if you clicked on this video then you are probably interested in taking a Cambridge exam it might be for A2 key or C2 proficiency your level uh is really not that important for this video what is the most important thing however is how you can get ready for your test and I don't mean just in terms of study hard no in this video I'm going to give you all the tools that you need to prepare for your Cambridge exam in the long-term midterm and shortterm so you can prepare the right [Music] way hi and welcome to teacher Phil where I help people like you pass the Cambridge exam let's jump right into your long-term preparation long-term means for me about 1 year to 6 months before your exam you might just have decided that you want to take the exam in perhaps a year from now and that is perfectly fine the good thing is that you still have a lot of time to get ready so you can focus on your language development first of all make sure that you know your current level take a level test either online or at a language school without that you don't even know where to start or what might be realistic for you to achieve but once you know your level it is time to create a step study plan think about how much time you have per week and when you would like to take the test there are different ways to go about a study plan for example you can use AI to help you but the best way at least in my opinion is to work with a language school or a qualified teacher they typically know what they are doing and they can also provide you with all the materials that you might need you can for example work with me as your teacher I have helped hundreds of people pass their Cambridge exams and I can help you as well if you want click the first link in the description and book a first meeting with me there we can talk about all the things I've just mentioned and how we can get you there again follow the first link in the description and I look forward to talking to you soon once you've got an idea of your timeline and you found a good teacher it is time to start working on your weaknesses if you are not good enough at all the different aspects of uh English that means grammar and vocabulary as well as Reading Writing speaking and listening it can be really difficult to pass the exam so yes as boring as it might sound your long-term goal should simply be to get better at English your midterm preparation is from about 6 months all the way to I would say say maybe two or 3 months before your test by now your English should be considerably better and you should feel a lot more comfortable using it we can now start looking at the exam itself and the requirements of each individual task you should start practicing the different parts of the exam and put yourself under exam conditions with time limits and all that stuff it is also important to build up some stamina in the exam the different Parts can take up from 30 minutes all the way to an hour and a half and it is really important that you become comfortable with that as well also try to get feedback on your writing and practice speaking with a professional again follow the first link in the description and contact me put all your knowledge of the different tasks together and create an exam strategy think about the order in which you want to do the tasks for example in reading and use of English each of these things by themselves seem small and insignificant but taken together they can be really powerful and when you get into the exam room and start the actual test you want to be as prepared as possible of course you also need to sign up for the exam you typically do that through an exam Center if you are lucky like the students that I work with at the school where I work um the school is an exam Center if you aren't so lucky you will have to find one I'll leave a link in the description with a list of all the centers worldwide so you can find one close to where you live it's on the official Cambridge website so no spam or viruses I promise okay so now we are only one or two months away from your exam and that's when you should start your short-term preparation at this point you won't magically improve your language level anymore that work you've hopefully done during the long-term and Midterm preparation with only a couple of weeks left you should really focus on the final details how long is each part of the test what can or can't you take into the exam room what documentation do you need to bring where and when do you need to be exactly dealing with the questions early can save you a lot of stress your goal is to have at least a couple of days before the exam where you really don't have to do anything anymore where you can just go about your normal day uh relax and just um get some strength for your test spend some time with your family friends or your partner the day before the exam just try to eat some good food and even though I know that it's difficult try to to get some good sleep simply go to bed early so you are rested in the morning on exam day get to the venue early so you can avoid any unnecessary stress try to stay calm use some breathing techniques or whatever helps you to deal with your own anxiety I know it is normal to be nervous but don't let it take over your mind you got this in the exam itself listen very carefully to the invigilator instruction and put all your knowledge into practice again you got this if you want some more detailed information about what happens on exam day you can check out this video here and I'll see you over there in just a moment