Hello Exam Seekers,

I hope you have had a great weekend last week. I am so sorry that I was unable to provide you with new content on Friday, but it was for a good reason!!! It was to bring you some more content today.

Last week, I was invited by a friend to help her student practice for the CELPE-Bras. So I got involved with it and got some information to share with you. I hope that my absence is excused with this! 😛

What is the Celpe-Bras?

At this blog, I normally post text about English Exams and English Methodologies; however, there are other exams that I believe to be relevant here, even though they are not exactly in English. I wish I could provide content on Spanish Examinations and French Examinations, as well, but I don’t have knowledge enough to share, I don’t even know the languages.

Well, there are also Portuguese Examinations, which I still don’t know much about, but since I am a Portuguese native speaker, I might be able to share a little about them.

One of the Portuguese Examinations is the CELPE-Bras. This is the type of exam people usually take when they are foreigners and they are interested in attending a Brazilian University or if they’re just thinking about getting a good job over here. It is similar to the TOEFL or the IELTS, but for Brazil. It is a formal certification of a person’s level in the Portuguese language used by businesses and educational institutions worldwide.

Celpe-Bras is an exam that people from abroad can take to officially validate their knowledge of the Portuguese language. It is the only official proficiency certificate of Brazilian Portuguese as a foreign language recognized by the Brazilian government.

 

How does the exam work?

The Celpe-Bras exam consists of two main parts: written and oral.

• Written part (3-hour exam):  it consists of four components: video and audio comprehension; written production; and two essays. In this part, the candidate’s level of Portuguese will be evaluated as well as their comprehension and understanding of audio.

• Oral part (20-minute exam): Interview-style exam with two evaluators. They are going to ask the candidate about their personal interests and current Brazilian affairs.

 

What about the certification?

Depending on the result in the exam, candidates will be granted one of the following four levels: Intermediate, Higher Intermediate, Advanced, and Higher Advanced.

The score table works like this:

• 0.00 – 1.99:  no certification
• 2.00 – 2.75: Intermediate
• 2.76 – 3.50: Higher Intermediate
• 3.51 – 4.25: Advanced
• 4.26 – 5.00: Higher Advanced

In order to obtain a higher level of certification, you have to obtain the same mark in both parts of the exam. If you score higher in either the oral or written test, your certification will be based on your lowest mark.

How can I register?

In order to register for the exam, you have to access the official website during the registration period, which is around February-March or August-September – the registration website goes off after this period.

The exam is held twice a year in April and October and the results take around 2-3 months to be delivered.

The exam can be taken in Brazil or abroad and the fee is not higher than R$200 (abroad it goes up to $100), but it really depends on the center.

 

How can I study?

There is plenty of information on the internet, however, INEP offers some mock tests from previous exams and there are videos on youtube for candidates to study.

If you want to know how the steps of the oral exam work, take a look at the booklet providing information; however, keep in mind that it is in Portuguese.

Some people who took the exam say that the spots fill up fairly quickly, so if you are planning on sitting for the CELPE-Bras, make sure to get prepared and run for the next registration period.

If you still have questions about this exam, leave a comment in the comment session below.

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You can also listen to this post at Anchor!!!

Have a great week,
Patricia Moura