Which one to go for: TOEFL or IELTS?

[12labyrinth]

HI, I need help in choosing the easier exam.
Which one is easier: TOEFL or IELTS?
I'm planning for MBA in Canada/Australia.
I'm B.E. (Mechanical) + 5 years of experience.

Anyone who can help me, please reply soon.

[Jamie (K)]

I don't imagine one is easier than the other. Even if one were easier, universities would just require a higher score on it than on the other one. There is no one score that makes you "pass" one of these exams. You simply get a score that indicates your level of proficiency, and the universities decide which score you should have in order to be accepted. For example, some universities require a score of 500 on the TOEFL, and some require a score of 700.

My experience with engineers in foreign corporations tells me that you probably know all the technical English you need, but probably have poor pronunciation, low-intermediate level grammar, and no almost no command of idioms or phrasal verbs. If I'm right, it's going to be hard for you to get a high enough score on either test to attend graduate business school, so you need to work on those aspects of English. I've even known people with degrees in English from foreign universities, whose English was excellent, who still had trouble with the English in business school, because it contains more slang, idioms and cultural references than they were taught.

[12labyrinth]

Thanks for the reply Jamie.

That has helped me.

[stew.t.]

Hi Labyrinth

You should be trying to score higher than the threshold of your school/uni. And in a competitive market it is best to make a good impression, so the higher the better.

Canada I am not so aware of, but do know they accept TOEFL, Austrailia has the norm of IELTS.

But my advice is to try to get a good, if not great score. After all you wanna be exceptional. You have to stand out from the rest.

cheers stew.t.
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[Jamie (K)]

[Englishuser]

Hi,

In my opinion, the IELTS test measures your level of English more accurately than the TOEFL. You might like to know that IELTS test results are reported on an easy-to-use nine-band scale.

If you want to know where you stand, take the IELTS. Your Listening and Reading answers are objectively marked and the Writing and Speaking tests are rated by qualified IELTS examiners. It is possible to submit and Enquiry on Results at all test centres, in which case your test scrips/tapes/answer sheets will be re-marked by trained clerical markers and/or IELTS senior examiners employed by the British Council or IELTS Australia.

I wish you every success with your IELTS test!

All the best

EU

[12labyrinth]

Thanks for the guidance EU

[stew.t.]

Hi Jamie (K)

What I wrote was advice and nothing more, so get off your soap box my friend.

I am not saying anything about the content or the style of writing for the test.
You of course are entitled to your opinion but lets not get too precious shall we?

cheers stew.t. Or should that Best regards as it is bad form ; )
and btw a greeting or signing off is common form for threads or just respect.
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[Jamie (K)]

I just think that we shouldn't be writing in chatroom English on these message boards, when part of the problem of some of the learners who visit this site is that they use chatroom and comic book spellings and abbreviations, and don't know when to stop. I've seen enough students fail semester tests, and score low on placement tests, because they were writing "wanna", "gonna", "u r rite", etc.

If people like you and I wanted to use comic book abbreviations in private mail to each other (as I sometimes do for expressive effect with my own friends), there would be no problem. However, on a message board like this one, there are many visitors whose futures are dependent on passing a course or a test, and most of them are looking at our writing as a model for their own, so we need to keep our ducks in order.

For you, using those types of spellings may be an expressive choice, but most of the people who visit sites like this have something serious at stake, when it comes to their English, and picking up buggy language can have serious life consequences for them. This is something that's hard to get across to your typical backpacker ESL teacher abroad.

[stew.t.]

Hi Jamie (K)

As I said this is your opinion.
And if I wish to be expressive then I will choose to in my own style and adjust accordingly, depending on the message board.
I do not believe expressiveness is wrong on certain message boards.

I see your point concerning the "leading by example". But then you should also.
If you choose to be so critical take a look at your own phrasings, but a critic will not always see his own failings.
Does vocabulary not come into question when reflecting on style and "good scores"?
"Getting ducks in order" is so commonplace I forgot.
"buggy language". Buggy is American slang is it not? But maybe it is a form of International English and I just don?t know it.

Should we be banning contractions as well.

As for me I guess only being an ESL backpacker teacher abroad I do know nought.
Sorry slipped up there myself and used slang; maybe the example lead me astray. ; )

p.s. some backpackers maybe EFL trainers you know, some of them can speak the native language of the country they work in, just a consideration.

Trying my best

stew.t.
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[Jamie (K)]

[stew.t.]

Nice of you to respond to only the point that you can criticise.

Granted the sentence(s) were a run on, reflecting my thoughts.

I do believe you do not wish to understand.

Let me try again just for you.

"p.s. some back packers may be EFL trainers. They might be able to speak the language of the country they work in. Just something you could consider in your deliberate(ations)".

You tone is an example for all.
Did you happen to pick up the "WHAT" from the German "WAS".

And I think maybe that is enough, I do not want to take up this thread with our little disagreement.

You can message me.
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[Jamie (K)]

Stew, I did not use any language in my post that would not be appropriate in, say, a journalistic style of English. I don't know why you're not familiar with my use of the word "buggy", but it appears in my Oxford dictionary as meaning "faulty in operation", and is defined in other dictionaries as meaning "peculiar".

You're going a bit far in suggesting that we ban all contractions. Only the non-standard contractions -- the ones that will cause a foreigner to score low on a proficiency exam -- are a problem here.

I don't know what your point is in mentioning that some backpackers speak the language of the country where they're teaching. Goody for them! In my experience teaching abroad, it's rare for those backpacker teachers to speak the local language, and even rarer for them to speak it well, although those who can speak the language even a little tend to bloat their egos with the fact. Even so, speaking the local language is about the backpacker himself, but when someone is an EFL teacher, it's supposed to be all about the students. That's why the instructor should take his example seriously and avoid using language in front of people that will cause them trouble down the road. It's one thing to show it to them and flag it as nonstandard, but it's something else to do what you do, and write in comic book language, unintentionally use malapropisms, write in run-ons that make you sound drunk, etc., while other people are examining your English for cues on how theirs should be.

I can speak and write the language of the country where you're teaching, as well as the languages of several surrounding countries, but that's irrelevant to my English and what it conveys to people who try to learn from it.

[12labyrinth]

Hey guys!!
I've decied to go for TOEFL..

[stew.t.]

Hi 12labyrinth,

Then good luck.

Try your best and I hope you get what you want.

cheers stew.t.
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