ECL test preparation: a step-by-step plan

Good ECL test preparation is not about finding the real questions: the forms are controlled and they change. It is about building the skills the test measures, listening and reading in American English, until you can use them quickly. This plan takes you there in seven steps, with a free page for each one.

1. Know what the ECL measures

The English Comprehension Level test measures listening and reading, not speaking or writing. Every question is multiple choice. The paper and online versions have 100 questions in about 75 minutes, and the computer-adaptive version given at the DLI campus takes about 25 minutes. Scores go from 0 to 100, and a score stays valid for 180 days. Details in the ECL test explained and ECL scores explained.

2. Find your starting level

Take the free ECL practice test (50 questions, about 25 minutes). Your score by part shows where to start: listening, grammar or vocabulary. Write it down: you will take the test again in a few weeks to measure your progress.

3. Fix your grammar

Many reading questions test a verb form, a preposition or the order of words. Read one grammar lesson a day (tenses, conditionals, modals, the passive, reported speech, prepositions...), answer its quick check, then do the ECL grammar practice questions on the same topic.

4. Grow your vocabulary

Learn ten words a day, in sentences, and review them after one day, three days and a week. Start with the ECL vocabulary list by theme, the 155 phrasal verbs and the American idioms. Check yourself with the vocabulary practice and the ALCPT vocabulary test.

5. Train your ear every day

Listening is where good readers lose points, because spoken English is fast. Five to ten minutes a day is enough to make progress: do the ECL listening practice, then press Listen before you read each question in the trainer. The listening guide explains the sounds of fast American English, numbers and military time.

6. Practice against the clock

The real test gives you about 30 seconds per question. Once your scores are steady, take timed tests of 20, then 40, 60 and 100 questions, so that the length of the real test does not surprise you.

7. Learn from your mistakes

Every wrong answer in the trainer goes into your mistake box and comes back after one day, three days and a week until you get it right. Ten minutes on your own mistakes is worth more than an hour of new questions. The four-week study plan puts all these steps into a daily routine.

The day of the test

• Sleep well, eat, and arrive early with the documents your test center asks for.
• In the listening part, keep your eyes on the choices and your attention on the voice. Do not stop on a question you missed: the next one is already playing.
• In the reading part, read the whole sentence before you choose. Words such as since, already, if or unless often decide the answer.
• Do not spend too long on one question: about 30 seconds each is the pace.

Study on your phone

The free Android app has every question of the trainer, reads them aloud and works without internet, so you can practice during short breaks.