.html

German exams with practice materials
https://www.goethe.de/de/spr/kup/prf/prf.html

Hebrew
http://hebrewcollege.edu/online/hebplacement/index.php

Irish
http://ranganna.com/tastail.aspx?id=1&lang=en

Italian
http://www.italiano.rai.it/valutazione.aspx
http://www.italian-test.com/
http://www.iluss.it/tests.html
https://www.transparent.com/learn-itali ... -test.html

Vocabulary
Quante parole italiane conosci? Con questo test puoi ottenere una stima valida della dimensione del tuo vocabolario in soli 4 minuti e in questo modo aiuterai anche la ricerca scientifica.
http://vocabolario.ugent.be

Russian
http://russe.inalco.chez.com/TEST/test_som.htm
Vocabulary
http://www.myvocab.info

Swedish
http://www.languagecoursesuk.co.uk/test/swedish_test.php
http://www.transparent.com/learn-swedish/proficiency-test.html
http://e-swedish.com/test-yourself-in-swedish-online/

Examinations
http://www.folkuniversitetet.se/swedex
http://www.foretagsuniversitetet.se/Redaktionellt-material/Swedish-for-International-Professionals
Samples http://www.natprov.nordiska.uu.se/provochbedomningsstod/arskurs9/exempelak9/

List of language proficiency tests (certificates)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_l ... ency_tests

Dang, I've got a thread like this in "Practical Questions" asking for folks to list language tests, both paid and free. Mind if I link or copy this to that thread too?

Maybe the mods can merge them into one so we have everything in place?

Hi. I think it's good to keep things separate. I believe you were asking for people's feedback regarding actual certification exams such as DELE, DELF, etc which is a very good idea. That's true "Practical Questions and Advice". However this is a list of free online resources - mainly online placement tests or "diagnosis" tools as Dialang calls it. I also list some practice materials and links to language institute websites where you can of course also arrange for an actual exam, preparation courses etc. Feel free to copy any links. If anyone is contributing here (which would be great), please contribute actual resources. Thanks.

Ranganna.com has a free Irish placement test. They use it to place you in one of their courses. It's not tuned to the CEFR, and has its flaws (i.e. it's all multiple choice so you don't need to know the right answer as much as you just need to know which ones aren't right), but still a decent guide if you take it with a grain of salt.

I just took the "Prueba de Nivel" from Cervantes and scored a C1.1-C1.2, which I think is very generous. It's a multiple choice exam which means you can get lucky, eliminate obviously wrong answers, etc. I actually understood a decent portion of the text (still less than half) for the reading comprehension section, but I understood very little of the audio. I should probably read the definitions for the different levels again because I thought I was probably A2 or barely B1 but I feel like the test probably isn't that far off? Makes me wonder if people who are reporting their levels online are basing them off this type of test, or just an honest as possible self diagnosis.

Of course, I'm sure most people already know the flaws of these online tests, but I wanted to point out what I thought was a huge error in assessment. Maybe I'll try some other tests out later and see how they compare.

The test results suggest that you could be placed in a C1-level class. The dropdown menu makes the test easier but the choices are "obviously wrong" mostly if you have some preexisting knowledge. Would the answers be obvious if the test was in a language you never studied like, say, Polish?

Try Dialang.

You can discuss Dialang validity and reliability here:

http://forum.language-learners.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2895&p=37221&hilit=dialang#p37221

orge wrote:I just took the "Prueba de Nivel" from Cervantes and scored a C1.1-C1.2, which I think is very generous. It's a multiple choice exam which means you can get lucky, eliminate obviously wrong answers, etc. I actually understood a decent portion of the text (still less than half) for the reading comprehension section, but I understood very little of the audio. I should probably read the definitions for the different levels again because I thought I was probably A2 or barely B1 but I feel like the test probably isn't that far off? Makes me wonder if people who are reporting their levels online are basing them off this type of test, or just an honest as possible self diagnosis.

Of course, I'm sure most people already know the flaws of these online tests, but I wanted to point out what I thought was a huge error in assessment. Maybe I'll try some other tests out later and see how they compare.

In my experience there is a lot of randomness in these tests. I prefer to just read the descriptions of the various levels and self-evaluate that way.

"Versant Test of Spanish, French, and Arabic ($25)
Versant Tests are fully automated and can easily be taken over a phone. A detailed score report is available minutes after the test is completed.

Highly correlated with the OPI and other human-scored tests of oral proficiency, Versant Test scores generated by the patented Ordinate® testing system are virtually indistinguishable from expert human scoring, ensuring confidence in the results."

https://www.pearsonhighered.com/versant/

reineke wrote:Practice tests in several languages
http://www.goethe-verlag.com/tests/

Reineke, I went to that link today and it advised me to click on their new site: https://www.50languages.com

So far I love it. I like how you are able to set the source language and the tested language, so I'm playing around with going from Russian to Bosnian.