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> The test also requires making a clear choice between British and American spelling and vocabulary. That "can trip up people whose English comes from various s

> The test also requires making a clear choice between British and American spelling and vocabulary. That "can trip up people whose English comes from various sources" — say, a third from British textbooks and two-thirds from American movies, Repečkaitė said. As someone who had trouble learning English in class and ended up self-teaching using the Internet and reading English literature, I would have no hope of passing that test. Additionally I wouldn't be able to explain English grammar for the life of me. However being multi-lingual and learning from multiple sources appears to do wonders for one's vocabulary - in pure vocabulary tests I tend to outscore native speakers.

IQunder130 5y ago
I'd argue nobody anywhere has actually learned a language in class, ever. You pick it up by using it, and then may or may not remember all the arbitrary rules and restrictions that were taught in school.
Y_Y 5y ago
I think that's especially silly, since (almost) everyone uses some combination of these two. Particularly in the rest of the Anglosphere each country's norm will have elements of both British and American conventions. Even in the UK and US different publications will have standards specifying the use of one or another spelling for "ise/ize" or "practice/practise" and things like that. It would be weird to mix dialect like "garbage can" and "dustbin" but spelling is absolutely fine (as long as you're consistent with each choice).
barry-cotter 5y ago
You made no mistakes in spelling or grammar in writing two short paragraphs and used quite complex vocabulary along with using one idiom and three complex sentence structures. Believe me you would not have any problems. The author of the article is uninformed or lying. I would guess they just don’t know what they’re talking about but never rule out malice. https://answers.scottsenglish.com/discussion/209/is-correct-spelling-important-in-my-ielts-toefl-or-toeic-test#:~:text=Yes%2C%20it%20is%20important.%20The%20good%20news%20is,nothing%20to%20write%2C%20so%20spelling%20does%20not%20matter https://answers.scottsenglish.com/discussion/209/is-correct-.... > In the TOEIC and TOEFL, the examiners are reading for content, and not specifically spelling mistakes. Your score will be lower if you misspell a word that is written in the question, or if you misspell the same word in different ways. As on the IELTS, your meaning must be clear. https://www.prepadviser.com/toefl/important-spelling-toefl-video https://www.prepadviser.com/toefl/important-spelling-toefl-v... > How Important is Spelling in TOEFL? > The answer to this question is actually really easy – it’s not very important. > This does not mean that spelling is completely unimportant for TOEFL essays, but it’s only one part, and it is not one of the most important aspects. Most of the time, spelling does not cause any problems. The most important areas to pay attention to are usually others: structure, grammar, vocabulary, details, etc.
- bonoboTP 5y ago
  I got a really high score on IELTS (equivalent of C2) but I speak a mix of English from various places and my accent is also a random mix of American, British, Australian various European-but-non-native English accents and the accent from my native language. Its very hard to keep British and American English apart as we don't know in many cases who wrote something on the Internet and we also read and listen to shows and YouTube videos from various places.

IQunder130 5y ago

I'd argue nobody anywhere has actually learned a language in class, ever. You pick it up by using it, and then may or may not remember all the arbitrary rules and restrictions that were taught in school.

Y_Y 5y ago

I think that's especially silly, since (almost) everyone uses some combination of these two. Particularly in the rest of the Anglosphere each country's norm will have elements of both British and American conventions. Even in the UK and US different publications will have standards specifying the use of one or another spelling for "ise/ize" or "practice/practise" and things like that. It would be weird to mix dialect like "garbage can" and "dustbin" but spelling is absolutely fine (as long as you're consistent with each choice).

barry-cotter 5y ago

You made no mistakes in spelling or grammar in writing two short paragraphs and used quite complex vocabulary along with using one idiom and three complex sentence structures. Believe me you would not have any problems. The author of the article is uninformed or lying. I would guess they just don’t know what they’re talking about but never rule out malice. https://answers.scottsenglish.com/discussion/209/is-correct-spelling-important-in-my-ielts-toefl-or-toeic-test#:~:text=Yes%2C%20it%20is%20important.%20The%20good%20news%20is,nothing%20to%20write%2C%20so%20spelling%20does%20not%20matter https://answers.scottsenglish.com/discussion/209/is-correct-.... > In the TOEIC and TOEFL, the examiners are reading for content, and not specifically spelling mistakes. Your score will be lower if you misspell a word that is written in the question, or if you misspell the same word in different ways. As on the IELTS, your meaning must be clear. https://www.prepadviser.com/toefl/important-spelling-toefl-video https://www.prepadviser.com/toefl/important-spelling-toefl-v... > How Important is Spelling in TOEFL? > The answer to this question is actually really easy – it’s not very important. > This does not mean that spelling is completely unimportant for TOEFL essays, but it’s only one part, and it is not one of the most important aspects. Most of the time, spelling does not cause any problems. The most important areas to pay attention to are usually others: structure, grammar, vocabulary, details, etc.

bonoboTP 5y ago
I got a really high score on IELTS (equivalent of C2) but I speak a mix of English from various places and my accent is also a random mix of American, British, Australian various European-but-non-native English accents and the accent from my native language. Its very hard to keep British and American English apart as we don't know in many cases who wrote something on the Internet and we also read and listen to shows and YouTube videos from various places.